The five steps, in order
This is the sequence the City's own systems enforce, from the first filing to the paperwork you hand a tenant at signing:
- Tax accounts: a Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT) account if you'll need a Commercial Activity License (the City asks for the BIRT ID on that application), plus current standing on City property tax and fines.
- Activity license: a free Activity License Number if you occupy the property and rent out no more than three units; otherwise a Commercial Activity License (also free), issued against the BIRT account.
- Lead certification (required for covered Targeted Housing built before March 1978, subject to the Code's specified educational-housing exclusion and the City's exemption workflow): a lead-safe or lead-free certificate for each covered unit.
- Rental license: $69 per unit per year, filed through eCLIPSE, and checked against the first three steps plus the Code's Title 4, more-than-30-day, notified-pending-appeal test.
- Certificate of Rental Suitability and lease packet: prepared for each covered tenancy and handed to the tenant at signing; the Code excepts a rental to a tenant who is a member of the owner's family.
Step 1: Register your tax accounts
If you'll need a Commercial Activity License, register a Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT) account first: the City lists the BIRT ID among that license's application requirements, and the license links your businesses to the legal entity registered for BIRT. Owner-occupants renting out no more than three units use an Activity License Number instead. Either way, your rental license will not issue or renew unless you're current on City taxes and fines, or in, and compliant with, a Revenue payment agreement. Tax delinquency doesn't sit quietly on your account: it gets a Commercial Activity License denied or revoked, which cascades straight into a blocked rental license.
BIRT rates, filing thresholds, and payment-agreement terms change over time. Confirm the current figures on the Revenue Department's site or with a CPA before you file rather than relying on a number here: this guide covers the mechanics of how the accounts connect, not a specific tax liability.
Step 2: Get your activity license
Every rental needs an activity license before the rental license, but which one you need depends on how you're renting. Live in the property and rent out no more than three units, and you qualify for a free Activity License Number: a lighter registration than a full business license. Rent four or more units, or don't occupy the property at all, and you need a full Commercial Activity License instead, applied for with the BIRT ID from Step 1.
The Commercial Activity License itself carries no City fee (Phila. Code §19-2602), and operating after it is denied or revoked, or in defiance of a Cease Operations Order, carries a $300-per-day fine. Either license is filed through eCLIPSE, and it has to be on file before a rental license application will process: eCLIPSE checks for it as a prerequisite, not an afterthought.
Step 3: Lead certification, if your house may be Targeted Housing
If the property may be Targeted Housing built before March 1978, Philadelphia's lead law (Phila. Code §§6-802(14), 6-803(3)(a)) conditions covered lease signing or renewal and rental-license issuance or renewal on the required certification and submissions. The definition excludes specified educational-institution student housing; the City FAQ separately describes qualifying student housing and hotel treatment. The Code presumes a rental property was built before March 1978 until rebutted. Lead-safe testing completed after February 1, 2020 generally runs on a 4-year cycle, while lead-free certification doesn't expire. This is a workflow description, not a case-specific conclusion about coverage, lease enforceability, or remedies.
Built after February 1978? You're exempt, but the exemption isn't automatic: you still have to file documented proof with the Health Department at leadcertification.phila.gov. Skip that filing and the City's system still treats the property as covered by the requirement.
Step 4: File for the rental license itself
With the activity license, tax accounts, and any required lead certificate in place, you apply for the rental license through eCLIPSE. It costs $69 per unit per year, capped at $27,830 per building, with no fee for any unit you occupy yourself. At issuance and every renewal, eCLIPSE checks tax clearance, lead certification where applicable, and whether any outstanding Title 4 notice has been of record for more than 30 days. The violation exception requires an appeal filed by the owner that remains pending plus notice to L&I in the manner it prescribes.
Buildings with two or more rental units need one more document (proof of legal occupancy): a Certificate of Occupancy (plus a notarized Affidavit of Continuous Use if it was issued more than three years before you apply), a prior rental license issued or renewed within the last three years showing the same unit count, or a zoning permit paired with a notarized Affidavit of Continuous Use. Every owner of covered property must designate a Managing Agent: a natural person over 18 who resides in Philadelphia or customarily or regularly attends a business office maintained here. If you neither reside nor maintain a place of business in Philadelphia (which can include owners based in the Pennsylvania suburbs, not just out-of-state owners), you separately have to register a qualifying Local Agent under Phila. Code §9-3902.1.
Step 5: Certificate of Rental Suitability and the lease packet
The last step happens at a covered new tenancy: obtain a Certificate of Rental Suitability (CRS), free through eCLIPSE and issued no more than 60 days before the tenancy starts. The Code's inception rule does not apply to a rental to a tenant who is a member of the owner's family. Philadelphia's published renewal guidance is not completely consistent: L&I currently instructs owners to obtain a new CRS for a renewed lease, while another City page describes the tenant-document duty differently. We flag the stricter L&I workflow and link both official sources in the CRS guide. An outstanding violation notice generally prevents CRS issuance unless the owner has a pending appeal and notified L&I in the manner it prescribes.
Hand the tenant four things at signing: the CRS itself, a copy of your owner's attestation, the City's "Partners in Good Housing" handbook, and a link to the voter-registration "How to Register" page. Pre-1978 properties add the federal lead pamphlet and disclosure, plus a 10-day lead-inspection clause that every lease in Philadelphia, regardless of the building's age, has to contain.
What skipping a step actually costs
Philadelphia's current license and CRS provisions contain rent-recovery and possession limits for specified periods of noncompliance (Phila. Code §9-3901(4)(e) (renumbered §9-3901(4)(h) effective November 1, 2026), §9-3902(1)(a)). The lead law has separate duties and express remedies in §6-809. Whether a property is covered, which duty was unmet, the relevant period, later-compliance effect, claim, defenses, and remedy must be analyzed separately; this guide does not turn a missing record into an automatic no-debt, refund, or possession conclusion.
Following the sequence can reduce licensing and document delays. Later compliance does not by itself answer how an earlier period will be treated, and this checklist cannot calculate unrecoverable rent or any other legal or financial outcome. Preserve the dates and records for case-specific review.
Scheduled for November 1, 2026: current status requires verification
Bill 250329-AA was enacted with a stated November 1, 2026 effective date. The later litigation posture requires PACER or counsel verification. If operative as written, it adds a 7-day rental-license delivery rule. Separately, §9-3901(4)(h) adds attachment duties for eviction and rent-collection actions, while §9-3903(1)(c) adds a fresh-CRS provision only for an eviction action and uses the unresolved phrase "date of enrollment." This guide does not rewrite that phrase as "filing date" or combine the two duties. Verify current court and City implementation before relying on either provision.
Where this checklist actually stalls
In practice, owners rarely stall on the paperwork itself: they stall on not knowing which step their specific address is missing. A property can come with a clean license history from the prior owner and still have an expired lead certificate, or a current Commercial Activity License but open L&I violations nobody told the new owner about. Each of those blocks a different downstream step, and the City's tools show them one at a time rather than as a single picture.
For questions about your specific property or lease, talk to a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.