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What is a 30-Day Notice?

Mary McMahon
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Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 198,022
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The term "30-day notice" is typically used in the context of real estate. It serves as a formal written notification to indicate that a tenant intends to vacate a property, or that a landlord wishes a tenant to leave. This term is also often used in the workplace, when an employee notifies the company that he or she intends to leave, so that the company can hire and train a replacement.

When a Tenant Should Notify the Landlord

When a tenant plans to move out of a rental house or apartment, at least a 30-day notice is usually required for a year-long lease; this can vary, however, and in some places, a 60-day notice before the lease ends is required. In addition to being the law in most regions, giving notice is also done as a courtesy. It gives a landlord time to find new renters, and also permits tenants who are asked to leave an opportunity to find a new home. If the notice is being given a month before the lease is due to end, neither side needs to give a reason. If tenants intend to break a lease, however, then the terms of a notice can become more complicated and penalty fees or other payments may be required.

Tenants should give notice 30 days before the next rent payment is due, so that extra or partial payments are avoided. As a general rule, the tenant is responsible for any rent in the 30 days after telling the landlord that he or she is moving out. For example, if rent is normally paid on the 1st of the month and a tenant submits notice on the 15th, he or she must pay the rent through the 15th of the next month. If the tenant leaves on the 1st and a new tenant moves in before the 30 days is up, the landlord must refund to the previous occupant any money paid for days when the other tenant lived in the home; a landlord cannot collect rent twice.

Notice by Rental Term

How much notice the tenant must give is usually at least equal to how often the rent is due. In other words, when a tenant rents a home on a month-to-month basis, he or she must generally put in a 30-day notice when a decision is made to relocate. If the home is rented on a weekly basis, a 7-day notice is typically required. How much time is necessary is usually indicated in the rental agreement between an occupant and landlord. Tenants should notify the landlord in print with a clear date, make a copy, and deliver it directly to the landlord or leasing office to receive a signed receipt.

Landlords Giving Notice

When a landlord uses a 30-day notice, or "notice to quit," it indicates that the tenant has one month to leave. There are a number of reasons for a landlord to issue such a document, ranging from the need to remodel a structure to violations of the lease agreement on the part of the tenant. In rare instances, a landlord may serve a 3-day notice to quit, or an eviction notice, if gross violations of the lease agreement are documented. With a 30-day notice, most landlords do not have to give a reason, and legally there is usually nothing the renter can do to stay longer.

Situations in which there is not a rental agreement between a landlord and tenant can be more complex. Regional laws may indicate that a certain type of notification is necessary, but this is not the case in every jurisdiction. Without an agreement, a 30-day notice may not be required, but should still be issued as a form of courtesy between the renter and the landlord.

Layout and Format

This type of document has a fairly simple format and is often prepared in plain language. Blank templates are available online and from some legal professionals, and usually include the names of both the tenant and the landlord, as well as its terms. Anyone using a template should look for one specifically prepared for the jurisdiction in which he or she lives. If excess rent must be paid or certain actions are expected of either party, then the document should indicate this information in specific detail.

Giving Notice to Leave a Job

Unlike a rental termination, a notice to end employment is usually much more informal. It is often a simple letter written by an employee to the company or manager for which he or she works, stating the termination of employment. Reasons may be given, but this is not a necessity, though it should indicate dates for both the letter and the conclusion of employment. This is not usually a legal document or required by law, but it is considered a professional courtesy and can help maintain a positive relationship between an individual and a former employer.

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Mary McMahon
By Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a SmartCapitalMind researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Discussion Comments
By anon356935 — On Nov 29, 2013

If the landlord gave his tenants a quit notice latter dated 31 October to vacate by 30 November, will the tenant pay that November rent before vacating the house?

By anon350987 — On Oct 09, 2013

Has anyone heard of a three day notice? And also I was wondering if I moved in my apartment in the middle of the month, why is my rent due on the first of the month?

By jignesh007 — On Aug 10, 2013

I am living in Rajkot-Gujarat. I have one house in my father's name and all the documents including the sale note are in his name. We purchased it few years before. Currently, we are renting the house to one person for the past three years and now he is not going to vacate my house and sent me a court notice that he is not vacating it. Unfortunately, I did not make any rent agreement at the time of renting him the house. So please tell me how to get this person out of my house.

By anon339998 — On Jun 29, 2013

I am out of the country and the landlord wants to sell/show his unit. I do not feel comfortable with strangers in my home while I am away.

Can he do this? I won't return for two more months. I have two months left on my lease in California. There are no other issues.

By anon323002 — On Mar 02, 2013

In early February, our landlord said in a letter that that we must leave the property on or before late April, due to a change in circumstance. We read this as having to move at any time before this. Can someone help?

By anon313191 — On Jan 10, 2013

I signed one-year lease expires April 2013. The tenant give notice that Dec. 30 and would like to leave March 1, 2013. Is that considered 60 days notice? They are asking me to return their February check so that they can live out their last month's deposit.

By anon311927 — On Jan 04, 2013

I signed a rental agreement to rent a house starting January 1. I paid a $1000 deposit in November to hold the house until January 1. On December 20, I advised the landlord that I would not be renting the house and told her that I would forfeit my $1000 deposit. She is now asking me for first and last month's rent. Can she do that?

By anon254668 — On Mar 14, 2012

We have been tenants in one shop for the last 25 years,

and the landlord has sold that shop to another person without informing us. Now that second landlord is asking us to vacate that place. What should we do?

By anon242120 — On Jan 21, 2012

I have received a warning letter from my landlord but it does not ask me to vacate, although it states that in future they could do that. I do not want to wait until that happens. Can I break my lease based on this letter? Will it affect my future rental references?

By anon231949 — On Nov 28, 2011

Can you urgently help me? My situation is that I am renting a flat. I signed a 12 month contract in August 2010, which means the contract ended August 2011, this year.

I now want to leave and I gave notice in early November and the agent is saying I should have given notice on the fourth because that's the day I signed my contract. They are saying I will have to leave in January 2012. Is this right? Please help.

By anon208448 — On Aug 23, 2011

I rent a house in calif. I have an informal lease that expired four years ago. (Lease said landlord would give two months notice if she sold the property. I said I would also give two months notice for move out).

We pay month to month and have lived here almost seven years.

I have a sub-tenant who has almost been with us for one year. (In two weeks it will be a year) He is month to month.

We are moving out of state and would like to give notice to both parties. What is proper notice? I also would like to move as soon as possible. I appreciate any help you may offer.

By anon207383 — On Aug 19, 2011

my boyfriend and i were on vacation when our apartment was broken into and robbed. we no longer feel safe there so we want to forfeit our lease. do we put in a 30 day notice and pay a month of rent or can we just leave if we feel our lives are in danger?

By anon195348 — On Jul 11, 2011

If a tenant states a move by date, what does that really mean? Do all their belongings need to be out before that move by date or what?

By sixfyve — On May 19, 2011

i received a certified letter from my renter stating that as of april 24 she's putting in her 30-day notice. But I got the letter on May 4th. Do I go by the date I received it or the time in the letter?

By anon168845 — On Apr 19, 2011

I just gave my landlord my 30 day notice for my retail property rental. Before 24 hours had gone, he had plastered the front of my store window with "for lease" signs, and is clearly expecting me to show while I am still under rent I paid.

Do I legally have to let people into my storefront during this time? I do not want to chance any damage, accidental injury (the place is a mess) or loss of my stock due to theft while I'm trying to pack and vacate the property. What are my rights?

By anon166501 — On Apr 08, 2011

if there is no written agreement on renting a family member's home, but there is a verbal agreement, do i have to move if there was no written notice to vacate in 30 days or no verbal conversation to vacate?

By anon149813 — On Feb 05, 2011

i rented a house for six months and paid $950.00 a month in full, but the landlord did not ask for a deposit because i had to clean up the place and pay for the water.

I am on my last month, and i wanted to give him a thirty day letter, but verbally he refused. He wants to show other tenants the house, and i am still paid, and he is now asking for a deposit letter, which i emailed, and is harassing me over parking. He said in the beginning that he sold the property but there were no complaints. I moved my vehicles anyway. What rights do i have?

By anon144949 — On Jan 21, 2011

Tenant was given 30 day on 28th of month rent is due on first. Are they still obligated to pay rent if they have not left the premises by the 1st? Please give me a reference that I can refer to for proof. I am in Southern California.

By anon142208 — On Jan 12, 2011

my son rented a house. His girlfriend came to live with him and was to pay the utilities while he paid the rent. For the past six months, he has paid both rent and utilities which are in her name. He wants her to get out. Does he give her 30 days notice?

By anon133037 — On Dec 09, 2010

I moved out of the country when my lease expired after two months. My apartment management sent me a email saying still I need to pay the early termination fees and all penalties.

Of course they cannot pluck anything from me as I am not in the country, but just to make it clear and tension free can somebody advise me on this if still I am liable to pay the penalties?

By anon118414 — On Oct 14, 2010

I gave my landlord notice in June that I would be moving October 1st, this gave me time to get everything cleared out since I was downsizing. I reminded him also that I had a $900 deposit and was willing to let him take little off the rent the next couple months. I wasn't anticipating on getting it all back. I had lived there for three years and was no longer under lease.

In July he informed me I would not be getting any deposit back because "he didn't have the money and had to pay child support." I didn't argue with him because I still had almost three more months to deal with him.

In August he started bringing people out to give him estimates on repairs that needed to be done because of his neglect the last three years, and he was going to be moving in when I moved out. I accommodated these people in order to give him estimates.

At the end of August, he shows up to do work stating he was going to do it himself because the estimates were too high. For the next four days I deal with him being there 12 hours a day, and the last day I come home and he has taken the fence down, his radio is blaring, and my granddaughter hasn't slept because of it. My animals now have to be tied up because there is no fence.

On Sept. 1, I moved. I wasn't going to put up with that for the next month, which he basically had told me when I questioned about fence being down that I would have to deal with it until I moved.

I am going to take him to court for misappropriation of the deposit. I have requested in writing per certified letter the breakdown of the deposit, but he never picked up the certified letter. Do you think I have a leg to stand on?

By anon113993 — On Sep 27, 2010

i gave my 30-day notice and haven't paid my rent yet, well four days before my 30 days was up all of my belongings were moved from my apartment. can i do anything legally?

By mcapers30 — On Jul 11, 2010

We signed a rent contract on April 1, however, we didn't know how bad the crime in the area was. We turned in our 30 day notice on July 2, stating we will be out of the home by August 1 and will agree to forfeit our deposit and pay the last payment of August rent. My landlord has not gotten back with me for approval.

We have moved out and left the house in better shape then it was when we move into it. My question is can we stop paying rent after August payment and move on with our lives or can the landlord sue us?

By rights20 — On Jun 14, 2010

I am a landlord in Chicago, IL. My tenant gave me a thirty day notice to vacate at the end of March but he didn't leave until the end of May.

He informed me on nearly at the end of May that he was going to finally leave on May 31. Is that a violation of the 30 day notice rule and do I have rights over the security deposit?

By anon87370 — On May 30, 2010

You can give 30 days notice on any day of the month. It does not have to be on the 1st or 15th of the month. I always give 30 days' written notice. I'm canceling on an office lease and I will be giving a 45-day written notice. If the landlord does not give me back the deposit I will take them to small claims court.

By iman123 — On May 27, 2010

My landlord forced me to leave my apartment without giving me any notice at all because I was subleasing a room from her and our agreement was on a unofficial document.

She was the one who had the official lease with the management company of the building so the police took her side and said that I had to leave the apartment right away. They didn't consider the agreement/contract I had with her at all.

My question is if I can take her to court for throwing me out in the middle of the month without any prior notice if I just have an unofficial document stating the details.

The unofficial document has both our signatures and clearly states and she has to give me a 30-day notice.

By anon79170 — On Apr 21, 2010

We have given our months notice a couple of days ago but the landlord said because we signed a contract in june we have to pay until then or lose our deposit. We will be finished college by the middle of may and want to move out. Have we any right to get our deposit back?

By misst — On Apr 06, 2010

My landlord gave me and my boyfriend a 30 day notice on march 30. The rent is due april 10 and we're moving april 8. do we still have to pay for april?

By anon66276 — On Feb 18, 2010

here's the situation. my roommates and i received a "notice to quit" five days before the end of the month for reasons they believed we violated the terms of the lease. if we chose to leave in this time period should we still be forced to pay rent for the following month as if we left without notice even though they gave us the "notice to quit"?

By anon61901 — On Jan 23, 2010

I live in NJ. I rent on a month to month basis. I just gave my landlord only 15 days notice of my intent to move. Can they hold my security?

By anon59295 — On Jan 07, 2010

I lived in a house with two other roommates, and I decided to move out. I told my roommates on the 10th and asked them if they wanted me to find them another roommate. They said no.

On the 27th they told me that they had found a roommate. Now, on the 4th they are asking me for half a month's rent because I did not tell them I was leaving until the 10th and the new roommate is not moving in until the 17th.

I was under the impression that when a new roommate agreed to move in, he took over my part of the rent, for even though he will not be moving in until the 17th, he agreed to move in before the 1st. Do I pay half the rent, or is the new roommate responsible?

By anon58679 — On Jan 03, 2010

i gave my 30 day notice on the fourth. On the 12th, there was posted on my door a notice of trustee sale on the 11th of the following month. On the back side of the notice it says if i am the tenant i can re-sign a new lease with the new owner or he or the bank would give me 60 days to move after being served.

My current landlord says i signed the notice to vacate on the fourth and to get out because they are turning in keys in which the bank will pay them.

Do i legally have to leave on the fourth?

By anon46054 — On Sep 22, 2009

To those of you with verbal agreements -- you are entitled to a 5 to 15 day notice (sorry no lease is no legal document to back it up) by law. You do not have to give more then a five day notice to leave but if they try and boot you, they *must* provide you with up to a 15-day notice for you to move.

By anon46051 — On Sep 22, 2009

To most of your questions -- no contact by law, a 15 day notice is applicable in more then 30 states. If there is a contract and they violated it, you can sue them for the security deposit plus psychological damages. To the people who lost their place on the 6th when the notice was till the 18th, you can press charges against them for unlawful and unscrupulous activity concerning your apartment and show the judge and jury a copy of your 30 day notice letter.

By anon43224 — On Aug 26, 2009

My landlord and I had a verbal agreement and I am getting ready to lease a new building. do I have to give a 30 day notice or can I just bounce?

By anon42273 — On Aug 20, 2009

my inquiry is the same as # 10, no lease, just a room mate, who I now want him to leave. he's lived there for three years (michigan), will a 30 day notice force him to leave?

By anon41538 — On Aug 15, 2009

My lease expires on the 31st of this month. i tried to give a notice that i would be leaving on the 30th when my contract is over, but my landlord said that i had to move out until the 15 of september because i had to give a 30-day notice but my lease is going to be over by then and i don't want to renew my contract. do i still have to give the 30-day notice or can i just tell them or write to them that i am going to be leaving on the last day of the month? Please help!

By liliana2004g — On Jul 30, 2009

Do you need to give a thirty day notice if you were served with a 60 day notice to quit?

By anon38328 — On Jul 25, 2009

Here is my situation: I have a friend who rents a room out from my father. Well some certain things happened and my father decided to kick him out. There was never a written agreement by either party. My father wants him to leave immediately, but my friend is contending he must provide 30 days. I just want to know who is right.

By anon37569 — On Jul 20, 2009

I have a similar question to number 6 by jpurcell76. it is July 20, my lease ends July 31. if I put in my 30 day notice today am I responsible for all of August rent or just until the 19th?

By feedup — On Dec 01, 2008

My father who has dementia was told Sunday night after returning from spending the weekend with family he can no longer live at his Personal Care Home. The facility owner indicated that she sent me a certified letter telling me that Sunday was his last day. I never received the letter. Please note several times through out the month I saw her at her place of business. Not once did she ever mention any of this to me. When I told her I did not receive it she said she sent it and that's my problem. Please tell me there is some kind of legal action I can take against her. The contract indicates that she has to give me 30 day notice before releasing my father. The first time I heard about it was approximately 7pm Sunday evening. I was told his things are packed and waiting to be picked up. She says she has already rented his space. She have been a problem for awhile now she is just wrong. I am feed up.

By ttthaemes — On Oct 22, 2008

I am a Landlord in Kansas and want to give a Tenant a 30 days notice to vacate letter. We are on a month to month lease. Do I need to send him the letter by mail? Do I need to verify that he received it? Thanks, Tom

By jpurcell76 — On Sep 11, 2008

I have the same question about 30-day notice having to go from the 1st to the 30th or can I give 30 day notice any time I want. What if an addendum to the lease says it must go from the 1st to the 30th?

By anon14668 — On Jun 21, 2008

my situation is i submitted my 30 day notice april 18th until may 18th we moved out of the apartment april 25th we cleaned the apartment did the carpet but left some of our things behind considering we had until the 18th of may to get them. we hadn't paid our rent that was due on May 1st (the amount from the 1st of may until the 18th of may) well on the 6th of may they went into the apartment moved our things and began to repaint clean etc the apartment because they had an open house they wanted to use our apartment for and sent us the bill with everything they had to do to get the apartment ready for open house. They stated they entered the apartment on the 6th because i hadn't paid rent ..Can they do that?

By General383 — On Apr 20, 2008

My lease recently ended at my last apartment on April 1st and I moved out before then. today I received notice from the landlord that he is charging me for April's rent for failing to provide a 30-day notice. When reviewing the lease, it does not mention any penalty for not giving 30 day notice. Can he charge me anything? According to the law, a security deposit can only be used for rent left owing on the unit and damages. I have/had neither. Am I entitled to my entire security deposit per the law?

By dlcalabrese — On Mar 26, 2008

we would like to know the same thing.

By anon9808 — On Mar 13, 2008

is a 30 day notice required on a month-to-month agreement but deposit nor lease was ever put into place?

By olittlewood — On Jan 25, 2008

if you're a landlord (or tenant), do you have to give the thirty day notice on a particular date? can you give it any time during the month, such as the 10th, 15th, etc, even if the lease goes from the 1st to the 30th?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a...

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