BERWYN, PA — Tredyffrin Township supervisors unanimously adopted a new student-rental ordinance Sept. 21 that places greater responsibility on landlords to control tenant conduct, respond to violations and risk losing their rental licenses when problems persist.
The ordinance replaces Chapter 151 of the township code, previously titled “Property Registration for Student Homes,” with a broader regulatory and enforcement system governing student rental units. The measure follows complaints over parties, litter, public drunkenness and other disturbances associated with student housing, including rentals occupied by Villanova University students.
Tredyffrin has 10 registered student rentals, eight of them in Mount Pleasant, the township’s historically Black neighborhood. The new rules take effect 31 days after enactment.
The ordinance retains the township’s limit of three student tenants in a student home but substantially expands landlords’ obligations. Owners must regulate tenant conduct through lease provisions and enforcement rather than relying solely on township action against individual tenants.
That shift was an explicit goal as supervisors developed the ordinance. During an August discussion preceding the public hearing, board Chair David Miller described the proposal as putting the “onus on the landlords” while giving the township additional enforcement options.
When the township issues a violation notice involving a student tenant, the owner must take steps to correct the problem within 10 days. Within 20 days, the landlord must submit a report detailing the response, measures intended to prevent another violation and a plan for handling future incidents.
A third violation involving the same tenant or tenants during a licensing year can trigger a more severe response: the township manager or zoning officer may direct the owner to begin eviction proceedings and prohibit those tenants from occupying the property during the next licensing period.
Landlords also face consequences tied directly to their licenses. The township manager or zoning officer can issue a formal warning or pursue nonrenewal, suspension or revocation for violations, including an owner’s failure to regulate tenant conduct or implement an approved corrective plan.
A suspension immediately removes an owner’s ability to rent student units for a period set by the township and requires steps to evict existing student tenants. Revocation can prevent an owner from renting student units during the current and following annual licensing terms.
Violations can also carry fines of as much as $1,000 plus costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the township. Each day a violation continues, or each section of the ordinance violated, can constitute a separate offense.
The ordinance requires all student-rental agreements to be written and to identify every authorized tenant and the maximum permitted occupancy. Owners must provide the township with current tenant affidavits and update the records when tenants change.
Owners who do not live in Tredyffrin or within 10 miles of the township must designate a nearby property manager or representative who can receive notices and carry out the owner’s obligations.
The rules also strengthen the township’s ability to inspect student rentals. Owners and tenants must permit inspections by the township manager or zoning officer at reasonable times with reasonable notice, while officials may seek a search warrant upon probable cause that a township ordinance has been violated.
The ordinance identifies unreasonable noise, fighting or threatening behavior, hazardous or physically offensive conditions and other disruptive conduct among the behaviors that can generate enforcement action. Student tenants are also responsible for the conduct of guests they permit on the premises.
The township framed the overhaul as a response to increasing neighborhood effects from student housing. In the ordinance, supervisors found that disruptive student behavior and code violations at student rentals had increased and that concentrations of student housing can alter residential neighborhoods.
The regulatory changes do not alter the township’s underlying zoning restrictions for student homes. Township officials previously clarified that the ordinance governs registration and enforcement rather than changing existing zoning or permitted uses.
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