PRINTER'S NO. 2481
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2136
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY KRAJEWSKI, KINSEY, HOHENSTEIN, SANCHEZ, GUZMAN,
PARKER, BULLOCK AND FIEDLER, DECEMBER 7, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, DECEMBER 7, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 6, 1951 (P.L.69, No.20), entitled "An
act relating to the rights, obligations and liabilities of
landlord and tenant and of parties dealing with them and
amending, revising, changing and consolidating the law
relating thereto," in tenement buildings and multiple
dwelling premises, providing for tenant's right to mediation.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of April 6, 1951 (P.L.69, No.20), known
as The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 506-A. Tenants' Right to Mediation.--(a) In each
lease regarding a tenement building or apartment shared between
multiple unrelated tenants, a landlord shall include an
intertenant relations plan. The following apply:
(1) If an interpersonal dispute arises between unrelated
tenants in an apartment or among tenants in a tenement building,
the intertenant relations plan shall entitle a tenant to
mediation under the following circumstances:
(i) A severe or pervasive situation in which the home
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
environment for residents of the apartment or tenement building
shared between multiple unrelated tenants is such that a
reasonable person would consider the home environment to be
intimidating, hostile or abusive and therefore unsafe.
(ii) When free professional mediation services are available
in the county where the tenant's residence is located.
(2) In establishing an intertenant relations plan, the
following apply:
(i) The landlord may not mediate the dispute covered under
the intertenant relations plan.
(ii) The intertenant relations plan must include the
following:
(A) The procedure to notify the landlord of the dispute.
(B) The mediation service that the landlord will use to
resolve the dispute.
(C) The timeline for mediation established under this
section.
(b) In attempting to resolve an interpersonal dispute
between tenants subject to subsection (a), a landlord may
contract with a paid third-party professional mediation service
or with a community, neighborhood or nonprofit dispute
resolution organization to mediate the interpersonal dispute
only when a free third-party professional mediation service is
unavailable in the county where the tenant's residence is
located.
(c) The following procedures apply:
(1) Within fourteen days of receipt of the initial complaint
regarding the interpersonal dispute between tenants subject to
subsection (a), a landlord shall contact a mediation provider to
schedule a mediation meeting between the parties with a third-
20210HB2136PN2481 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
party mediator.
(2) Within seven days of the mediation meeting, the mediator
shall provide a written summary to all involved tenants of the
agreements reached during mediation.
(3) As soon as practicable after the mediation meeting, the
mediator shall provide to the landlord a written report of
whether the parties appeared for mediation and whether an
agreement was reached.
(d) This section shall not apply if a tenant complaint seeks
monetary damages or involves physical damage or a crime. In such
an instance, the complaint may be brought before a court of
competent jurisdiction or reported to a law enforcement agency.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20210HB2136PN2481 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13