It doesn’t happen often, but when you suddenly hear from the landlord or your building manager that they like you to leave your Philadelphia rental, it comes as a shock. There are cases where there is no eviction nor any reason given at all and you have plenty of time left on your lease.
When something like this comes from seeming nowhere, you start to ask yourself questions and then you ask them of others.
What Are The Landlord’s Reasons
You may never find out the real reason the landlord wants you out. That’s a fact because they don’t have to give you one. He may want it for a family member or he might want to combine two Philadelphia rentals into one larger one. You can ask, but don’t be surprised if you don’t get an answer either. The bottom line is that you have to make decisions, and stick with them. Obviously, if there’s been no infraction against your lease, the landlord can’t evict you. He can wait until your lease expires and refuse to renew it, but otherwise there’s nothing legal he or she can do to you.
If you love your apartment, you can continue to enjoy it at least until the end of your lease. Any landlord harassment as an inducement to get you to leave earlier is illegal, and you can fight it in court. That said, it does make life unpleasant enough that you may want to reconsider moving.
When the Landlord Will Pay You To Leave
If, for whatever reason he has, the landlord really wants you out, he may offer you some financial incentives to move. Consider them carefully and then negotiate. The ball is definitely in your court on this one. Depending on how long you have on your lease, and how quickly they want you out, it all boils down to how much they are willing to pay you to do so.
It isn’t unusual to be given a free months rent and then a large cash sum in return for moving. The longer you take to decide, the less the amount maybe so quickly calculate how much it would take to go out and find a new place. Usually, the cash sum would pay for the move plus all the security deposits and upfront rent required in a new Philadelphia apartment. The amount you ultimately receive is all in the negotiation.
The bad news is that you’ll have to pay tax on the lump sum. It’s a capital gains, and is taxed at a rate of 15% currently. You’ll want to factor that into the negotiation as well. No one likes moving especially when they’re happy where they are so it is a time to think of how much it would take to make the move – and happily so!
