Tenant won't sign the new lease

[Sarah Byun]

I'm in PA, and my tenant has been living in our property for almost 20 years.  My husband and I purchased the property about five years ago, and the tenant signed a lease every two years.  We've raised the rent by $50 for every new lease.  We had her review her new lease before the previous lease expired, but she's been giving excuses and has not signed the new lease.  After the lease expired, she sent in the previous lease rent.  We are trying to figure out what we need to do. When my husband approached her and asked her if she had a chance to review the new lease and that we would like for her to sign the new lease as soon as possible, she said, "According to PA law, once the lease expires, it goes to a month to month rent." Basically, she doesn't want to pay the raised rent.  What is the best approach to this?  If I get a new tenant, I can get more than what she pays even with the new lease, but I don't want to go through the hassle of losing a tenant who's been paying her rent.  She's been there for so long, and I wanted to be a good landlord, so I had her stay.  This tenant does cause minor issues here and there, and we are so tired of it but hearing some worst tenant stories, we are okay dealing with it.  She acts like she owns the place, and we are someone who fixes her minor issues every time she complains.  What are our options, and what's the best way to approach this situation with this pandemic with tenant protection laws, etc.?

[Bill B.]

Easy fix:

Say you are correct. It has switched to month to month. A) that means we can evict you with xx number of days notice (find out your state’s number of days) or B) we can charge you rent $xxx starting in xx days (again look up your state’s requirements) which is our month to month rate.

I would either raise the rent 25% for being a jerk or evict for being a shady jerk. Your call. Make sure you give legal number of days notice, probably through in an extra week to cut any complaints off at the pass. But I would definitely charge mroe for month to month lease than a 2+ year lease. 

She obviously thinks she’s found a trick to rip you off. Does she think the rent is stuck at the current amount for the next 50 years if she stays? You can’t put up with that.