Home › Deposit letters › Pennsylvania
What Pennsylvania’s deposit statute requires, the deadline computed from your dates, and a ready-to-send demand letter that quotes the rule.
68 P.S. § 250.512. The citation and the quoted fragments below come from the official source recorded for this state.
“Every landlord shall within thirty days of termination of a lease or upon surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises, whichever first occurs, provide a tenant with a written list of any damages to the leasehold premises for which the landlord claims the tenant is liable.”
“Any landlord who fails to provide a written list within thirty days as required in subsection (a), above, shall forfeit all rights to withhold any portion of sums held in escrow, including any unpaid interest thereon, or to bring suit against the tenant for damages to the leasehold premises.”
“the landlord shall be liable in assumpsit to double the amount by which the sum deposited in escrow, including any unpaid interest thereon, exceeds the actual damages to the leasehold premises caused by the tenant as determined by any court of record or court not of record having jurisdiction in civil actions at law”
“Failure of the tenant to provide the landlord with his new address in writing upon termination of the lease or upon surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises shall relieve the landlord from any liability under this section.”
68 P.S. § 250.512 — fragments captured from the official source on 2026-11-05.
This row was marked verified on 2026-11-04.
Within 30 days of lease termination or surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises (whichever first occurs) the landlord must give the tenant a written list of the damages claimed and pay the difference between the escrow deposit (including unpaid interest) and the actual damages caused by the tenant; the burden of proving actual damages is on the landlord, and the tenant must give a new address in writing or the landlord is relieved of liability under this section.
If if the 30-day deadline was missed, the statute provides for 2× the amount by which the escrow deposit exceeds the actual damages.
The same provision also makes the landlord forfeit any right to retain any portion of the deposit.
68 P.S. 250.512(b): failure to provide the written list within thirty days forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the escrow, including unpaid interest, and the right to sue the tenant for damages. 68 P.S. 250.512(c): failure to pay the difference within thirty days makes the landlord liable in assumpsit for double the amount by which the escrow exceeds the actual damages. The text of 250.512 contains no attorney-fee or fee-shifting provision.
The form asks for the deposit paid, the amount returned, and the dates. You see the whole letter, watermarked, before you pay. $9.99 for the letter, $19.99 for the pack with the follow-up letter, complaint options and the small-claims checklist.
Build my Pennsylvania letter — free preview
The deadline is computed from the dates you enter using the rule recorded for Pennsylvania: 30 calendar days after the earlier of the date the tenancy ended and the date you surrendered the premises.
Where the statute has a verified penalty, the letter states it as possible exposure and names the condition the statute sets. If if the 30-day deadline was missed, the statute provides for 2× the amount by which the escrow deposit exceeds the actual damages.
Tell the builder that you received one. The letter acknowledges it and disputes the amounts you say are wrong.
No. It is a self-help document tool, not a law firm. If your claim is large or disputed, speak to a landlord-tenant lawyer or legal aid.