New law limits rental application fees to a landlord's actual costs
House Bill 558 is now Act 67 of 2026. It took 617 days from introduction to signature, and Senate Republicans split almost evenly on it.
Renters in Pennsylvania who apply for several apartments can no longer be charged application fees that go beyond what it costs a landlord to process the application. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed House Bill 558 on Thursday as part of a package of 58 measures, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported.
For anyone hunting for an apartment, fees add up quickly when each application costs money and there is no guarantee of a lease. The bill's sponsor, Rep. MaryLouise Isaacson, a Philadelphia Democrat, said in a House Democratic release that "someone shouldn't have to stop applying for housing because of simple paperwork."
What the law does
The bill amends the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951. Landlords and their agents may charge only application fees "reasonably related to the actual administrative expenses" of an application, and may not use application fees as a general source of revenue, according to Isaacson's office. The law does not set a dollar figure.
The same package included House Bill 344, which requires landlords to be clear with renters about parking fees, the Capital-Star reported.
What the records add
Who backed it. Isaacson represents the 175th District. The bill page lists 15 co-sponsors, all Democrats, most of them from the Philadelphia area.
How long it took. The bill was referred to the House Housing and Community Development Committee on Feb. 12, 2025. It sat there for 14 months, until the committee amended and approved it on April 13, 2026, by a 23-3 vote, according to Isaacson's office. The House passed it on May 4. In the Senate, it went to the Urban Affairs and Housing Committee on May 7 and waited 153 days before the committee reported it on Oct. 7. The Senate passed it on Oct. 21, and Shapiro signed it the next day as Act 67 of 2026: 617 days after it was first referred.
How the House voted. The May 4 House roll call was 148-53:
- Democrats: 102 yes, 0 no
- Republicans: 46 yes, 53 no
Republicans voting yes included Reps. Martina White of Philadelphia, Jesse Topper and Rob Kauffman.
How the Senate voted. The Oct. 21 Senate roll call was 36-14:
- Democrats: 23 yes, 0 no
- Republicans: 13 yes, 14 no
The 13 Republicans voting yes included Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward and Majority Leader Joe Pittman, along with Sens. Frank Farry, Rosemary Brown, Daniel Laughlin and Devlin Robinson. The other 14 Republican senators, including Sens. Jarrett Coleman and Tracy Pennycuick, voted no, according to the roll call. It doesn't record their reasons.
The Senate Democratic caucus's summary of the Oct. 21 session lists HB 558 among 29 bills the Senate voted on that day.
What happens next
The new rule applies to landlords statewide. The full text of the law is linked from the bill page.
Other renter bills did not make it. The Capital-Star reported that bills on unrelated roommates and accessory dwelling units were not part of the package Shapiro signed (Capital-Star). With two House voting days (Nov. 9 and 10) and two Senate voting days (Nov. 17 and 18) left on the House and Senate calendars, any housing bill that hasn't passed both chambers by then will have to start over in January.