Renting out a property in Philadelphia takes more paperwork than almost anywhere else. You need a Philadelphia Tax Account, a Commercial Activity License, a Rental License at $69 per unit each year, lead certification if the building predates 1978, and a Certificate of Rental Suitability for every new tenancy.
The Rental License is the one that carries teeth. Miss it and the City can fine you $300 a day, and you cannot file an eviction until it is fixed. From November 1, 2026 the consequence goes further: rent cannot be legally retained without a Rental License, so any rent paid during an unlicensed period becomes repayable to the tenant. A lapse that used to cost you the right to collect will soon cost you money already banked.
Bay Property Management Group handles the licensing, the lead certification and the renewals for Philadelphia owners.
Philadelphia regulates rental property through the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Public Health, and all three have to be satisfied before a unit can be legally occupied. The City checks them against each other: your tax account, your Commercial Activity License and your Rental License all have to show the same legal entity, and your lead certification has to match the property and unit count on the license. A mismatch in any one of them stops the application.
That is the part owners underestimate. Philadelphia’s requirements for renting out a property have no single form and no single fee. There is a sequence, and each step depends on the one before it — you cannot get the Rental License without the Commercial Activity License, you cannot get either without a clean Philadelphia Tax Account, and you cannot get a Certificate of Rental Suitability until the Rental License is active and paid.
BMG manages this sequence for owners across Philadelphia and in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. We review the current license status, verify zoning and legal occupancy, prepare and submit the Rental License application through eCLIPSE, serve as the Philadelphia managing agent for out-of-city owners, coordinate lead inspections and certification, obtain the Certificate of Rental Suitability for each tenancy, and track every renewal date.
| Requirement | Issuing Agency | Cost | Processing Time | Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Tax Account / PHTIN | Philadelphia Department of Revenue | No registration fee | Usually immediate online | No renewal; tax filings continue |
| Commercial Activity License | Licenses and Inspections | Free | Automatic online once tax account is set | Does not expire |
| Activity License Number (owner-occupied, 3 units or fewer) | Licenses and Inspections | Free | Generally immediate | No regular renewal |
| Rental License | Licenses and Inspections | $69 per unit; citywide cap $27,830 | Days to weeks; depends on compliance status | Annual |
| Lead-Safe Certificate | Certified lead professional; filed with Public Health | About $300 per unit | Several days including lab turnaround | Every 4 years |
| Lead-Free Certificate | PA-licensed lead risk assessor | From $550 per unit | Vendor-dependent | Never expires |
| Certificate of Rental Suitability | Licenses and Inspections | Free | Immediate online when eligible | New certificate for each tenancy |
| Zoning approval / proof of legal occupancy | Licenses and Inspections | Varies by application | Days to weeks | Not annually renewed |
L&I reviews applications within five business days. What varies is how many times an application has to go back and forth before it is approved. There is no guaranteed turnaround on a Rental License, because the timeline depends almost entirely on the condition of your records rather than on L&I. An application where ownership, taxes, the Commercial Activity License, lead certification, legal occupancy and violations are already in order can move through eCLIPSE quickly. One with a tax delinquency, an entity-name mismatch, a missing deed or an undocumented unit count can take weeks.
The single biggest time saver is running a full compliance review before you submit, rather than letting L&I surface each problem one at a time. Every returned application restarts the wait.
Philadelphia issues a Rental License only after the tax, ownership, lead and violation records all line up. The five stages below follow the order the City actually works in — skipping ahead is what causes applications to come back.
Start with ownership and legal use. Pull the recorded deed or an acceptable settlement sheet; if the property has been held more than six months, the City’s OPA ownership record may be accepted instead. Then confirm how many units the property is legally approved for, using the Certificate of Occupancy, any prior Rental License, or zoning records. This matters most on two-or-more-unit buildings, where the City will check the requested unit count against its own occupancy records. Confirm which activity license applies: a Commercial Activity License for a non-owner-occupied rental, or an Activity License Number if you live in the building and rent three units or fewer.
Two things have to be clear before a license will issue. First, City tax compliance — all Philadelphia returns filed and all taxes, fines and other City obligations paid or under an approved arrangement. Owners can request a Philadelphia Tax Clearance Certificate through the Philadelphia Tax Center, which generates immediately if the account is already clean. Second, outstanding L&I violations — anything blocking licensure has to be repaired, permitted where required, and formally closed. Emailed tax clearance requests generally get a response in three to five business days; paper filings can take several weeks to appear in the system.
Every Philadelphia rental built before 1978 must be certified lead-safe or lead-free before a new lease, before a renewal, and before a Rental License is issued or renewed. A certified lead professional performs a visual inspection for deteriorated paint and collects interior dust-wipe samples for laboratory analysis. Once the property passes, the certificate and supporting lab reports are submitted through the City’s Lead Certification Submission System, which is what connects the certification to your license application. Qualifying newer properties file a Property Owner Statement of Exemption instead.
Register with the Department of Revenue for a Philadelphia Tax Identification Number and for Business Income and Receipts Tax where applicable, then obtain the Commercial Activity License, which is free and normally issued automatically online. Complete the Rental License application and the Rental License Supplemental Information form. Owners without a Philadelphia mailing address must designate a Philadelphia-based managing agent — BMG serves in this role for our owners. Submit through eCLIPSE and pay $69 per unit. If the applicant name does not exactly match the deed, you will also need the Rental License Ownership Verification Form.
L&I reviews the application against tax, ownership, lead, violation and property-use records, and will return it for correction if anything does not match. Once approved, download the active license — the property should not be treated as licensed until it shows as active. Then obtain the Certificate of Rental Suitability before the tenant moves in. Note that even where a managing agent is named on the license, the owner remains the license holder and carries the legal responsibility.
L&I will not issue a Rental License until all of these are in place. Most returned applications fail on one of them, and each round trip restarts the clock.
Tax compliance is the single most common reason an application stalls. Owners can request a Philadelphia Tax Clearance Certificate through the Philadelphia Tax Center, and if the account is already compliant the certificate generates immediately. If it is not, you will generally need to identify the missing returns or balances, file everything outstanding, pay or arrange payment, confirm Revenue has updated the account, and request clearance again. Emailed requests typically get a response within three to five business days. Paper filings can take several weeks to appear in the system.
Not routinely. For an ordinary private-market long-term rental, Philadelphia does not require a physical L&I inspection before every Rental License is issued. L&I verifies licensing, tax, lead, violation, zoning, ownership and occupancy records instead. A physical inspection is triggered by a code complaint, an existing violation, a dangerous or unsafe condition, work requiring permit inspection, or a specialized license or building requirement.
For most older Philadelphia rentals, the recurring physical inspection that does apply is lead testing.
Voucher properties are separate. Housing Choice Voucher properties go through a Philadelphia Housing Authority inspection process that is entirely separate from the Rental License process. PHA generally allows 30 days to correct non-emergency failures and 24 hours for emergency violations. Owners confuse the two routinely.
When a Philadelphia property is inspected — whether on a complaint, an open violation or a lead test — these are the items that come back most often. Most are inexpensive to fix in advance and expensive to fix under a violation notice.
For an L&I code failure, the City issues a Notice of Violation. You correct the cited conditions, using permits and licensed contractors where required, and L&I reinspects or verifies the correction. Once closed, the violation stops blocking your license. There is no single universal reinspection fee for an ordinary residential violation — cost depends on the repairs, permits and contractors involved. Unresolved violations can escalate to enforcement and fines.
For a failed lead inspection, the identified hazards are remediated — by an EPA-certified Renovation, Repair and Painting contractor where required — then the unit is cleaned and retested, and the vendor’s inspection fee is paid again. The Lead-Safe Certificate issues only after a passing result.
A Philadelphia rental has to meet the Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code throughout the tenancy, not just at licensing. The Certificate of Rental Suitability makes this explicit — signing it means certifying that the property is safe and habitable and that required fire-protection and smoke-detection systems are operating properly.
The standards cover working smoke alarms in required locations and carbon monoxide alarms where required; functioning fire alarms, extinguishers and sprinklers; safe and unobstructed exits and means of egress; operable required doors and windows; structurally sound stairs with secure handrails and guardrails; safe porches, decks, balconies and walking surfaces; safe electrical wiring, outlets, panels and fixtures; functioning plumbing and sanitary facilities; potable hot and cold water; and heating equipment meeting Philadelphia minimum standards.
They also cover the building itself — a structurally sound roof, walls, ceilings, floors and foundation, with no active roof or plumbing leaks and no dangerous water intrusion — along with no deteriorated lead-containing paint hazards, pest and bed bug prevention and remediation, proper sanitation and waste conditions, and required pool barriers, gates and electrical safeguards where a pool is present.
Compliance is ongoing. A property that met the standard at licensing can drift out of it through a failed detector, a loose handrail or a deteriorating paint surface. BMG coordinates repairs and inspections throughout the management relationship so that a small maintenance item does not become a violation that blocks your renewal.
Every Philadelphia rental built before 1978 must be certified lead-safe or lead-free. This applies citywide and regardless of whether children live in the unit — that changed in October 2020 and phased in by ZIP code until it became universal on April 1, 2022. A lot of older guidance still says certification only applies where a child under six is present. That has not been the rule for years.
Certification is required before a new lease is executed, before an existing lease is renewed, and before a Rental License is obtained or renewed. Missing or expired lead certification blocks the license on its own, separately from any other compliance issue.
| Requirement | When Required | Typical Cost | Renewal Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead-Safe Certificate | Pre-1978 rentals, standard path | About $300 per unit | Every 4 years |
| Lead-Free Certificate | Pre-1978 rentals, optional alternative | From $550 per unit | Never expires |
| Property Owner Statement of Exemption | Qualifying properties not subject to certification | No City filing fee | As required to document exemption |
| Lead Certification Submission System filing | After certification | No City filing fee | With each new certificate |
| Tenant disclosure of certificate and lab results | Before signing a lease | $0 | Every lease and renewal |
Lead-safe is the standard path and the cheaper one up front. It certifies that the property currently has no lead hazards — not that it contains no lead. A licensed lead inspector-risk assessor confirms the unit is free of deteriorated, flaking or chipping paint, then collects dust-wipe samples from floors and window sills for certified laboratory analysis. If a sample fails, the area is professionally cleaned and retested until it passes. The certificate is valid for four years, so it recurs.
Lead-free is the one-time option. A licensed lead risk assessor uses an XRF analyzer to test every painted surface and measure whether lead is present in any paint layer. It costs more and it is harder to pass, but it never expires and never has to be renewed. For an owner holding a property as a long-term rental — roughly eight years or more — it usually costs less over the hold than repeating lead-safe certification every four years.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health, through its Lead and Healthy Homes Program, administers lead certification for rental properties. After a property passes, the landlord or an authorized representative submits the certificate and the supporting laboratory reports through the City’s Lead Certification Submission System. There is no separate City filing fee for this.
The filing is not administrative housekeeping — it is what connects your lead compliance to your Rental License. The certification information on file has to be consistent with the details on the license, including the property and the unit count, or L&I will not grant the license. Philadelphia also publishes lead certification status publicly by property, so the record is visible.
For a pre-1978 Philadelphia rental, the tenant receives a copy of the signed Lead-Safe or Lead-Free Certificate together with the certified laboratory dust-wipe analysis reports. The certificate must be shown to and signed by the tenant before the lease is signed, and again on renewal.
Federal law applies on top of that. Landlords renting most pre-1978 housing must provide the federally required Disclosure of Information on Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards and the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.” Philadelphia’s certificate requirement does not replace the federal disclosure — both go in the packet.
Philadelphia compliance runs on a calendar, and three clocks run at once. The Rental License renews annually. Lead-safe certification renews every four years. The Certificate of Rental Suitability is generated fresh for every new tenancy, and expires 90 days after it is generated if it has not been signed and shared.
Before each Rental License renewal, confirm that City taxes and fines are current, the Commercial Activity License is still valid, there are no blocking L&I violations, lead certification remains current, and ownership and managing-agent information are accurate. If a license stays expired for more than 60 days, the City can assess a late charge of 1.5% of the license fee for each month it remains expired.
One more thing that catches owners out: Rental Licenses are not transferable. Selling the property means the buyer obtains their own license. Renewing the seller’s is not an option.
Pennsylvania caps a security deposit at two months’ rent during the first year of a lease, dropping to one month from the second year onward. The reduction at year two is mandatory — the excess goes back to the tenant without them having to ask. After five years of continuous tenancy the deposit cannot be increased at all, even if rent rises.
Deposits over $100 must be held in a separate escrow account at a federally or Pennsylvania-regulated banking institution, and the tenant must be told the bank name, address and amount in writing. From the third year of tenancy the account must be interest-bearing, with interest paid to the tenant annually; the landlord may retain a one percent annual administrative fee.
At move-out, the deposit and an itemized list of any deductions are due within 30 days. Missing that deadline forfeits the right to withhold anything and exposes the owner to double the amount wrongfully withheld.
BMG typically holds deposits on behalf of our owners, though owners may hold them if they prefer — we need the bank name and branch address so the tenant can be notified where the deposit sits.
Philadelphia has no rent control, no rent stabilization and no cap on how much rent can be increased. A renewal can be offered at any amount, provided the notice period in the lease is met. BMG’s standard lease requires at least 60 days’ notice; other leases run 30, 90 or up to 180 days, and the lease governs.
Housing Choice Voucher tenancies work differently. The Philadelphia Housing Authority sets maximum rates by unit size and location, and determines the terms at renewal.
Philadelphia does not treat an unlicensed rental as a paperwork problem. Operating without a Rental License carries a fine of $300 per day for as long as the violation continues. L&I states that an owner is not entitled to collect rent without a Rental License — so rent charged during an unlicensed period can be challenged, and the missing license becomes the center of that case. And an eviction complaint cannot be filed without producing documentation of both the Commercial Activity License and the Rental License.
That is three separate consequences from one missing document, and they compound. An owner who discovers the problem while trying to evict a non-paying tenant now cannot file an eviction, cannot demonstrate a right to the rent they are owed, and is accruing $300 a day until it is resolved.
**Important:** Penalties and enforcement procedures change. Confirm current requirements with the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections, or consult a qualified Philadelphia attorney about a specific property or violation.
The Certificate of Rental Suitability is a Philadelphia-specific document confirming that the owner is in full licensing and housing code compliance. It is free, obtained through eCLIPSE once the Rental License is active, and it has four different deadlines attached to it.
| Situation | Requirement |
|---|---|
| New tenancy | Provided to the tenant at the start of every tenancy, issued no more than 60 days before the lease begins |
| Filing an eviction | Provided to both the tenant and the court, issued no more than 30 days before filing |
| Tenant request | A tenant may request one every 90 days. The owner must provide a certificate issued within 30 days of the request, within 10 days of the request |
| Expiry | Once generated in eCLIPSE, it expires after 90 days if it has not been signed and shared |
The City will only generate the certificate if all business taxes are registered, all outstanding fees are paid, and there are no open L&I code violations older than 30 days on the property. Once downloaded, it is completed with the tenant name, unit number and date, signed on behalf of the owner, and shared with the tenant.
A certificate is not required where the tenant is an immediate member of the owner’s family.
The City’s published requirements tell you what is needed. They do not tell you where owners actually get caught. BMG manages properties across Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, and the same few problems come back over and over.
It does not. Philadelphia licenses are tied to the legal owner and are not transferable, so buying an already-rented property means obtaining your own Rental License rather than inheriting the seller’s.
The problem is when owners find out. It is rarely at settlement. It is usually weeks or months later, while preparing to lease a unit, renew a tenant or file an eviction — and by then it is urgent. At that point we typically find several things at once: the Rental License still in the seller’s name, the Philadelphia Tax Account or Commercial Activity License under a different legal entity, lead certification that does not match current ownership records, or a legal unit count that cannot be documented.
The fix is unglamorous and effective. Run a full compliance audit immediately after acquisition or at onboarding — ownership, tax compliance, Commercial Activity License, Rental License, lead certification, open L&I violations, zoning and legal occupancy. Doing it upfront takes days. Doing it once a lease or a court filing is already in motion takes weeks you do not have.
Philadelphia updated several rental compliance forms and codes during 2026. None of them changed the fundamental requirements, but each one can stop an application.
November 1, 2026 — rent cannot be retained without a Rental License
The City moves from barring collection to requiring repayment. Any rent received during a period without a valid Rental License becomes due back to the tenant. If you have a property whose license has lapsed, or one bought with the seller's license still on file, this is the deadline to fix it by.
July 1, 2026 — new construction codes became mandatory.
New permit applications are now subject to Philadelphia’s implementation of the 2021 International Code family, covering building, existing buildings, residential, mechanical, fuel gas, plumbing, and pools and spas. This matters when a licensing or inspection problem requires permitted repair work, unit legalization or an occupancy change.
July 29, 2026 — Rental License Ownership Verification Form
Required when the applicant name does not exactly match the deed. Relevant for properties with multiple deeded owners, LLC and entity changes, recent transfers, and applications where only one of several owners is applying.
July 24, 2026 — updated Affidavit of Continuous Use
Used to establish that residential use has continuously existed where the City has no straightforward Certificate of Occupancy or qualifying prior Rental License on file.
February 18, 2026 — revised Affidavit of Non-Rental
For properties occupied by a family member with no rent collected. It also restates the City’s enforcement position on the $300-per-day fine, the rent-collection bar and the eviction-filing requirement.
October 2025 — revised Partners in Good Housing brochure
Confirm you are distributing the current version rather than an older saved file.
L&I is applying noticeably closer scrutiny to ownership and application consistency. Applications now get returned where the deed and the applicant do not match, multiple deeded owners are not properly documented, a P.O. box or virtual office address is used, the Tax Account, Commercial Activity License and Rental License show different legal entities, the requested unit count conflicts with City occupancy records, or lead certification records do not align with the license. Discrepancies that once prompted a quick follow-up now hold the application until they are resolved.
Bay Property Management Group monitors rental regulations and compliance requirements affecting the markets we serve. We update this guide as requirements change to provide rental property owners with timely, locally relevant information about managing a compliant rental property in Philadelphia.
Yes. Any entity renting a housing unit in Philadelphia needs a Rental License from the Department of Licenses and Inspections, along with a Commercial Activity License and a Philadelphia Tax Account. If you occupy the building and rent three units or fewer, an Activity License Number replaces the Commercial Activity License.
No, and from November 1, 2026 the position is stricter: rent cannot be legally retained without a Rental License, so rent you have already received during an unlicensed period is repayable to the tenant. A tenant can also sue for its return, plus $1,000 per violation in statutory damages and attorney fees. The same applies separately to lead certification noncompliance.
There is no guaranteed turnaround, because the timeline depends on your records rather than on L&I. A clean application where ownership, taxes, the Commercial Activity License, lead certification and violations are already in order moves through eCLIPSE quickly. Tax delinquencies, entity mismatches, missing deeds or undocumented unit counts can add weeks.
Lead-safe certifies that the property currently has no lead hazards, costs about $300 per unit, and lasts four years. Lead-free certifies that no lead-based paint is present at all, starts at $350 per unit using XRF testing of every painted surface, and never expires. Lead-free usually costs less over a hold of eight years or more.
It is a free City document confirming you are in licensing and code compliance, obtained through eCLIPSE. You need one issued within 60 days before each new lease begins, one issued within 30 days before filing an eviction, and one within 10 days of a tenant request. It expires 90 days after generation if unsigned and unshared.
No. Philadelphia Rental Licenses are tied to the legal owner and are not transferable. A buyer of an already-rented property must obtain their own license rather than renewing or using the seller’s. This is the most common compliance mistake we see in this market.
Yes. Owners without a Philadelphia mailing address must designate a Philadelphia-based managing agent on the Rental License application. BMG serves in this role for our owners. Note that even with a managing agent named, the owner remains the license holder and carries legal responsibility for the license.
Up to two months’ rent during the first year of a lease, dropping to one month from the second year onward, with the reduction returned to the tenant automatically. Deposits over $100 must be held in escrow, and from year three the account must be interest-bearing with interest paid annually to the tenant.
No. Philadelphia has no rent control, no rent stabilization and no cap on rent increases. A renewal can be offered at any amount as long as the notice period in the lease is met. Housing Choice Voucher tenancies are the exception — the Philadelphia Housing Authority sets maximum rates and renewal terms.
Yes. We review license status, verify zoning and legal occupancy, prepare and submit Rental License applications through eCLIPSE, serve as the Philadelphia managing agent for out-of-city owners, coordinate lead inspections and certification, obtain the Certificate of Rental Suitability for each tenancy, and track renewal deadlines. A $199 administrative processing fee applies where licensing administration is covered under the management agreement.