Eviction Notice Requirements: What Your State Demands Before You File
Before you can file an eviction in any state, you have to give the tenant proper written notice. Skip this step or do it wrong, and the court will dismiss your case — regardless of how much rent the tenant owes.
The problem is that “proper notice” means something different in every state. The type of notice, the number of days, the information it must contain, and how it must be delivered are all dictated by state law. Here’s what you need to know.
The Three Types of Notices
Pay or Quit is the most common. The tenant owes rent. The notice says: pay everything you owe within X days, or move out. If they pay in full within the time period, the tenancy continues. If they don’t, you file for eviction. The “X days” part ranges from 3 days in states like Texas and California to 14 days in Vermont. Most states fall in the 3 to 10 day range.
Cure or Quit is for lease violations that can be fixed — unauthorized pets, too many occupants, excessive noise after warnings. The notice tells the tenant what the violation is and gives them a set number of days to fix it. If they fix it, you move on. If they don’t, you file.
Unconditional Quit is the most serious. It tells the tenant to leave — no option to pay or fix anything. Most states reserve this for severe situations like criminal activity on the premises, significant property damage, or repeated violations after prior cure notices.
Why the Time Period Matters So Much
If your state requires a 10-day notice and you give 7 days, your eviction will be dismissed. It doesn’t matter that the tenant hasn’t paid rent in two months. It doesn’t matter that they damaged the property. The court’s first question is “did the landlord follow proper procedure?” and if the answer is no, you start over.
The time period also determines when you can file the eviction complaint. You cannot file on day 8 of a 10-day notice. You have to wait the full period, plus any additional days your state adds for the service method (mailing typically adds 2-5 days).
Some states count calendar days. Others count business days. Some exclude the day of service from the count. Others include it. Getting this wrong by even one day can invalidate your notice.
How to Serve the Notice
Delivery method matters as much as the content. Most states accept one or more of these methods:
Personal service means handing it directly to the tenant. This is the strongest method because there’s no question about whether they received it. If you can do this, do it — ideally with a witness present.
Post and mail means taping or posting the notice on the front door in a conspicuous place AND mailing a copy. Most states that allow this method add extra days to the notice period to account for mail delivery.
Certified mail provides a receipt showing delivery or attempted delivery. Some states accept this as a standalone service method. Even if the tenant refuses to sign for it, the attempted delivery is often considered valid service.
What doesn’t count in most states: leaving it under the doormat, texting it, emailing it, telling them verbally, or handing it to their child. Follow the prescribed methods exactly.
What the Notice Must Say
At minimum, most states require the notice to include the tenant’s name and property address, the specific reason for the notice (the amount owed or the violation), what the tenant must do (pay, cure, or vacate), the deadline, and a statement that legal action will follow if they don’t comply.
Many states require specific statutory language — exact phrases that must appear in the notice for it to be valid. Using a template from another state or a generic form from the internet is one of the most common ways landlords invalidate their own notices.
State Examples to Illustrate the Differences
Consider how different the process looks in just a few states. In North Carolina, a landlord must give 10 days’ notice for nonpayment, and the notice must demand rent or possession. In Georgia, there’s technically no required notice period for nonpayment — a landlord can file an affidavit and have the tenant served by the court directly. In California, the notice period is 3 days, but the notice must include very specific language about the tenant’s right to pay and must be served using one of the methods outlined in California’s civil code.
Three states, three completely different approaches. And those are just the basics — each state has additional nuances around grace periods, weekends, holidays, and service requirements.
Get It Right the First Time
A defective notice doesn’t just delay your eviction — it can cost you an additional month or more of lost rent while you re-serve and re-file. The court filing fee is wasted. The time is wasted. And the tenant continues living in your property without paying.
Before serving any notice, verify three things: the correct notice type for your situation, the exact time period your state requires, and the legally acceptable delivery methods. The state-by-state eviction law guides on Underground Landlord cover these specifics for all 50 states. If you own property in multiple states, the comparison tool lets you see the differences side by side so you’re not accidentally applying one state’s rules to another state’s property.
The eviction process is slow enough when you do everything right. Don’t make it slower by getting the notice wrong.