New tenant has yet to move in after 5 months, but has been paying rent

[David Siekkinen]

I have a weird situation in Pennsylvania.  My new tenant signed a lease starting September 1st, but it's now almost the end of January and she has yet to move in.  I have an abandonment provision in the lease agreement that states Abandonment is defined as absence of the Tenant from the Premises for at least 10 consecutive days without notice to the landlord.  The last I asked her about moving in, she told me she had a moving truck scheduled for October 31.  That never happened.  There is not a single item of hers that has been moved into the house.

My question is this, do I need to give a certain amount of notice to terminate the lease?  I would like to terminate and return her security deposit
before she actually moves in.  I have heard from her other landlord that she has trashed his place and refuses to move out.  I just think it will be easier to do this before she ever actually occupies the house.

[Malek Bohsali]

No idea on the notice period required, depends on your lease and your particular state laws.  I'd ping my real estate attorney and ask, esp. since its a unique situation