Notice to quit

Before an eviction, your landlord must give you a notice to quit (a letter that says you must move out). The notice must say why the landlord wants you out and what you can do to stay. Every state sets its own timing for this notice. The number of days differs by state. Check your state's guide for the exact number.

Some renters get extra time under a federal law called the CARES Act. It covers homes in federal housing programs. It also covers homes with a mortgage that the federal government backs. There, your landlord must give you a notice to vacate (a letter that says you must leave). Your landlord cannot require you to leave until 30 days after they give you that notice. This rule is permanent. Ask a lawyer whether your home is covered.

Your landlord can send you a notice to end your lease if you materially (seriously) break a rule in the lease. The same notice can be used if you cause a problem that materially harms health or safety. The notice must name what you did and give a date to end the lease that is at least 7 business days later. You can stop the lease from ending if you fix the problem before that date.

Some problems can never be fixed once your landlord gives notice. These include using, growing, bringing in, having, or giving someone illegal drugs at your rental home. They also include illegally having or firing a gun there, and criminally attacking a renter or guest there. For these problems, your landlord can send a written notice ending your lease in 7 days. You get no chance to fix the problem first, unless your landlord agrees. Using a gun, or using force to defend yourself or someone else, does not count as one of these problems.

You can only fix a problem and stop your lease from ending 2 times in any 12-month period. After that, your landlord does not have to let you fix a new problem, unless your landlord agrees in writing.

If you materially break your lease, your landlord can give you a written notice to quit (a letter saying you must move out). The notice must say your lease ends on a date at least 10 days after the notice is served. If the problem can be fixed and you fix it before the date in the notice, your lease does not end.

A notice to quit must name the breach or other reason your lease is ending. If you can fix the problem, it must say what to do and by what date and time. It must give the date and time your lease ends. It must also say your landlord may start a court case to remove you if you stay.

A notice to quit must be in writing. Your landlord can hand it to you. Your landlord can leave it at the home if you are away. Your landlord can also send it by registered or certified mail.

Your landlord may not start an eviction case without first giving you a notice to quit (a letter saying you must move out). One case where no separate notice to quit is needed is unpaid rent. Then the written notice that you have not paid counts as the notice to quit. AS 09.45.090 lists a few other cases where it is not needed.

Unless state law says otherwise, the first time you seriously break your lease, your landlord must give you a written notice. The notice must describe what you did wrong, with dates and facts. It must say your lease will end at least 7 days after you receive it, unless you fix the problem within 7 days.

In New Mexico, only these acts are a substantial violation. They must happen on the property or within 300 feet, by you or with your consent.

• illegal drug possession, use, sale or making, except misdemeanor (minor crime) possession or use.
• unlawful use of a deadly weapon.
• unlawfully causing serious physical harm.
• sexual assault or molestation.
• entering a home or car without permission to steal or attack.
• theft by force or threat, or trying it.
• damaging property over $1,000 on purpose or recklessly.

If you knowingly commit a substantial violation, or knowingly let someone in your home do so, your landlord must give you a written notice. The notice must state the time, place and nature of the act. It must say your lease will end at least 3 days after you receive the notice.

If you seriously break a rule in your lease other than paying rent, your landlord must give you a written notice naming the problem. You then have 10 days from when you get the notice to fix the problem. If you do not, your landlord can end your lease and file an eviction case in court.

Serious safety problems can end your lease right away, with no chance to fix them. Examples include a gun being fired, a violent crime, or illegal drug activity in your home. Your landlord ends the lease with a written notice and can then file the eviction case.

In an unlawful detainer case (the civil eviction case), the Attorney General says your landlord must give 3 days' written notice to vacate (move out). If you do not leave, the landlord can sue you in court.

Before suing, the landlord must give you a written notice to vacate (a notice telling you to move out). The date on the notice is not the day you must be out. Texas law sets the notice time at 3 days. Your lease can set a shorter or longer time.

If you refuse the new rent and stay past your move-out date, your landlord can start an eviction case. First your landlord must give you a written notice to vacate (a letter telling you to move out). You get at least 3 days unless your lease sets a shorter or longer period.

Your landlord must first send you a written notice. This is usually called a Notice to Quit, which is a letter saying you must move out. The Boston Housing Stability Notification Act requires your landlord to give you a Notice of Tenants’ Rights and Resources with this notice.

If your landlord says you broke a material part of your lease (something important you agreed to), you get a written notice first. Colorado law requires 10 days' notice before an eviction case starts, for most home rentals. The notice must offer the choice to fix the problem or move out. A business rental or employer-provided housing gets 3 days instead, and some other agreements get 5.

Before your landlord can start an eviction case in court, your landlord must give you a written notice to quit. Connecticut calls this kind of case summary process (the court process to evict a renter). A notice to quit is a letter saying you must move out. It must reach you at least 3 days before the date it says you must leave. If you do not leave by then, your landlord can file court papers to start the case.

If you break a rule or promise that is material (important) to your rental agreement, your Delaware landlord must tell you in writing. The landlord must allow at least 7 days after the notice for you to correct it. Late rent has its own notice.

If your landlord says you broke a lease rule that is not about paying rent, they must give you a written notice. For most problems, you get 7 days to fix the issue after the notice arrives. For serious problems, like damaging the property on purpose, you may not get a chance to fix it first. The notice can order you to move out in 7 days right away.

Your landlord may post the rent notice in a conspicuous (easy to see) place on your home. Then it counts as received on the day it is posted. Your landlord may instead mail it by United States Postal Service. If it is properly addressed and has postage, it counts as received 2 business days after the postmark (the date stamped by the post office). The mail rule does not apply if the letter is returned as undeliverable (could not be delivered).

Your landlord may end your rental agreement for material noncompliance (a failure that matters) with building and housing laws that materially affect health and safety. First, the landlord must notify you in writing. The notice must give you a set time to fix the problem. The time must be at least 10 days after you receive it. No time to fix is needed if the problem causes or threatens irremediable (cannot be fixed) damage to any person or property.

The 3-day rent notice must also say what happens if a court enters judgment (the court's final decision) against you. A residential tenant then has 72 hours to remove belongings before the landlord may remove and get rid of them.

Say you break a lease term other than paying rent. Your landlord must then serve a written 3-day notice to do what the lease says or leave. Within 3 days after service, you can do what the lease says. You can also pay the rent in the lease. Either one saves the lease from forfeiture (the lease ending).

Sometimes a lease term you broke cannot be performed afterward. Then your landlord does not have to give you the 3-day notice to do what the lease says.

If you break a rule in your lease, your landlord can send a notice to quit (a letter saying you must move out). Illinois law lets your landlord give as little as 10 days' notice before ending the lease for this reason (735 ILCS 5, § 9-210).

Indiana Code 32-31-1-8 lists cases where a landlord needs no advance notice or notice to quit (a notice to leave). For example, a landlord can ask you to leave without advance notice if the rent has not been paid.

If you break an important part of your lease in a different way, your landlord must give you a written notice. The notice must list exactly what you did wrong. It gives you at least 7 days from when you get it to fix the problem, if it can be fixed. If you fix it in time, your landlord cannot end the lease over that problem.

Your landlord can give you a 3-day notice to leave if you caused a clear and present danger (a serious risk to someone's safety). The notice must say exactly what you did that caused the danger. Your landlord can then file a court case against you. You can contest the case by telling the court at least 3 days before the hearing.

Before filing most eviction cases, your landlord must give you a separate 3-day written notice to leave. If your landlord already gave you a 3-day pay-rent notice and you missed the deadline, your landlord can skip this extra notice.

Your landlord can send a written notice if you seriously break a lease rule, or seriously break a Kansas rental health and safety rule. The notice must describe what you did. It must say your lease will end in at least 30 days, unless you fix the problem within 14 days. If you make a good faith effort to fix it before that date, your lease will not end. If you break the same rule again later, your landlord can send a new 30-day notice without giving you another chance to fix it.

Before your landlord can file an eviction lawsuit in court, your landlord must first give you a written notice to leave the property. This notice must reach you at least 3 days before the lawsuit is filed. Kansas counts weekends and holidays as part of those 3 days. If your landlord mails you the notice, you get 2 more days before the lawsuit can be filed. Your landlord can send this notice together with another notice allowed under Kansas's renter law.

Before your landlord can take you to court to evict you, they must give you written notice. This notice must tell you to move out by a certain date. It should be dated, say why you are being evicted, and be signed by your landlord.

Your landlord can give you the notice to move out by handing it to you or to another adult living in your home. Your landlord can also post it at your home or mail it to you by certified or registered mail.

If your written lease does not say how much time you have to move, you have 30 days to move out. This is counted from the date of the notice. Check your lease first for any part about eviction, a notice to move out, or ending the lease.

Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act covers only places that adopted it. These include Louisville-Jefferson County, Lexington-Fayette County, Covington, and 17 other listed cities and counties. In those places, breaking a lease rule works differently than elsewhere in Kentucky. If you do something your lease does not allow, or skip something it requires, your landlord must give you written notice saying what is wrong. Your lease ends after 14 days unless you fix the problem.

For an unpaid rent notice, the day of service is the day your landlord or their agent hands you the notice in person. If no one hands it to you, the notice is posted and mailed first. Then the day of service is the day it goes to the sheriff or constable, if the request is made before noon. If the request is made after noon, it is the next day.

If you fail to follow a condition of your lease, your landlord can serve you a written notice. The notice tells you to fix the problem or leave. You can fix it within 5 days after service and keep your lease. If you do neither, the law treats you as staying unlawfully. If the broken condition cannot be fixed afterwards, no notice is needed. This 5-day rule does not cover the rent notice in NRS 40.253.

Your landlord must send you a written notice to move out before starting an eviction case against you. The notice rule applies whether your landlord is evicting you for unpaid rent, the end of your lease, or any other reason. You must get at least 5 days from the day you receive that notice to move out. If you do not move out in time, your landlord can then file the eviction case in court.

If your lease has no set end date, the notice Louisiana law requires to end it also counts as your notice to move out. If your lease has a set end date, your landlord may send that notice up to 30 days before the end date.

Your lease can include a written statement giving up your right to the notice to move out. If it does, and your right to stay has ended for any reason, your landlord may start the case right away. Your landlord does not have to send the notice to move out first in that case.

Among other reasons, your landlord can end a rental with 7 days' written notice if the landlord can prove one of the listed reasons. Examples: you are 7 days or more behind on rent. Or you caused substantial damage that you did not repair before the notice. Or the person living there is not an authorized occupant (a person allowed to live there).

A 7-day notice must say the specific ground your landlord claims. If the ground is rent 7 days or more late, the notice must also give the amount. The amount is the rent that is that late as of the date of the notice.

If your written lease lets your landlord end it early for breaking a rule, your landlord usually must give 30 days' written notice first. The notice must say you broke the lease and that your landlord wants the home back.

Breaking your lease can show a 'clear and imminent danger,' meaning an obvious risk that is about to happen. This danger must threaten serious harm to you, another tenant, your landlord, or someone else on the property. It can also threaten the landlord's property or representatives (people acting for your landlord). If so, your landlord only needs to give 14 days' written notice, not 30, before going to court.

If you caused this problem on purpose or by not being careful, your landlord can give you a 7-day demand for possession. This is a notice telling you to move out of your home. It covers a serious, ongoing health danger or serious, ongoing damage to the home. Your landlord must have found the problem, or should have found it, no more than 90 days before filing the case. If you substantially fix the problem or repair the damage within those 7 days, this reason for eviction goes away.

Your landlord has a time limit to evict you for a serious, ongoing health danger or serious, ongoing damage to the home. Your landlord must have found the problem, or should have found it, no more than 90 days before going to court.

If someone in your home made, sold, or had illegal drugs there, your landlord may act fast. Your lease must already have a clause allowing a quick end for this reason. A report about it must have reached local law enforcement first. If both conditions are met, your landlord can end your lease with only 24 hours written notice to move out.

If someone in your home hurt or threatened to hurt another person on real property your landlord owns or operates, your landlord can act. A report about it must have reached local law enforcement first. Your landlord can then give a written notice to quit (a letter telling you to move out) with 7 days to leave. This notice does not apply if the person hurt or threatened is you or someone in your own household. It also does not apply if using it would break federal housing rules.

When a tenant materially (in an important way) breaks the lease, the landlord may give a written notice naming what was done wrong. An email or text counts only if the tenant agreed in writing to get notices that way. The lease ends on a date at least 14 days after the notice is received. It does not end if the problem can be fixed and is adequately fixed before that date. The fix must come within a reasonable time, up to 14 days.

If your lease has an end date, it ends on that date. After that, your landlord may give you written notice that you are holding over (staying past the lease end). An email or text counts only if you agreed to get notices that way. The notice must say the landlord will start an eviction case no earlier than 3 days after it.

Your landlord can give you 10 days' notice to leave if drugs were illegally kept, sold, or handed out in your rental. After that, your landlord can start a court case to remove you, but must prove in court that the rental was used this way.

A notice to you counts if it is handed to you. It also counts if it is mailed with a certificate of mailing or by certified mail. It goes to the place you named for notices, or to your last-known address. Mailed that way, it is served 3 days after the mailing date. Save texts and emails as well; they are also a record of what you sent.

If your landlord says you broke the rental agreement, the written notice must say what you did. It must say the agreement will end and give the date you must move out. The notice period is 3 days in two cases. One is a pet or other people living in the home that the landlord did not approve. The other is verbal abuse of the landlord. For any other problem the notice period is 14 days. If you repeat the same problem within 6 months after a notice, the landlord may end the agreement on at least 5 days' written notice.

Among other cases, the notice period is 3 days if the problem is an unauthorized pet or unauthorized people living in the rental unit. The 3 days count from when you receive the notice.

Your landlord may send a written notice about a material (important) breach of your rental agreement. The notice must list what you did or failed to do. The rental agreement will end at least 30 days after you get the notice. It will not end if you fix the breach within 14 days. The same applies if you break a tenant duty in a way that materially affects health and safety. Those duties include following building and housing codes, keeping your part of the home clean and safe, and not damaging the home.

After 5 days' written notice, your landlord can sue to get the home back. You have no right to fix the problem first. The notice can be for violent crime, or for illegally selling a controlled substance (a restricted drug). Any other activity that threatens the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord, or the landlord's employees or agents counts too. The rule does not apply if someone other than you or your household does it and you take a step. A step you can take is to seek a protective order (a court order to keep that person away).

Your landlord can sue to get the home back after 5 days' written notice. You have no right to fix the problem first. The reason can be any activity that puts the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord, or the landlord's workers at risk. Violent crime and illegal drug sales are named in the same rule.

Your landlord can sue to get the home back after 5 days' written notice. You have no right to fix the problem first. The reason can be violent crime, illegal drug sales, or other acts that put health or safety at risk. It covers acts by you, your household, a guest, or anyone under your control or there with your permission.

For some lease rule problems, your landlord can give you a written notice to fix the problem or move out. You have 5 days after the notice to fix the problem and keep your lease. If the problem cannot be fixed, your landlord does not have to give you this notice first.

A landlord of restricted property (rented housing, except the kinds the law lists) may end a rental only for certain reasons. The landlord must give a written notice to quit (a letter saying you must move out). Reasons include unpaid rent after the landlord asks for it, and substantial damage to the home by you, your household, or guests. They also include breaking a material term (an important part) of the lease. Others are behavior that harms the health or safety of other tenants or the landlord, and other good cause.

For a rented home, an eviction notice of 30 days is enough in all cases, unless the reason is one that allows 7 days' notice.

For a rented home, 7 days' notice is enough for some reasons. One is not paying rent due and in arrears (unpaid) when the landlord demands it. Another is substantial damage to the home by the tenant, household members or guests.

An eviction notice in New Hampshire must state the reason for the eviction with specificity (in detail).

For some reasons, like disorderly conduct or another violation, your landlord must first give you a written notice to cease telling you to stop. Your landlord can only move forward with a court case if you keep doing it after you get that notice.

Your landlord can give you a 7-day notice to fix a serious problem. You get this notice if you seriously break your lease for the first time, or break a rule that badly affects health or safety. The notice must list the exact dates and facts of what you did. Your lease ends 7 days after you get the notice, unless you fix the problem within those 7 days.

If you seriously break your lease a second time within 6 months, your landlord can send you a new notice. The notice your landlord sent about the first problem must already say breaking your lease again within 6 months would end your lease. Your landlord must have sent that first notice within 30 days of the problem, or of finding out about it. The new notice must list the exact dates and facts. It can end your lease no sooner than 7 days after you get it.

Among other cases, a landlord must first give 3 days' written notice of intention to evict (a notice that the landlord plans to evict you). This applies before an eviction case for holding over (staying after the lease ends), unpaid rent, or a broken material term of the written lease.

Before your landlord can file an eviction case, Ohio law requires a written notice giving you at least 3 days to leave. This 3-day count starts on the day your landlord delivers the notice to you. Your landlord must deliver it by certified mail, hand it to you, or leave it at your home. The notice must say you are being asked to leave, that a court case may follow, and that you may want legal help.

If you seriously break a rule in your lease and the problem can be fixed, your landlord must send a written notice about it. You then have 10 days from that notice to fix the problem. If you fix it in time, your lease continues. If you do not fix it in 10 days, your lease ends on the date stated in the notice. That date must be at least 15 days after you got the notice.

Your landlord can skip the usual notice if you create a risk of harm that cannot be fixed. The risk must be immediate, to your home or to a person. Your landlord can skip the notice only if you do not act quickly once you know about the danger. Your landlord can then file to start your eviction case right away.

In Oregon, your landlord can end your rental agreement for a specific reason, called ending "for cause," only after giving you written notice. The notice must say what you did wrong. Unless a special rule applies, the notice must give you at least 30 days before the rental agreement ends. If the problem can be fixed, the notice must say so and describe at least one way to fix it. The notice must also give the date by which you must fix it.

Your landlord can end your rental agreement for a landlord reason allowed by Oregon law. Then your landlord must state the reason and supporting facts in the notice. Your landlord must also pay you an amount equal to 1 month's rent at the same time the landlord gives you the notice.

Your landlord does not always have to pay 1 month's rent when ending your rental agreement for a landlord reason allowed by Oregon law. A landlord who owns 4 or fewer rental homes covered by Oregon's landlord-tenant law does not have to make this payment.

Most evictions must start with a notice to quit (a written notice saying you must move out). For unpaid rent, the notice must give you 10 days, counted from the day it is served. Served means handed to you, left at the main building, or posted on your home.

The notice period is longer when the reason is not rent. This applies when the landlord says you broke a lease rule, or your lease ended. For a lease of 1 year or less, the notice to quit (a written notice to move out) gives you 15 days. Count the days from the day the notice is served.

You get more time when your lease runs more than 1 year and the reason is a broken rule or a lease that ended. The notice to quit (a written notice to move out) then gives you 30 days. Count the days from the day the notice is served.

Check your lease for words that give up your right to this notice. Pennsylvania law allows a lease to make the notice time shorter, or drop it completely. Many leases do this. If yours does, the first paper you get may be a court summons (an order to appear in court).

To begin an eviction in Pennsylvania, your landlord must first give you a written notice to quit (a letter telling you to move out). Your lease can allow a shorter notice or say you gave up the notice. If you validly gave up the notice in your lease, your landlord can take you to court with no notice first.

Unless Rhode Island law says otherwise, a landlord must deliver a written demand notice if you materially (seriously) break the rental agreement. The same is true if you break a tenant duty in § 34-18-24 in a way that materially affects health and safety. One duty is to keep the part of the home you use clean and safe. The notice must list what you did or did not do. It must list the acts, repairs, or payment needed to fix it.

For a material breach of the rental agreement, the notice must say the agreement ends on a set date. It ends then unless the breach is fixed within 20 days of mailing. The date must be at least 21 days after mailing.

If you break another part of your lease, not paying rent, your landlord must send written notice naming the problem. You then have at least 14 days from when you get the notice to fix the problem before your lease can end. If you fix the problem by that date, your lease does not end. Your lease also does not end if you start fixing the problem within 14 days and finish it honestly within a reasonable time.

Before filing, your landlord must give you a written notice to vacate (a letter saying you must move out). The notice must give you at least 3 days, unless your lease sets a shorter or longer period. Many Texas leases set only 1 day, so read your lease. The date in the notice is not the day you must leave. It is only the earliest day your landlord can file the case. Since January 1, 2026, your landlord may deliver the notice 4 ways. These are mail, leaving it inside your home, or handing it to anyone there who is 16 or older. Email counts too if your written lease allows it.

A landlord can serve a 3 calendar day notice to quit (a notice to move out) for several reasons. For example, you rent to someone else against the lease, or you commit or permit waste on the property. Other reasons are an unlawful business, a nuisance, or a criminal act on the property. If you stay after the notice, you are guilty of an unlawful detainer (staying on after your right to be in the home ends).

Utah law covers a renter who stays in the home after failing to follow a condition of the lease. The landlord must serve a written notice. The notice must tell you to follow the condition or give the property back. You have not complied if 3 calendar days pass after service. Lease conditions the law lists separately are not covered here.

In Vermont, a landlord can end your rental for breaking a material (important) term of the rental agreement. The same is true for breaking a duty set by Vermont's rental law. In most cases, the notice must come at least 30 days before the end date.

In Vermont, a landlord may end your rental over crime, illegal drugs, or violence. It must put the health or safety of other people who live there at risk. The notice must come at least 14 days before the end date.

In Vermont, you may have a written rental agreement and the landlord ends your rental for no cause (no reason given). Then notice is due before the stated term ends. It must be at least 30 days before if you have rented 2 years or less. It must be at least 60 days before if you have rented more than 2 years.

In Vermont, a notice that ends your rental (your right to live in the home) must state the end date. The law says the date must be specifically stated in the notice in all cases.

Your landlord can end your lease if you seriously break a lease rule. The same is true if you break a rule in a way that seriously affects health and safety. They must first give you a written notice describing the problem. You then have 21 days from that notice to fix it. If you do not fix it in time, your lease ends at least 30 days after you got the notice.

Some serious problems do not give you a chance to fix them first. Illegal drug activity by you, a guest, or someone in your home is always one of these, even without a safety threat. If a guest or someone living with you does this, the law assumes you knew, unless you can show otherwise. Other crimes, or things you do on purpose that threaten health or safety, count too, even without a conviction. Your landlord can end your lease right away and ask a court to remove you. To win, the landlord must prove this by a preponderance of the evidence (the judge must find it more likely true than not).

How much notice you get depends on the reason your landlord gives. For a lease violation, you get at least 10 days to fix it. If the owner or their family wants to move in, or wants to sell a single-family home, you get at least 90 days. The move-in reason applies only if no equivalent unit in the same building is empty.

In DC, no tenant can be evicted for any reason unless the tenant was served with a written notice that meets the legal requirements. A notice for any reason other than unpaid rent must be served on both the tenant and the Rent Administrator.

A DC landlord may recover a rental unit (take it back) if you break a duty of the rental other than paying rent. You must fail to fix the problem within 30 days after your landlord gives you notice.

In DC, an individual (not a company) with a freehold interest (ownership) in a rental unit may recover it. The person must seek in good faith for immediate and personal use as a home to live in. The person must serve a 90-day notice to vacate (a notice to move out) first.

If you rent month-to-month in Wisconsin, your landlord can send you a notice for breaking a rule in your lease other than paying rent. This includes damaging the home, badly breaking a duty listed in Wisconsin law, or breaking another lease rule. The notice must give you at least 5 days to fix the problem or move out. You count as fixing it in time if you act quickly and keep trying. You also count as fixing it if paying for the harm protects your landlord enough. You must also make a fair, honest offer to pay for it.

If you rent month-to-month in Wisconsin and break the same or another lease rule again, your landlord can send a stronger notice. This applies if the repeat break happens within 1 year after an earlier 5-day notice. The new notice gives only 14 days to move out. The 14 days start on the day the landlord gives the notice.

Before starting an eviction case, the person who wants to bring it must tell you in writing to leave. The notice must be served at least 3 days before the case starts. It is served by leaving a written copy with you, or at your usual home or business if you cannot be found.