What Is an Notice To Quit?
An eviction notice, also known as a notice to quit, is a document that helps a landlord evict a tenant that does not comply with the lease agreement’s terms. Whether the tenant has violated a specific term or failed to make a payment within a specified period, you can evict them or persuade them to comply with the agreement.
In most cases, a notice to quit is curable, meaning it gives a tenant a time frame to make things right and fix the problem they have caused. Usually, this involves paying rent fully, repairing the damages made to the rental property, or paying for cleaning if the property is not in livable condition.
However, some violations are considered incurable, such as illegal activities. The landlord can choose to file an incurable eviction notice to give the tenant no choice but to leave.
Types of Notice to Quit
Eviction is a legal process of removing the tenant who violated the lease agreement from the premises. A tenant can be evicted for non-payment of rent or any other serious lease violation. Usually, before eviction, a landlord or a property manager can reach out to the tenant to try to handle matters unofficially. However, if the tenant or tenants refuse to comply, the only thing left is to file a notice to terminate the tenancy or an eviction notice.
Depending on why the landlord wants the tenant to leave, the form and wording of the eviction notice change. Here are the main types of eviction notices.
Notice to pay or vacate
The most common eviction form is a notice to pay or vacate, otherwise known as a pay or quit notice or past due rent notice. This form is issued when a tenant (or tenants) fails to pay rent twice during the last six months. It’s a curable eviction notice usually given up to seven days in advance.
The notice should include a copy of the lease agreement and proof of non-payment of rent. The document gives a tenant the option to either pay for the services provided or vacate the property.
This notice should state the sum owed to the property owner as well as a reasonable deadline for payment.
Notice to comply or vacate
Not all eviction notices are filed because of the non-payment of rent. Some tenants may be ordered to vacate the premises because they have failed to comply with some lease requirements. The examples are as follows:
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Failure to pay utility bills or handle maintenance.
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Failure to uphold the premises in a clean and livable condition.
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Failure to let the landlord enter the premises.
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Failure to enforce the no-pet policy.
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Failure to renegotiate the lease agreement when new tenants start living on the premises.
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Unauthorized subletting of the property.
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Multiple complaints from neighbors
This notice is also curable. The tenant has a limited time frame to “cure” the problem they have created. If they do not meet the lease agreement requirements, they are ordered to vacate the premises.
Illegal activity
Illegal activity is one of the very few reasons that give the owner of the property right to evict the tenants with one-day notice. Suppose the tenant is accused of possession of illegal drugs or otherwise conducting unlawful activity on the premises. In that case, a special eviction notice is filed, and the tenant is required to leave the premises. Unlike with past due rent notice, this notice operates on a shorter timeline and has no option to “cure” it with rent payments. In some states, the tenant is required to vacate the property within 24 hours. Others require a 3-day notice to be sent.
This eviction notice does not require legal action to be taken against the tenant before the eviction process. If the landlord has sufficient evidence to suspect illegal activity, they may get legal advice from a lawyer and start the eviction process. Illegal activities that can lead to an eviction include:
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Selling or bringing illicit substances on the premises, drug dealing.
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Unlawful possession of firearms or discharge of a firearm without reason.
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A suspicious activity like high traffic of people or unpleasant odors indicating that there may be illegal substances involved.
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Harassment, domestic violence, abusive or violent behavior of the tenant.
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Using forfeited documents to sign the rental agreement.
Month-to-month termination
If there is no fixed-time rental agreement or expired, the tenancy is continued on a month-to-month basis, known as a tenancy at sufferance. This arrangement, often known as tenancy-at-will, can carry on until one of the agreement parties sends a termination notice.
Both landlord and a tenant can file this notice, notifying the other party that they are leaving the property or required to leave. In most states, this should be done with a 30-day notice. Some even make it as high as 60 days. The idea behind this is to give the other party sufficient time to find another housing option.
Unlike in the previous eviction notices, the landlord does not need a just cause to file for eviction. Since there is no long-term rental agreement, the landlord is free to ask the tenant to leave the premises without providing a reason, as long as this is done with ample time to find another rental.
What Happens if You Don’t Send a Notice
Often, landlords or property managers are lenient towards their tenants as they form a relationship over time. But what if something goes wrong and the tenants fail to comply with the lease terms? Even though a verbal notice may be effective with some people, it’s not legally binding in any way. It can only serve as a way to negotiate compliance peacefully.
If that doesn’t work, the property manager has no way to evict the tenant as there is no legal proof of notice to work with. The court does not issue eviction orders based on verbal quit notices.
If you want your tenant to comply with the lease terms or move out, the only way you can do it is by creating an eviction notice and sending it via certified mail. The notice and the proof that the tenant has received would ensure that you’d have all the evidence needed to win the case if you were to fight it out in court.
Steps to Evicting the Tenant
Step 1. Learn the laws
Knowing your local and state eviction laws is paramount before trying to evict a tenant. Apart from learning the Uniform Residential Landlord-Tenant Act basics, you should also know the state laws that describe what actions can warrant termination of a lease and how many days of notice you should give the tenant.
If you don’t do that and either try to evict your tenant without a valid reason or give them too little time to move out, the document may be challenged in court. Failing to comply with any legal notice requirement set by your state also disqualifies the case and makes eviction processes longer.
Step 2. Try to negotiate with the tenant
Another step that a landlord may want to take before taking the legal route is talking to their tenant. Most people would be reasonable enough to improve their situation, whether it’s a nuisance or late rent, before they’re bothered to appear for a court date.
However, if the tenant cannot fix the problem immediately, there is no guarantee that they will comply in the long term. You may need to file an eviction notice to be on the safe side. At the very least, the tenant will not be surprised by the notice since they know it’s coming.
Step 3. Indicate the reason for eviction
The next step is to indicate the exact reason or reasons for eviction. You will need to specify them in the quit notices and be very precise with the wording. For instance, if the cause is waste and nuisance, the landlord may have to specify what exactly the tenant did wrong and provide evidence. If the reason for eviction is non-payment of rent, you’d have to determine the amount and the months that the person failed to pay rent.
However, if it’s a month-to-month rental lease that’s been terminated, the landlord may not have to provide a reason. Just serve a 30-day eviction notice.
Step 4. Set the proper eviction date
The timeframe of the eviction depends on the reason for the eviction and the state law that describes it. In most states, a 30-days notice is a right way to end a month-to-month residency. However, some require 60-day notices to be served in this case.
For other reasons for eviction, the timeframes differ significantly. If a tenant is suspected of conducting illegal activity on the premises, they can be evicted within 24 hours in some states. Other states require 7-day notices to be served in case a tenant is guilty of property damage.
Seek legal advice online or from your lawyer to figure out how much time you need to give the tenant to move out and include that into the document.
Step 5. Find an eviction notice template
Now that you’re sure what type of eviction notice you need to send, you’ll need to find a template that perfectly matches your case.
If you’re having trouble finding the eviction notice form that is right for you, you can create it. Use our eviction notice builder to create a custom template to use in your specific case.
Step 6. Send the eviction notice
Once the notice is created and signed, send it to the tenant via certified mail. This is important since you need a record of delivering.
You may file a case in court with an affidavit of service, but certified mail is still the most comfortable way of handling proof of notice.
Step 7. Wait for the set period
The eviction notice is considered to be in effect since the day it was delivered. Once you obtain proof of notice, wait for the number of days given to the tenant to cure or quit. If they do neither, it’s time to take matters to court.
Step 8. File the eviction documents with the court
File the eviction notice, the proof of notice, and all the documents related to the case and wait for the court to set a court date. Both you and the tenant should be notified of the court date by court summons delivered by a sheriff. You may need to seek legal advice because if you don’t file the case correctly, it may be rejected by the court.
Step 9. Attend the hearing
The next step is to appear for a court date with the tenant and let the judge hear the case. If you as a plaintiff provide sufficient evidence, and the judge believes it’s enough to evict the tenant, the court order will be in your favor.
Step 10. Collect the money owed to you
If there is damage to the landlord’s property or failed rent payment involved, the court order will require the defendant to compensate for the plaintiff’s losses. In that case, you can either collect the amount of money owed to you right away or settle on a payment plan.
After the due process, the losing side is usually liable to pay court fees, attorney fees, and other legal expenses of the winning side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my roommate cannot pay their rent?
If a roommate cannot contribute their share of a month-to-month lease payment, it could go two ways. You can either go to a landlord and ask them to negotiate with the roommate or file a notice if you’re subletting this space. To mitigate these sorts of issues early on, demand your landlord to give both of you separate rent agreements. This way, the nonpayment of rent by another tenant is their problem, not yours.
What should I do If the tenant refuses to vacate the premises?
There are strict eviction processes and rules that govern problems like this. First, you file an eviction notice and send it to the tenant via certified mail. Once you have the proof that they have received it, you fill it with the court clerk together with copies of the lease, eviction notice, any complaint the neighbors may have had, etc.
Then you attend a hearing, and the judge will give the warning to move out. If they don’t, they will be removed by police under the threat of jail time. In most instances, this process is long, but residents will move out eventually. You will be liable for remedies that you can take out of their advance payment or from their job wages over some time.
How should I serve the notice if the tenant cannot be found or avoids me?
You should not deliver the notice personally. Send it via certified mail, and you will have a certificate of notice. If there is no response from them, you still have the legal grounds to go to court. Depending on the location of your county, you may send a disinterested party for assistance with delivery or tape the eviction notice on the front doors and take a picture of it.
What's a motion to stay?
A tenant who is being evicted may file a motion to stay with the court. If the judge accepts it—and under most regulations, it may be accepted—the court process will be postponed for up to ten days. Tenants do this to stall the process and win some time to move out or prepare a better defense or hire a lawyer for representation.
If a tenant asks for a motion to stay to have more time to move out, it's not a bad thing for the landlord, as the provision of the lease implies that the tenant is still liable for penalties. What this does is just making them pay more in damages for lost rent.
What are my options if I want to stop the eviction?
If you are a tenant who wants to stop the eviction process, you have several options:
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Mitigation with the landlord.
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Fixing the issue causing the eviction process: pay heat bills and utilities, pay the rent due, or stop the noise or other things that warrant complaints from neighbors.
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Prepare documents that indicate wrongdoing by the landlord and prepare for a court case.
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File a motion to stay with the court to win additional time.