Eviction Notice by State

An eviction notice is the first legal step to remove a tenant — for unpaid rent, a lease violation, or ending a tenancy. The required notice period is set by each state and varies a lot, so pick yours and enter the correct number of days. Not ready for the legal step? A documented late rent notice often gets the rent paid first. Not sure which notice applies? Answer two questions in the eviction notice wizard. Curious how your state compares? See the notice periods in all 50 states.

Pick your state, fill in the details, and download a print-ready PDF. Each form runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

What an eviction notice is and when you need one

An eviction notice is a written demand from a landlord to a tenant that says, in effect: fix this problem or leave by a certain date. It is not an eviction. In every state, only a court can order a tenant out, and only a sheriff, marshal, or constable can carry that order out. The notice is the mandatory first step: a judge will normally dismiss an eviction case if the landlord cannot show that a proper notice was served and the notice period ran out before the case was filed.

There are three common situations, and each has its own notice:

Pay or quit — rent is late. The tenant can stay by paying the full amount demanded within the notice period.
Cure or quit — the tenant broke a lease term that can be fixed (an unauthorized pet, an extra occupant, a noise problem). The tenant can stay by fixing it in time. Some states have no statutory cure period; there the lease or the state page governs.
Notice to terminate — the landlord is ending a month-to-month tenancy without claiming any fault. No cure is possible; the tenant simply has to move out by the end of the notice period.

A written notice is also worth sending even when the law does not strictly require it, because it creates a dated paper trail. If the issue is just late rent and you would rather keep the tenant, a late rent notice is the softer first move. If you are unsure which of the three applies, the two-question wizard will point you to the right form.

Once you know the notice, work out the date: the notice deadline calculator takes your state, the notice type and the day you served it, and returns the statutory period with its citation and the calendar date it ends.

What an eviction notice must include

Courts read eviction notices strictly, because the tenant is about to lose their home. A notice that is vague, undated, or short by a single day is a common reason cases get thrown out. Every notice should contain:

The tenants’ full names. Name every adult on the lease. A notice addressed to one of two co-tenants may not bind the other.
The full property address, including the unit number. The court needs to identify exactly which premises the notice covers.
The date the notice is served. The notice period is counted from service, not from the date you wrote it, so the two should match or the service date should be recorded separately.
The reason. For nonpayment, state the exact amount of rent owed and the period it covers. Do not add late fees, utilities, or damages unless your state expressly allows them in a pay-or-quit notice — an inflated demand can void the notice. For a lease violation, quote the clause and describe the conduct with dates. For a no-fault termination, say that the tenancy is being terminated; most states do not require a reason for a month-to-month tenancy, but cities and states with just-cause rules do.
What the tenant can do — pay the amount, cure the violation, or move out — and the deadline, stated as a number of days and, ideally, as a calendar date.
What happens next. A short sentence saying that if the tenant does not comply, the landlord will file an eviction action in court. This is what makes the document a legal notice rather than a reminder.
The landlord’s (or agent’s) name, signature, and contact details, including where and how the tenant can pay if the notice is for rent.
A proof of service section. Not part of the notice itself, but the form you will need in court: who served it, when, how, and on whom.

Some states require additional language — a statement of the tenant’s rights, a specific font size, or a reference to the statute. The state pages on this site include the wording that applies where your rental is.

How to complete, sign, and serve it

Pick the right notice type. Nonpayment, curable violation, or termination without cause. Using a “cure or quit” for unpaid rent, or the wrong day count, is the most frequent error.
Check the notice period for your state in the table below, then confirm it on your state page. Note whether the days are calendar days or business/judicial days, and whether weekends and holidays extend the deadline — both vary by state.
Fill in the amounts and dates exactly. Reconcile the rent ledger before you write the number down. Give a calendar deadline that is at least the statutory number of days after the day of service; when in doubt, add a day.
Sign and date it. The landlord or an authorized property manager signs. An eviction notice does not normally need to be notarized or witnessed; the document that usually needs a signed declaration is the proof of service, so if you want extra weight, have the person who served it sign that.
Serve it the way your statute allows. Common accepted methods are personal delivery to the tenant; delivery to another adult at the home plus a mailed copy; posting on the door plus a mailed copy (usually only after personal delivery fails); and certified mail. Some states add days to the period when the notice is mailed. Keep the certified-mail receipt, a photo of the posted notice, or a signed declaration from whoever delivered it.
Wait out the full period, then file. If the tenant pays or cures in time, the matter is over. If not, file the eviction complaint in the court for your county after the last day of the period — not on it. Bring the notice, the proof of service, the lease, and the ledger.

Common mistakes that get notices thrown out

Counting the days wrong. The day of service usually does not count. A three-day notice served on a Friday may not expire until the following week if the state excludes weekends.
Demanding more than rent. Adding late fees, utilities, or repair costs to a pay-or-quit notice can invalidate it in states that limit the demand to rent.
Accepting partial rent after serving. In several states this waives the notice. Decide your policy before you take any money.
Serving by text, email, or a note under the door only. Unless the lease and the statute allow it, use a recognized method and keep proof.
Filing too early. Filing before the period ends is a straightforward dismissal, and you start over with a fresh notice.
Ignoring local rules. Rent-controlled and just-cause cities, and federally subsidized tenancies, often require longer periods, specific reasons, and extra notices (for example, the 30-day notice for nonpayment that the federal CARES Act, 15 U.S.C. § 9058(c), requires for covered properties). The state page flags the ones we know about, but check your city.
Self-help. Changing locks, cutting utilities, or removing doors before a court order exposes the landlord to damages and, in some states, criminal penalties.

Eviction Notice rules in all 50 states + DC

The table below is built from our statute-sourced dataset (2026); each state name links to the page with the citation. For nonpayment of rent, 47 of the 51 jurisdictions set a fixed pay-or-quit period, ranging from 3 days (Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Wyoming) to 14 days (Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington), with a median of 5 days; the single most common figure is 3 days, used by 16 states. 4 jurisdictions (Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, West Virginia) have no statutory day count for nonpayment.

For curable lease violations, 13 jurisdictions have no statutory cure period in our dataset (Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia) — there the cure right, if any, comes from the lease, case law, or a different notice type; check the state page. Where a cure period exists it runs from 3 to 30 days, median 14. Forending a month-to-month tenancy every jurisdiction sets a number: 30 days is the norm (37 of 51), with the shortest at 3 days (Connecticut) and the longest at 60 days (Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Vermont). A dash means no fixed statutory period or a value we could not verify.

Eviction notice periods by state (2026): pay-or-quit, cure-or-quit, and month-to-month termination
State	Pay or quit	Cure or quit	End month-to-month
Alabama	7 days	7 days	30 days
Alaska	7 days	10 days	30 days
Arizona	5 days	10 days	30 days
Arkansas	3 days	14 days	30 days
California	3 days	3 days	30 days
Colorado	10 days	10 days	21 days
Connecticut	3 days	15 days	3 days
Delaware	5 days	7 days	60 days
District of Columbia	10 days	30 days	30 days
Florida	3 days	7 days	30 days
Georgia	3 days	—	60 days
Hawaii	10 days	10 days	45 days
Idaho	3 days	3 days	30 days
Illinois	5 days	10 days	30 days
Indiana	10 days	—	30 days
Iowa	3 days	7 days	30 days
Kansas	3 days	14 days	30 days
Kentucky	7 days	14 days	30 days
Louisiana	5 days	—	10 days
Maine	7 days	—	30 days
Maryland	10 days	30 days	60 days
Massachusetts	14 days	—	30 days
Michigan	7 days	30 days	30 days
Minnesota	14 days	—	30 days
Mississippi	3 days	14 days	30 days
Missouri	—	10 days	30 days
Montana	3 days	14 days	30 days
Nebraska	7 days	14 days	30 days
Nevada	7 days	5 days	30 days
New Hampshire	7 days	30 days	30 days
New Jersey	—	30 days	30 days
New Mexico	3 days	7 days	30 days
New York	14 days	—	30 days
North Carolina	10 days	—	7 days
North Dakota	3 days	—	30 days
Ohio	3 days	30 days	30 days
Oklahoma	5 days	15 days	30 days
Oregon	10 days	30 days	30 days
Pennsylvania	10 days	—	15 days
Rhode Island	5 days	20 days	30 days
South Carolina	5 days	14 days	30 days
South Dakota	—	—	15 days
Tennessee	14 days	14 days	30 days
Texas	3 days	—	30 days
Utah	3 days	3 days	15 days
Vermont	14 days	30 days	60 days
Virginia	14 days	21 days	30 days
Washington	14 days	10 days	20 days
West Virginia	—	—	30 days
Wisconsin	5 days	5 days	28 days
Wyoming	3 days	3 days	30 days

Day counts are calendar days unless the statute counts otherwise; tenancy-length tiers, just-cause regimes, and local ordinances can change them. For the ranked version with sources, see the eviction notice periods study.

Frequently asked questions

How many days’ notice do I have to give before filing an eviction?

It depends on your state and on why you are evicting. For unpaid rent, statutory pay-or-quit periods in our dataset run from 3 to 14 days, and 16 of the 47 states with a fixed period use 3 days. For ending a month-to-month tenancy the typical figure is 30 days (37 of 51 jurisdictions). Pick your state above for the exact number.

Is an eviction notice the same as an eviction?

No. The notice is a demand from the landlord that starts the process. Only a court can order a tenant out, and only the sheriff, marshal, or constable can physically remove them. Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, or removing belongings without a court order is an illegal “self-help” eviction in every state.

Can I email or text an eviction notice?

Usually not on its own. Most states require the notice to be delivered in a specific way — hand delivery, leaving it with a suitable person plus mailing, posting on the door plus mailing, or certified mail. An email or text can be a helpful courtesy copy, but if the statute lists delivery methods, use one of them and keep proof.

What happens if the tenant pays after a pay-or-quit notice?

If the tenant pays the full amount demanded within the notice period, the notice is satisfied and the tenancy continues. Accepting a partial payment can, in some states, waive the notice and force you to start over — decide before you take the money, and get it in writing if you accept a partial payment without waiving.

Do I need a lawyer to serve an eviction notice?

No. Landlords routinely prepare and serve notices themselves. A lawyer becomes more valuable at the court stage, especially if the tenant raises defenses (habitability, retaliation, discrimination) or if the property is subject to rent control, just-cause eviction rules, or a federal subsidy such as Section 8.

What if my state is listed as “—” in the table?

A dash means the statute sets no fixed number of days for that notice type, or the requirement could not be verified with confidence — we never guess. In those states (for example, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, West Virginia for nonpayment) the rule may come from the lease, a local ordinance, or case law. Open your state page for the notes and the source.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Eviction law changes often and local rules can override the state figures shown here; confirm the current rule on your state page or with a local attorney before serving.