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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20130&cosponId=12442
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House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: April 10, 2013 10:34 AM
From: Representative Scott A. Petri
To: All House members
Subject: Disposition of Abandoned Personal Property
 
In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that will amend the Landlord and Tenant Act in order to provide greater clarity and predictability for landlords and tenants when it comes to dealing with what’s sometimes left behind when the tenant is gone.

In the last session, we passed SB 887 (Act 129), which addressed the issue of a tenant’s abandoned personal property for the first time. While the law is a huge improvement over the uncertainty and, often, litigation that it replaced, its utility is limited. In order for it to apply, a tenant must remove “substantially all personal property” and provide either a forwarding address or written notice that they have vacated. Unless the tenant does all of those things, the landlord must get a court order for possession – essentially evicting a tenant who has already left – prior to following the prescribed procedure for disposing of the remaining property. Not only is this time consuming and expensive for the landlord, but it is often unnecessarily damaging to the tenant’s credit.

My bill adds two more common-sense circumstances under which a landlord may follow the procedures for disposing of the tenant’s property without having to resort to getting a court order.

The first provision covers the large majority of relevant circumstances, thus, expanding the practical application of a good law: The tenant has physically vacated the premises without providing notice or a forwarding address and the landlord has provided notice advising the tenant of his rights regarding the property. Current protective provisions regarding notice requirements, waiting periods and storage requirements apply.

The second provision concerns the death of a residential tenant, and is particularly important for the families of decedents. It simply provides for communications, notice, and the exercise of rights on behalf of the decedent. My bill protects the tenant’s estate and as well as the interests of the landlord, and ensures fairness and predictability at a time that is, by its nature, often difficult enough.

If you have any questions, or if you would like a copy of the language, please contact Lea Farrell at 787-9033 or via email at lfarrell@pahousegop.com.



Introduced as HB1715