Filed by the property managers who live under these rules.

A PHTIN (Philadelphia Tax Identification Number) is required for every landlord in Philadelphia. It's your unique ID for the Philadelphia Tax Center. If you don't have one, we'll guide you through the setup process — it takes about 15 minutes online.

The Philadelphia rental license application is filed through L&I after your owner tax account, property details, and required compliance items are ready. We check the property, confirm PHTIN/CAL status, collect the owner signatures the application requires, coordinate lead paint items when needed, and submit the application for you.

Most owners need a Philadelphia Tax Identification Number (PHTIN), a Commercial Activity License or proper tax account setup, no blocking L&I violations, the correct owner/property information, and lead-safe or lead-free certification if the property was built before March 1978 (the City's cutoff). The exact requirements depend on the property, which is why the address check comes first.

Once we have all your information and your tax account is set up, we typically submit within 3–5 business days. The most common delay is waiting for PHTIN setup or tax clearance, which we help you resolve.

You can actually check this right now — the free compliance preview above pulls live data from Philadelphia's violations database for your address. Open violations must be resolved before L&I will issue a license, but we flag them upfront so there are no surprises. If anything shows up, we'll walk you through the fastest path to resolution before we submit the application.

The City requires a lead-safe or lead-free certification for rentals built before March 1978. Public records list only a build year, so we treat a 1978 or unknown build year as covered until it is shown otherwise. If the City's lead-certificate record shows a current certificate, or you already hold one, the test comes off your quote. Otherwise we coordinate the testing with our certified inspectors. Cost depends on bedrooms per unit ($130–$280/unit).

The city rental license fee is $69 per unit, paid directly to Philadelphia L&I. Our flat service fee is $500 per property for the done-for-you application support. Lead paint testing is separate when required, and the address tool shows the estimated total before you start.

The $69 per unit fee is the City of Philadelphia's licensing fee — it goes directly to L&I. This is mandatory regardless of who files your application. Our service fee covers everything else.

If you're already working with HubKey for tenant placement, the rental license can be bundled at a reduced rate. Just let us know when you get started and we'll apply the discount.

We run a full compliance check before we submit, so surprises at L&I are rare. HubKey never guarantees City approval, and issuance timing is the City's. Refunds are governed by a single rule — the Service Fee Refund in our Rental License Procurement Agreement, linked in the site footer. We don't restate it here, so there is only ever one version of it.

We don't have real-time visibility into L&I's internal queue, so there's no live tracking page. We'll tell you what's still needed from you, and email you once your file is submitted.

Rental licenses are tied to the owner and property — they don't transfer when a property changes hands. The new owner has to apply for their own license before renting. If you're buying a property with an existing rental license, budget for a fresh application.

Without an active license, Philadelphia law can bar you from collecting rent or recovering possession — rent collected without a license isn't legally enforceable, so a tenant who disputes it may leave you unable to enforce the lease, and evictions also get complicated without a valid license.

Yes. The entire intake is online — you don't need to be in Philly. We handle the paperwork and signatures online, coordinate lead paint testing with on-site access via your tenant or contractor, and submit everything to L&I on your behalf. Most of our clients never set foot in a city office.

Short-term rentals in Philadelphia have a separate licensing path (Limited Lodging) on top of the standard rental license. We can handle the standard rental license — for short-term-specific compliance (zoning permit, Hotel Tax registration), we'll flag what else you need and refer you if it's outside our scope.

Yes, and it's included — but it is not a move-in-only document. The Certificate of Rental Suitability is separate from the rental license; the City issues it free through eCLIPSE, and at the start of every tenancy the tenant must receive one issued within the prior 60 days, along with your attestation and the City's Partners for Good Housing handbook. From November 1, 2026, Philadelphia Bill 250329-AA (§9-3903(1)(c)-(d)) adds two ongoing duties: a tenant may request a fresh certificate once every 90 days, and the owner then has 10 days to provide one issued within the prior 30 days — until it is provided, the ordinance denies the owner the right to collect rent — and an eviction filing requires a certificate issued within the prior 30 days, given to both the tenant and the court. We pull the certificate as part of your license procurement and send it to you; handing it to the tenant stays the owner's responsibility, as does certifying that smoke and fire alarms are working. That is what the ordinance says — HubKey is a licensed Pennsylvania brokerage, not a law firm, and this is not legal advice.

Starting November 1, 2026, after receiving a new or renewed Philadelphia rental license, the owner must provide tenants the license and required tenant-rights restatement within seven days. Delivery may be by conspicuous posting, personal delivery, or certified mail. Email is allowed only for a one- or two-unit property when the tenant has qualifying written consent. The free property report explains the property-specific steps; it does not send the notice or prove delivery.

Yes. When properties have the same owner or legal entity and are submitted and paid together through the portfolio checkout, the first property's HubKey service fee is $500 and each additional property's is $450 — an automatic 10% discount on property 2 and beyond. City and lead-testing fees are never discounted.

Yes. Philadelphia rental licenses renew annually, and we track yours. We record the expiration date the City puts on your license and email you 60, 30 and 15 days before it — then re-check the City record and prepare and submit the renewal before the current license expires. Renewal is $199 per property per year, subject to change, plus City fees at cost. Renewing is still your call — the notice is an email, not a charge. See the full price list at /pricing.

Just an address and a way to pay. We'll ask for owner info, PHTIN (or help you set one up if you don't have one), property details, and your signature on the application paperwork. The whole intake takes ~10 minutes.

If your PHTIN is set up and you have no open violations, we typically submit to L&I within 3 business days of receiving your intake. That is how fast we submit; once it is filed, issuance is L&I's to schedule and we don't promise a date. The most common delays before submission: setting up PHTIN (1–7 days), tax clearance issues, or open violations on the property.

Common situation. We submit the application as a new license. Getting licensed does not by itself settle the period the property was rented without one: the City can require back-payments or penalties as a condition of issuing the license, and rent for an unlicensed period can be disputed. We cannot tell you what the City will assess for your property, and we are a licensed brokerage, not a law firm. The sooner the license is in place, the sooner that period stops growing.

We share your property + owner info only with the Philadelphia Department of Licenses & Inspections (required for the application) and with our lead paint inspector partner (only if pre-1978). We don't sell, share, or use your info for marketing. Full privacy details on request.

Checkout currently accepts cards through Stripe, including eligible Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets. ACH and check are not available in the self-serve one-property or portfolio checkout.

Philadelphia's rental license process touches five separate city systems, and most delays come from a prerequisite nobody flagged — a missing tax account, an unfiled lead certificate, a Commercial Activity License that got flagged. We check all of it up front, prepare the filing, and submit it. Flat $500, City fees at cost.