Owner Move-In Eviction Philadelphia House-Hack triplex

[David Cha]

Hey all,

I've searched for a long time but could not find the answer specific for philadelphia or pennsylvania. Any help out there?

I'm looking to do a house hack and have finally found a property i'm interested in however, it has been on the market for a while, with good reason. The triplex is fully occupied and I wish to occupy the bottom unit due to renovations in the basement that need to take place immediately. The current tenant in that unit has a year lease until August 2021. Unit 3 is vacating in a month and Unit 2 has her lease expiring in December. She's apparently troublesome, according to the other tenants. She refuses to let us see her unit, despite giving property notice. We will see the unit shortly as per the offer agreement however, there are just red flags with this tenant already that are making me nervous and the current owner has not done anything to handle that situation. I could just ride out their leases but it worries me. Despite these tenant issues and some repair in the basement, I still feel like this is the deal for me and want to make the transition as smooth as possible

Does Philadelphia have any good cause evictions or owner move in evictions if I have to go this route? The good cause eviction statute i read seemed to only apply for month to month tenants but i could not find any relating to tenants that have a year lease in place. There is no rent control here and the units are way under rent. Is there anyway i could get either of these tenants out legally/cheaply/inexpensively/smoothly? I believe they may both be breaking a material clause of the existing lease by having pets, which the existing leash states they cannot have. This was witnessed by myself and my realtor as well as confirmed by the other tenants.

[Kevin M.]

Extremely unlikely you will be able to use the legal process to force out an unwilling tenant in Philadelphia, ESPECIALLY one paying rent with a valid lease agreement, anytime in the next 6 months. The deck is heavily stacked in the tenant's favor now more than ever. You need a royal flush.

The pet argument will get you nowhere in Philadelphia Landlord/Tenant Court. 

Cash for keys is your best bet.