How do I evict a tenant in the state of PA and there is no rental agreement or lease, can I just put him out and change the locks?

Here's the Pennsylvania Law - I personally am FASCINATED by the word "probably" concerning service. Never seen anything like this in the law!


"The landlord must give the tenant written notice of the reason for the eviction and the date that the landlord wants the tenant to leave. The eviction notice must be personally delivered to the tenant or posted on the dwelling. An eviction notice, sent by mail is probably not enforceable. A written lease may state how many days notice must be given by the landlord before the landlord can evict. It the lease does not state how much notice is required, the general rule is as follows: If the term has ended, or it the landlord claims the tenant has breached the lease, the landlord must give the tenant thirty (30) days notice if the lease is for less than one year (this is usually month-to-month), and ninety (90) days notice if the lease is one year or more. If the tenant is behind in the rent and has an oral lease with the landlord, the landlord needs to give only fifteen (15) days notice between April 1st and September 1st, but thirty (30) days notice between September 1st and April 1st. It the tenant is not out of the property by the end of the eviction notice, the landlord must follow the procedure through the District Justice's office as set forth in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 below."

No! Even though there is no written rental agreement or lease there is still a tenancy. You have to give written notice that the tenancy is terminated as of 30 days from the date they receive the notice. If the tenant still hasn't left after that time then you have to file a lawsuit for eviction.

If you put him out and change the locks he can sue you for illegal eviction.