30-day notice

A 30-day notice is a written letter from tenant to landlord or landlord to tenant informing the other party of their intent to terminate or change a month-to-month or other periodic tenancy of less than one year. The 30-day notice requirement does not apply to fixed-term leases because landlords and tenants in such leases are already obligated to comply with the lease agreement for the entire agreed term, which already has a set end date. However, parties may include in their lease agreements specified procedures and penalties that trigger when a party breaches the agreement. Similarly, by definition, a 30-day notice is not required to change or terminate a tenancy at will .

The 30-day notice is distinct from an eviction , the process used by landlords to recover possession of leased real property from tenants who do not want to leave. Tenants may also be required to provide a 30-day notice, and a landlord who provides a 30-day notice is not necessarily evicting the tenant; rather, the landlord may seek only to change the terms or to terminate the lease with proper notice. When tenants receive a 30-day notice, they may choose to negotiate new terms and remain in possession or to willingly leave without eviction proceedings.

The rules for providing notice of intent to change or terminate a tenancy vary from state to state.

States that require a 30-day notice include:

States that require more than a 30-day notice include:

States that allow less than a 30-day notice include:

[Last reviewed in November of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

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