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Council sought to amend landlady and tenant laws requiring written notice of alternative security deposit payment methods

Official:Amending Chapter 9-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Landlord and Tenant,” requiring landlords to give tenants notice of alternative ways to meet tenant obligations to make security deposits; and by providing for certain landlord and tenant responsibilities related to the payment of rent and security deposits; all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Bass

Introduced: June 18, 2020

: Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and The Homeless

housingrental agreements

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2020–2023 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill requires landlords in Philadelphia to give tenants written notice of alternative ways to pay security deposits, such as paying over time or using insurance.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Landlords must give tenants written notice of alternative ways to pay security deposits, such as paying over time or using insurance.
The notice must include information about the landlord's policies and procedures for accepting alternative forms of payment.
If a landlord requires a security deposit, the tenant must be given the option to choose an alternative form of payment.
The bill does not provide specific details on how the alternative payment options will be implemented or how they will affect the landlord-tenant relationship.