Philadelphia rental compliance guides

Philadelphia requires rental property owners to keep required licenses and related compliance records current. The Certificate of Rental Suitability, often called a CRS, is a city document used to confirm that a rental property meets the city's requirements for renting. It is separate from the Rental License itself and is requested through the city's eCLIPSE system using the Rental License Number or the rental address. The certificate is an event-based obligation rather than an annual expiration. The city requires it before a tenant moves in, requires a new certificate when renting to a new tenant, and states that a new certificate must be obtained when an existing tenant renews the lease. The certificate must have been issued within 60 days before the start of the lease. Before applying, the property cannot have outstanding property violation notices, and the owner certifies that the property is safe and habitable and that fire protection and smoke detection systems are working and up to code. The city states the certificate is provided at no cost. Because the obligation follows the tenancy rather than the calendar, keep the certificate with the property and record the lease event that triggered it, the date it was obtained, and where the final document is stored. That is especially useful when properties change managers or when someone needs to prove the required document was provided at the right point in the leasing process. Below are Tusk's plain-language guides to the requirements currently covered in our library.