Selling a rental in Chambersburg or Waynesboro, PA: the license, the tenant, and the reassessment question

Most landlord calls we get from Franklin County come in one of three flavors: the inspection letter arrived, the tenant stopped paying, or the owner is done managing from Maryland or the next duty station. All three end the same way, with a sale that the tenant does not have to leave for. Here is what the two boroughs require, what transfers with the house, and the one countywide question worth watching.

Chambersburg: Chapter 236 and the 36 month inspection

Chambersburg Borough regulates rental units under Chapter 236 of its code. The owner pays a $25 per unit program fee each year, and the Pennsylvania Municipal Code Alliance inspects each unit about every 36 months. A failed inspection comes with a punch list and a reinspection, not a shutdown, but the list is real money on an older twin. Nothing in Chapter 236 requires the inspection to be current before a sale, and the program fee and the next inspection date transfer to the new owner. When the new owner is us, the punch list is ours.

Waynesboro: Chapter 213 and the license before the tenant

Waynesboro Borough licenses rentals under Chapter 213 and Ordinance 1197. Every rental parcel is registered, the borough issues the license within 30 days of a complete application and fee, and an inspection can come first. The rule landlords trip on is the order: a tenant in place before the license issues is a violation. If you inherited a rented house and never licensed it, or the license lapsed, you are not required to cure that before selling to us. The license is issued to the owner, so we apply fresh after closing anyway.

Tenant timing: the lease controls, not the sale

A sale does not end a lease in Pennsylvania. A tenant on a year lease stays until it ends; a month to month tenant stays until someone gives proper notice under the Landlord and Tenant Act. That is fine with us. We buy the house subject to the lease, the security deposit transfers to us at closing with a written accounting, and the tenant gets a letter with the new address for rent. You do not have to deliver the house vacant, and you should not try to: an eviction started to sell a house costs months and usually nets less than selling with the tenant in place.

If the tenant is behind, tell us the arrears and where the case stands at the magisterial district court. We price it in. A judgment already entered helps; an eviction not yet filed does not stop the sale.

The reassessment question

Franklin County has not reassessed property countywide since 1961, and in September 2026 Chambersburg Borough Council voted 9 to 1 to retain outside counsel to try to force one through the courts, while the county commissioners said a reassessment is not indicated and that they will defend the current base. A reassessment does not raise the county’s total tax take, but it moves the bill between parcels, and rentals in the boroughs that have been improved since 1961 without a matching assessment change are the ones most exposed. Nobody knows the outcome yet. What we can say is that a rental’s value to the next buyer is its rent minus its expenses, and a tax bill that could move is one more reason a landlord who is already tired decides to sell now rather than after.

What you still have to disclose

The Seller Disclosure Law applies. A failed inspection, an open violation, or a lapsed license is a material fact, and it goes on the statement (or, if you are selling as an estate fiduciary, gets disclosed even without the form). Tell us up front. It is priced in on day one, and it never becomes a reason to lower the number later.

What to gather before you call

• The lease, the last rent ledger, and the security deposit amount.
• The most recent inspection report or violation letter, if there is one.
• Any notices from the magisterial district court if a case is open.

More on how Franklin County rules affect a sale, including the Tax Claim Bureau calendar and the Register of Wills, on our Franklin County page, and the Waynesboro buyer vetting questions on cash home buyers in Waynesboro.