Choose the right type of eviction notice

3-day notice to pay rent or quit

Use this if your tenant is behind on rent. It tells them they have 3 days to pay the rent or move out.

• 3 days don’t include Saturdays, Sundays, and court holidays
• You can’t ask for other money (late fees, utilities, damages) in this notice

Your notice must include:

• Tenant’s full name(s)
• Rental home address
• Exact amount of rent owed
• That rent must be paid within 3 days or the tenant must move out
• How and where to pay (in person or by mail, with address, days, and hours)

⚠️ Tenant Protection Act rule: If your tenant is covered, you must give this notice before a 3‑day notice to quit with no option to fix the problem.

Notice of belief of abandonment

Use this if rent is 14+ days late and you have good reason to think the tenant moved out without telling you.

• Send a Notice of Belief of Abandonment

• Give at least 15 days (if sent in person) or 18 days (if sent by mail) for the tenant to respond

• If they don’t respond, you can move their things out and rent the place to someone else without starting an eviction case

Your notice must include:

• Tenant’s name(s)

• Rental home address

• “Notice of Belief of Abandonment” label

• End-of-tenancy date

• Signature and date

⚠️ Warning: If you’re wrong about the tenant moving out or the timing, the tenant can sue for wrongful eviction.

3-day notice to perform covenants or quit

Use this if your tenant violated the lease in a way they can fix — for example, remove a pet, stop noise, or follow other lease rules.

Your notice must include:

• Tenant’s full name(s)

• Rental address

• What they’re doing that breaks the lease

• That they must fix the problem or move out in 3 days

  • 📅  3 days don’t include Saturdays, Sundays, and court holidays

📌 Some cities require a “cease and desist” letter first. If so, you must send a letter to your tenant about the problem before you give them this notice. Be sure to include the date you sent the letter in your notice.

⚠️ Tenant Protection Act rule: If covered, you must give this notice before a 3-day notice to quit with no option to fix the problem.

3-day notice to quit

Use this notice if your tenant has caused serious problems at the rental home, like:

• Causing or allowing a nuisance (for example, keeping a dangerous dog)

• Doing something illegal (for example, selling drugs)

• Hurting other people’s health or safety (for example, using dangerous chemicals)

• Causing major damage (called committing waste) that makes the home worth less

• Moving in other people without your permission when the rental agreement says they can’t

Your notice must include:

• Tenant’s full name(s)

• Rental home address

• What the tenant did that broke the rental agreement

• That the tenant must move out in 3 days

  • 📅 The 3 days do include Saturdays, Sundays, and court holidays.

📌 Other names for this notice: 3-day Notice to Vacate or 3-Day Unconditional Notice to Quit

⚠️ Tenant Protection Act rule: If your tenant is covered, you usually have to first give them a 3-day notice to fix the problem or move (3-day notice to perform covenants or quit) before you can give this type of notice. There are some exceptions.

30-day or 60-day notice to quit

This notice is used to end a month-to-month rental agreement.

📌 Tenant Protection Act rule: Many landlords must have a just cause (legal reason) to end a rental agreement. Examples of just cause include:

• Making major repairs for health or safety reasons

• Selling the home to someone who will move in

If the law applies, your notice must:

• State the just cause

• Say if you will give the tenant relocation assistance (1 month’s rent) or waive the last month’s rent

When you can use a 30-day or 60-day notice without just cause:

• The tenant has lived in the home less than 1 year (if more than one tenant lives there, count the one who's lived there the longest)

• You live in the rental home with your tenant (single-family home with no more than 2 in-law units, condo, or apartment)

  • ⚠️ Restrictions may apply if you are a primary tenant (you rent from the home's owner and then sublease to others)

• You live in half of a duplex full-time and rent out the other half

• The home is new construction built in the last 15 years

💬 Tip: Get legal advice if your rental is in a city or county with its own eviction control laws. Extra rules may apply to multifamily buildings, licensed care facilities, or other types of properties.

Which notice to give

• 30-day notice: Give this notice if your tenant has rented for less than 1 year

• 60-day notice: Give this notice if your tenant has rented for 1 year or more

Your notice must include:

• Tenant’s full name(s)

• Rental home address

• End date (30 or 60 days from when you give the notice)

• How to pick up belongings left behind

If the Tenant Protection Act applies and the tenant has lived there more than 1 year, also include:

• The just cause

• That they have the right to relocation assistance or don't have to pay the last month’s rent (state the amount of last month’s rent if waived)

90-day notice to quit

Use this notice if the rental home is Section 8 subsidized housing.

It tells the tenant they must move out within 90 days.

⚠️ You must have a legal reason (just cause) to ask the tenant to move.

Your notice must include:

• The date the tenancy will end

• The detailed reason(s) for the eviction

• A statement that if the tenant does not move out in 90 days, you may start a court case to evict them, and they will have a chance to give their side

• That the tenant has 10 days to talk about the notice with you (the 10 days start when the notice is delivered)

• That people with disabilities have the right to ask for reasonable changes (accommodations) so they can take part in the court process

• How to pick up any belongings left behind

30-day notice to vacate

You must give a 30-day notice to vacate if your rental property is covered by the federal CARES Act.

📘 This link goes to the full law. It is written for lawyers, so it may be hard to understand. Opens in a new tab. CARES Act, 15 U.S. Code section 9058(c)

Your property is covered if you:

• Take part in a covered housing program as defined by the Violence Against Women Act

  • 📌 If the tenant lives in Section 8 housing, follow the rules in the 90-day notice to quit section instead

• Take part in the rural housing voucher program under section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949

• Have a federally backed mortgage loan or a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan

Your notice must include:

• Tenant’s full name(s)

• Rental home address

• The date the tenancy will end (30 days from when you give the notice)