Unsigned Lease Agreement

Hello, I’m hoping for some advice about tenant law. I need a rough layout of the terrain here, but I do understand the need to see a real lawyer about my specific case should this escalate. Also, I am in Philadelphia, PA if local or state laws take precedence.

I am leaving Philly to attend grad school, and as such will need to vacate my apartment. This is an apartment I have been in for years now, and while my original lease did have a clause about automatic renewal, it was replaced in January with a new lease was supposed to run through the end of the calendar year. This was done in order to raise my rent. Not knowing if I would get into the school, and not wanting to lose my apartment should I remain, I started paying the new amount but left my lease unsigned. This went unnoticed.

Morally, I do feel this was wrong, in that I should have just communicated the situation from the start and given them a chance to prepare. (I didn’t because of a experience a friend had with a different landlord, in which after asking for a six month lease instead of a full year, they offered the apartment to a different tenant. This has no bearing on the actual matter, but explains my state of mind at the time). I obviously would not do this again, as I have a very different understanding of the position this puts other people in.

Regardless, I am finishing up at my job next week, and will not have a income to offset these payments. My landlord wants me to make payments until he can find a new tenant. He is definitely not willing to let me use my last months rent for June. I have not yet brought up the unsigned lease, and it seems like he is unaware of that factor. I wanted to some feedback first. Does this protect me at all, or is the payment of the new amount an implicit agreement to the terms? Does not having a lease mean they can cause problems for me in my last month in the city? Would making the payments prevent even more expensive litigation? Would problems here make it harder to secure future housing? I’m looking for a way out that would be good for everyone (even thought about surrendering my security deposit to offset their loss.)