Work out which letter you are writing before you write a word of it. There are four, they carry different rules, and using the wrong one is how a landlord ends up with a notice that does nothing.
- Non-renewal, ending a fixed term at its end date
- Termination of a periodic tenancy, ending a month-to-month arrangement
- Mutual termination, both sides agreeing to end a term early
- Termination for cause, ending a tenancy because of a breach
The fourth one is a different animal with statutory content and, in many places, a just cause requirement. What follows covers the first three. For the fourth, start with California eviction notice requirements and an attorney in your state.
The notice period comes first
Calculate the date before drafting, because it usually decides whether you send the letter today or next week.
California requires a landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy to give at least 60 days’ notice where the tenant has resided there a year or more, and at least 30 days below that (Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1). Florida requires not less than 30 days before the end of a monthly period, and not less than 60 days before the end of an annual period for a year-to-year tenancy (Fla. Stat. § 83.57). Washington’s rent increase notice runs 90 days, which matters when a non-renewal is really a rent decision in disguise (Wash. Rev. Code § 59.18.140).
Two things people get wrong. Several states require the termination to take effect at the end of a rental period, so a 30 day notice served on the 10th does not end the tenancy on the 9th of the following month. And a just cause ordinance can require a stated reason and, in some cities, relocation assistance, whatever the notice period says.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and local ordinances vary. Confirm current requirements with your city, county, or an attorney before you act.
The template
Subject: Notice of termination of tenancy, [unit address]
[Tenant name] [Unit address] [Date]
This is written notice that your tenancy at [unit address] will terminate on [date], which is at least [30 / 60 / 90] days from the date of this notice and falls at the end of a rental period.
You are asked to vacate the unit and return all keys by [time] on [date].
Rent remains due through the termination date on the schedule in your lease. Your security deposit of $[amount] will be handled under [state] law, and you will receive an itemized statement within the time that law allows. [Add the pre-move-out inspection offer where your state requires one.]
[Reason for termination, where your state or city requires one to be stated.]
[Name], [title], [phone], [email] Delivered by [method] on [date]
Adapt the bracketed parts and delete nothing else. Every line in there answers a question the tenant would otherwise ask, and the last line is the one you will care about if the date is ever disputed.
What to leave out
Three things do not belong in this letter.
Grievances. A list of what the tenant did wrong, in a no-cause termination, invites an argument about whether the termination was really retaliatory.
Deposit conclusions. Do not tell a tenant what will be deducted before the unit has been inspected. Say the deposit will be handled under state law and leave it there. Security deposit deductions covers what may come out later.
Anything you have not decided. A threatened consequence you do not intend to pursue costs you credibility on everything else in the letter.
Delivery is half of it
A perfectly drafted notice delivered the wrong way is a notice you serve again.
State statutes name the permitted methods. Personal delivery, delivery to a person of suitable age at the residence, and posting combined with mailing are the common ones. Some states add certified mail, and a few add days to the notice period when it is mailed.
Whatever method you use, record three things: the date, the method, and who did it. Photograph a posted notice in place. Keep the certified mail receipt with the file rather than in a drawer.
Mutual termination is the underrated one
When both sides want out mid-term, a written agreement beats everything else available.
It needs five terms: the end date, the condition the unit is to be left in, what happens to the rent for the final partial month, how the deposit will be handled, and a line stating that neither side owes the other anything further under the lease. Have an attorney look at it, since a mutual release is exactly the kind of document that says more than the person drafting it intended.
Where the tenant wants out and you do not, the arrangement is different and so is the math: when a tenant breaks a lease early covers it.
The week after the letter goes out
Termination starts a sequence with its own deadlines, most of which run against you rather than the tenant.
Offer the pre-move-out inspection where your state requires one. California does, and it has its own page: pre-move-out inspection. Schedule the move-out walkthrough. Compare it against the move-in record, which is the document that decides most deposit arguments: why a pre-move-out walkthrough saves disputes covers why the early one is worth the trouble.
Then get the unit listed. Every day between the termination date and the new tenancy is a day of vacancy you chose. Leasing and e-sign is where the next lease starts, and the sooner the current one has a firm end date, the sooner that can begin.