Can a Pennsylvania landlord raise rent at lease renewal?

Yes. The end of a fixed-term Pennsylvania lease is the typical (and statutorily safest) time for a rent increase. The landlord serves a renewal offer with the new rent, with at least the statutory notice period before the current term ends (Pennsylvania uses 68 P.S. 250.501 tenure-based notice: 15 days for tenancies under 1 year, 30 days for 1 year or more. No state rent cap. Rent changes on month-to-month tenancies follow the same notice ladder.). The tenant has three options: accept and sign for the new term at the new rent, decline and vacate at term end, or stay past term end and convert to a holdover or month-to-month tenancy depending on state law. Where rent control applies, the renewal increase is capped at the statutory annual cap even at renewal. If the tenant continues paying the old rent past the renewal date without signing, Pennsylvania courts often treat this as acceptance of the new rent only if the landlord has given proper written notice and accepted the new payment.

Source: 68 P.S. 250.501 (Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act 1951)