Eviction in Berks County: Timeline, Costs and Tenant Help

A landlord in Berks County cannot put a tenant out without a court order, and the shortest legal path from a missed rent payment to a lockout runs five to six weeks: a 10-day written notice, a hearing at the local magisterial district court 7 to 15 days after the landlord files, a judgment, a 10-day window to appeal, then an order that a constable or deputy sheriff serves with 10 more days to leave. A tenant whose only problem is unpaid rent can stop the lockout at any point before it happens by paying what the order says is owed plus court costs, and a tenant who wants to fight the judgment can appeal to the Berks County Court of Common Pleas and stay in the home while the appeal is heard by paying the rent into an escrow account as it comes due.

The steps below apply to residential rentals; mobile home lots and commercial leases have different deadlines, noted where they differ. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amended several of these rules effective November 1, 2026, and the state courts posted new tenant affidavit forms on October 30; the rule text quoted below is the current version.

Step 1: the notice to quit

Under Section 501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, the landlord must first give a notice to quit, a written demand that the tenant move out by a certain date. The notice period depends on the reason:

• 10 days when the tenant has failed, on demand, to pay rent that is due.
• 15 days when the lease has ended or the tenant broke a lease condition, if the lease ran for one year or less or has no set term, such as month to month.
• 30 days for the same reasons when the lease ran for more than one year.
• 10 days when the lease is ended over illegal drug activity under Section 505-A.

Mobile home lot renters get 30 days or three months for a lease ending or a breach, and 15 or 30 days for nonpayment depending on the season.

Section 501(e) says the notice "may be for a lesser time or may be waived by the tenant if the lease so provides." Many leases contain that waiver, and if yours does, the landlord can file in court the day the rent is late. Read the lease before counting on the 10 days.

Step 2: the landlord files at the district court

When the notice period ends and the tenant is still there, the landlord files a Landlord/Tenant Complaint, a statewide form on the courts' forms page, at the magisterial district court that covers the property. A magisterial district judge, or MDJ, runs that local court; people call it district court, and Berks County has 17. Rule 502 allows the case "in and only in the magisterial district where the whole or part of the real property" sits, and Rule 503 requires the complaint to state that notice to quit was given "or that no notice was required under the terms of the lease."

To find the court for an address, open the County Map or City Map on the county's Magisterial District Judges page, then look up that district on the court search listing; Special Courts Administration, 610-478-6456, can also tell you. Every court is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The West Reading court, 23-2-01 at 401 Walnut St., currently has a vacant judgeship, but its office is open at 610-374-7721.

The filing fee is set by state law and rises each January. For 2026, 204 Pa. Code § 29.402 sets the landlord-tenant complaint cost at $102.50 when the money claimed is $2,000 or less, $125.50 for more than $2,000 up to $4,000, and $171 for more than $4,000 up to $12,000, rising to $105, $128.50 and $175 on January 1, 2027 under the Pennsylvania Bulletin of October 10, 2026. The landlord also pays postage and service costs up front; all of it is added to the judgment if the landlord wins.

Step 3: the hearing, 7 to 15 days later

Rule 504 requires a hearing "not less than seven or more than fifteen days from the date the complaint is filed." Under Rule 506 the court mails the complaint to the tenant and a sheriff or certified constable hands a second copy to the tenant or an adult in charge and posts it on the premises, at least five days before the hearing. The complaint warns that not appearing "may result in a judgment entered against you for possession and costs," and tells unnamed occupants they can be evicted too unless they file an intervention request before the hearing.

What a tenant should do before the hearing:

1. Read the complaint for the hearing date, time and court address. The hearing is at the district court office, not the courthouse, unless your district court sits there.
2. Gather proof: the lease, rent receipts or bank records, texts and emails with the landlord, photos of any conditions problems, and code reports. In Reading, see our guide to the city's rental permit and inspection program.
3. If the landlord owes you money from the tenancy, file a cross-complaint on the civil complaint form at the same court before the hearing. Rule 508 says there is no filing fee, and both claims are heard together.
4. Call MidPenn Legal Services or the Bar Association's referral line (both below) the day the complaint arrives, then show up with copies of everything for the judge and the landlord.

Rule 512 requires the landlord to "appear at the hearing and present testimony," and its note says the judge "shall not enter a default judgment in a possessory action," a default judgment being a ruling against someone who does not show up. The landlord must testify even if the tenant stays home, though a tenant who skips the hearing still loses in nearly every case; a landlord who does not come gets a continuance or a dismissal without prejudice, meaning the case can be refiled.

Step 4: the judgment

Rule 514 says judgment "shall be given at the conclusion of the hearing or within three days thereafter," with written notice given or mailed to both sides. If the landlord proved the case, the judgment for possession says the property is to be "delivered up to the landlord," with separate entries for rent due, damages for holding over, physical damage, costs, and any security deposit applied against the total. The judge must also write down the monthly rent, because that figure sets the escrow deposits on appeal. The notice states the appeal deadline. Keep it; you need a copy to appeal.

Step 5: the 10-day appeal window

Under Rule 1002, a tenant "may appeal the judgment within 10 days after the date of the entry of judgment." The money part can be appealed within 30 days, but an appeal filed after the 10th day does not stop the eviction. When the 10th day lands on a weekend or a court holiday, 1 Pa.C.S. § 1908 says that day "shall be omitted from the computation," so the deadline runs to the next business day: if the 10th day falls on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, when the Prothonotary is closed for Veterans Day, the appeal can still be filed Thursday, November 12. A tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, meaning someone with a protection-from-abuse order or other evidence of abuse, gets 30 days and can file a domestic violence affidavit at the district court, with no money posted, to hold off the order for possession in the meantime.

How to appeal:

1. Get the Notice of Appeal from Magisterial District Judge Judgment form from the courts' forms page or the Prothonotary's counter.
2. File it, with a copy of the district court's notice of judgment, at the Berks County Prothonotary, 2nd floor of the courthouse, 633 Court St., Reading, open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Wednesday, November 11). The county's fee bill, effective September 28, 2026, charges $225 for an appeal from a magisterial district judge; card payments add a processing fee of 3 percent or $1, whichever is more.
3. If you cannot pay, file the Application to Waive Fees and Costs, also called an in forma pauperis petition, under Pa.R.Civ.P. 240; the same form qualifies a low-income tenant for the reduced escrow deposit below.
4. Make the escrow deposit when you file.

The Prothonotary launched its CourtPro electronic filing system on September 28 for what its page calls "attorneys and other authorized users," while its posted list of filings not available for e-file, last amended in 2019, still includes filings by people without a lawyer, appeals from magisterial district judges, and rent payments. Plan on filing in person or by mail, and call 610-478-6970 first.

Staying in the home during the appeal

Filing alone does not stop the eviction. A supersedeas is a court order that pauses the eviction while the appeal is pending, and Rule 1008 says the appeal "shall operate as a supersedeas only if the tenant" deposits with the Prothonotary "the lesser of three months' rent or the rent actually in arrears on the date of the filing of the notice of appeal, based upon the judgment entered by the magisterial district judge," and then each month's rent "within 30 days following the date of the appeal and each successive 30-day period thereafter." Miss a deposit and the landlord can ask the Prothonotary to end the supersedeas and go back to the district court for an order for possession.

Rule 1008(c) lets tenants at or below the limits in the courts' Supplemental Instructions for Obtaining a Stay of Eviction, which for 2026 are the federal poverty guideline in monthly amounts: $1,330 for one person, $1,803.33 for two, $2,276.67 for three, $2,750 for four, and $473.33 for each additional person, deposit less. Such a tenant files a Tenant's Supersedeas Affidavit plus the fee-waiver application, then:

• If this month's rent is unpaid: one-third of a month's rent at filing, the other two-thirds within 20 days, then a full month every 30 days.
• If this month's rent was paid: nothing at filing, then a full month every 30 days from the appeal date.

A tenant with a Housing Choice Voucher deposits only the tenant share, using the voucher version of the affidavit; the courts posted four versions, numbered 312-08 (A) through (D), on October 30, 2026.

The appeal is not a review of the district judge's reasoning. It starts the case over in the Court of Common Pleas, where the landlord must prove everything again under formal rules, and that court decides who gets the escrowed rent, though under Rule 1008(b)(2) and (c)(6) the landlord can ask it to release money during the appeal for the tenant's use of the home. See our guides to the Berks County Courthouse and Berks County court records.

Step 6: the order for possession

If no appeal is filed, or the supersedeas lapses, the landlord goes back to the district court for an order for possession, the paper that directs a constable or sheriff to put the landlord back in. Rule 515 lets a residential landlord file the request "after the 10th day but within 120 days following the date of the entry of the judgment," and the court collects the server's fees for the whole process at that point.

Under Rule 516 the judge issues the order to the sheriff or a certified constable in the county. The Berks County Sheriff's Office, 3rd floor of the courthouse, 610-478-6240, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., lists a $400 deposit for a writ of possession on its civil fee sheet, without saying whether that covers a district court order; constables often serve district court orders, and their charges are set by state law, so ask the court for the amount.

Rule 517 requires the officer to serve the order "within 48 hours" by handing it to the tenant or an adult in charge, or by posting it on the door. The residential notice tells the tenant and all occupants to "vacate this property within 10 days after the date of this notice," and the date on the notice is the date of service.

Step 7: the lockout

Rule 519 sets the day: if "on or after the 11th day following the service of the order for possession" anyone is still there, the officer "shall use such force as may be necessary to enter upon the property, by the breaking in of any door or otherwise," and deliver it to the landlord. The order expires 60 days after it is issued; a landlord can have it reissued once for another 60 days, but in a residential case only within 120 days of the judgment. Commercial tenants get 15 days after service, with the lockout on or after the 16th.

Paying to stop the lockout

Rule 518 lets a tenant, "in a case for the recovery of possession solely because of failure to pay rent," satisfy the order at any time before the officer delivers possession by paying that officer "the rent actually in arrears and the costs of the proceedings." The amount is the figure printed on the order, and the officer must give a signed receipt. The right does not apply when the lease ended or the judge found another lease violation.

What happens to belongings

Section 505.1 of the act lets a landlord treat property left behind after an order is executed as abandoned, but only after mailing a written notice to the rental address and any forwarding address. The tenant then has 10 days from the postmark to retrieve the property or ask that it be stored up to 30 days from the notice date, at the tenant's expense. Subsection (g) says a written lease's terms control if they conflict with the section, except that under subsection (h) a landlord who knows of a protection-from-abuse order protecting the tenant or an immediate family member must leave the property alone for 30 days from the notice. Give the landlord a forwarding address in writing before you leave.

The timeline on one page

Each interval runs from the step before it.

Stage	Earliest timing	Source
Notice to quit served	Day 0	68 P.S. § 250.501
Landlord may file the complaint	Day 10 (nonpayment); day 15 or 30 (lease ended or breached); day 0 if the lease waives notice	§ 250.501(b), (e)
Hearing	7 to 15 days after filing; tenant served at least 5 days before	Rules 504, 506
Judgment	At the hearing or within 3 days	Rule 514
Appeal deadline for possession	10 days after judgment (30 for domestic violence victims)	Rule 1002
Landlord may request the order for possession	After the 10th day, within 120 days of judgment	Rule 515
Order served	Within 48 hours of the officer receiving it	Rule 517
Lockout	On or after the 11th day after service	Rule 519
Pay-and-stay cutoff (nonpayment cases only)	Any time before the officer delivers possession	Rule 518
Order expires	60 days after issuance; one reissue within 120 days of judgment	Rules 516, 519

Two official sources disagree here. The act itself says, in Section 502, that the hearing is "not less than seven nor more than ten days from the date of the summons," and in Section 503 that a writ of possession may issue "after the fifth day after the rendition of the judgment"; Section 513 requires an appealing tenant to deposit "the amount of any judgment." The court rules say 7 to 15 days, 10 days, and the lesser of three months' rent or the arrears. The note to Rule 1002 explains part of it: the Supreme Court in 1996 suspended Act 33 of 1995, the appeal-deposit amendment to Section 513, "insofar as the Act is inconsistent" with the rules, and the courts follow the rules for the other timing differences as well.

Where tenants get help in Berks County

Free and reduced-cost lawyers

MidPenn Legal Services provides free representation in civil cases, including evictions, to people who qualify by income. Its Reading office is at 35 N. Sixth St., Mezzanine Suite 101, Reading, PA 19601, local phone 610-376-8656; to apply, call the intake line at 800-326-9177, open 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. MidPenn's routine presence in Reading's eviction courts ended in April 2025, according to Spotlight PA, and its managing attorney said the office now handles requests on call. Apply the day the complaint arrives.

The Berks County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service matches callers with a private attorney at 610-375-4591 or at 544 Court St., Reading, by appointment. Its Modest Means Program offers discounted representation to people whose income, in the Bar Association's words, "exceeds legal aid standards by 75%"; the covered cases include "Landlord-Tenant, on behalf of the Tenant, under a Residential Lease." MidPenn does the income screening at the same 800 number.

Rent money to settle the case

The Berks County Redevelopment Authority's Rental Assistance Program, run through its nonprofit arm, the Berks County Nonprofit Development Corporation, launched October 6, 2026. The authority's page and brochure list eviction prevention, past-due rent, mobile home lot rent, past-due utilities and security deposits as eligible uses. Paper applications are at 400 E. Wyomissing Ave., Ground Floor, Suite 2, Mohnton, PA 19540, weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., phone 610-478-6325; the application packet is online and goes back by email to mmartinez@berksredevelop.org with the "Eviction Notice from District Justice," the lease, 30 days of pay stubs, a landlord ledger and a landlord W-9. Interviews are by appointment, applications are first come, first served, and assistance depends on funding.

The county's pages do not say how much the program pays or who qualifies by income; Spotlight PA reported in December 2025 that the pilot runs on a $200,000 state PHARE grant through July 2027, paying up to $10,000 per household for households below half the area median income that had been served an eviction notice. Confirm those terms when you call. On October 15, 2026, the county commissioners authorized a letter of support for the authority's application for another $500,000 in PHARE money for what the agenda called its Eviction Prevention Program, approved with the rest of the agenda in a single vote, as we reported in our meeting recap. That was a letter of support, not an award; the state decides, and no county money was attached.

The Berks Coalition to End Homelessness lists five more sources for people facing eviction: Reading's Human Relations Commission, 610-655-6141, for "limited financial assistance to eligible city residents facing eviction"; Family Promise of Berks County, 610-373-3323, for the same for "eligible Berks County residents"; the Salvation Army, 610-373-5208; Berks Community Action Program, 610-376-6571, for one-time rental assistance; and the Veteran Multi-Service Center, 610-314-4741. BCEH is at 600 Penn St., Reading, 610-372-7222, weekdays 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dialing 211 or texting your ZIP code to 898-211 reaches PA 211 East around the clock.

The state's Emergency Shelter Allowance pays up to $400 to stop an eviction or foreclosure, once in any 12-month period, for people who meet its income and resource rules. Apply through COMPASS or at the Berks County Assistance Office, 625 Cherry St., Reading, 610-736-4211, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and bring the court papers, because you must show that $400 will solve the emergency; our LIHEAP guide covers heating help. If the lockout cannot be stopped, our guide to Berks County homeless shelters lists every shelter and the Coordinated Entry walk-in hours.

Lockouts, shutoffs and discrimination

Only an officer carrying a court order can remove a tenant; Section 503 of the act puts possession in the hands of the "writ server, constable or sheriff." Changing the locks, shutting off water, heat or electricity, or removing doors to force a tenant out is what the state Attorney General's office calls self-help eviction. In a May 14, 2024 release on a settlement with a Warren County landlord who cut water to occupied rentals, the office defined self-help as "a landlord's illegal actions to force eviction or removal of tenants," done "without first obtaining a court order of possession, as required by the Pennsylvania Landlord Tenant Act," and told tenants to call the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-525-7642. The Attorney General's site no longer displays the release; we quote the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network's copy. A locked-out tenant can also sue the landlord in small claims court.

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act bars housing decisions, including evictions, based on race, sex, disability, familial status and the other classes the act lists. A complaint to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission must be filed within 180 days; the intake questionnaire goes to phrc@pa.gov, and the state's fair housing line is 855-866-5718. Reading's Human Relations Commission takes fair housing complaints and landlord-tenant disputes by phone and email at 610-655-6141.

Your security deposit after you leave

Sections 511.1 and 512 of the act cap the deposit at two months' rent in the first year of a lease and one month after that, and require the landlord, within 30 days of the lease ending or the tenant moving out, to send a written list of damages and return the balance, though the landlord may keep it for unpaid rent or other lease breaches. A landlord who sends no list "shall forfeit all rights to withhold any portion" of the deposit, and one who fails to return the balance owes double the amount wrongly kept. Section 512(e) is the catch: a tenant who does not give the landlord a new address in writing loses these protections.

How to look up a case

District court dockets are public. Search by name or docket number at the UJS web portal. Common Pleas appeals appear in the Prothonotary's CourtPro Viewer, linked from its page.

FAQ

How long does an eviction take in Berks County?

With a 10-day notice for nonpayment, the rules allow a hearing 17 days after the notice, judgment within three days, an order for possession on the 11th day after judgment, and a lockout on the 11th day after the order is served: five to six weeks if the landlord moves on every deadline and the tenant does nothing. Court scheduling, service delays and an appeal all stretch it.

Can I stop an eviction by paying the rent I owe?

Yes, if nonpayment was the only reason for the judgment. Rule 518 lets you pay the rent in arrears shown on the order for possession plus court costs to the constable or deputy at any time before possession is delivered, and the eviction ends there. Get a receipt and ask the court to mark the judgment satisfied.

What does it cost to appeal an eviction in Berks County?

The Prothonotary charges $225 to file a notice of appeal from a magisterial district judge under its fee bill effective September 28, 2026; low-income tenants can ask to waive it under Pa.R.Civ.P. 240. To stay in the home during the appeal you also deposit the lesser of three months' rent or the rent the judge found due, then a month's rent every 30 days; tenants under the federal poverty guideline deposit one-third of a month's rent at filing and the rest within 20 days.

Can my landlord change the locks or shut off my utilities?

No. Pennsylvania law requires a judgment, an order for possession, and an officer to carry it out. The state Attorney General's office calls lockouts and utility shutoffs illegal self-help and takes complaints at 800-525-7642.

Do I have to leave on the day the order says?

The order gives 10 days from the date it is served, and the officer may not remove you before the 11th day. If you stay past that, the officer can enter by force, and the landlord can treat anything left behind as abandoned after a written notice and a 10-day retrieval period.

Sources

• The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951: full text, sections 501, 502, 503, 505.1, 511.1, 512 and 513.
• Rules of Civil Procedure for Magisterial District Judges (Title 246 of the Pennsylvania Code): 502, 503, 504, 506, 508, 512, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 1002, 1008 and 1013; the Supreme Court's April 21, 2026 order amending them effective Nov. 1, 2026; 1 Pa.C.S. § 1908; Pa.R.Civ.P. 240.
• Court costs: 204 Pa. Code § 29.402 (2026) and the Pennsylvania Bulletin of Oct. 10, 2026 (2027).
• Pennsylvania courts: forms for the public, the 2026 Supplemental Instructions for Obtaining a Stay of Eviction, and the UJS web portal.
• County of Berks: Magisterial District Judges and the court search listing; Prothonotary, its fee bill effective Sept. 28, 2026 and filings not available for e-file; Sheriff's Office and its civil fee schedule; Redevelopment Authority, the Rental Assistance Program packet and brochure; our Oct. 15, 2026 commissioners recap.
• Legal help: MidPenn Legal Services and its office locations; Berks County Bar Association, Find a Lawyer.
• Assistance: Berks Coalition to End Homelessness and its Get Help page; PA 211 East; Pa. DHS Emergency Shelter Allowance and county assistance office directory.
• Rights: Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission housing complaints; City of Reading Human Relations Commission; Pa. Office of Attorney General release of May 14, 2024 (Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network copy).
• News report, used for program terms no official page carries: Spotlight PA, Dec. 9, 2025, Without legal help, fewer Reading tenants prevail in eviction cases.

Berks County magisterial district courts: find yours on the court search listing; all are open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Special Courts Administration, 633 Court St., Reading, 610-478-6456. Prothonotary: Berks County Courthouse, 2nd floor, 633 Court St., Reading, PA 19601; 610-478-6970; Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sheriff's Office: 633 Court St., 3rd floor; 610-478-6240; Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MidPenn Legal Services, Reading: 35 N. Sixth St., Mezzanine Suite 101, Reading, PA 19601; apply at 800-326-9177, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; office 610-376-8656. Berks County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service: 544 Court St., Reading; 610-375-4591. Berks County Redevelopment Authority Rental Assistance Program: 400 E. Wyomissing Ave., Ground Floor, Suite 2, Mohnton, PA 19540; 610-478-6325; Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Berks Coalition to End Homelessness: 600 Penn St., Reading; 610-372-7222; Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Berks County Assistance Office: 625 Cherry St., Reading, PA 19602; 610-736-4211; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Corrections: corrections@berksbeat.com.