Index: All Pages

Types of Notices

The Notice from your landlord tells you what they want you to do. It gives you a chance to pay rent that's owed, fix a problem (called Perform Covenants in the Notice), or move out (called Quit in the Notice). 

What type of Notice did you get?

There are 3-day, 30-day, 60-day, or 90-day Notices to Quit. The number of days in the Notice is the deadline for when you have to do what the Notice says. 

Select the type of Notice you got for an explanation of what it means and the basic information the landlord is required to include.

This section describes the general information the Notice must include.

 

Some cities or counties require your landlord to include more information. Talk to a Self-Help Center or a lawyer for more information.
 

A 3-day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit Notice is used when the landlord thinks their tenant is behind on rent. It’s asking the tenant to pay the back rent or move out (quit).

The Notice must be in writing and include: 

  • The tenant(s) full name(s) 

  • The rental home address 

  • Exactly how much rent is owed

  • That all the past due rent must be paid within 3 days or you must move out

  • The name, address, and telephone number of the person to whom rent is due

  • If you can pay in person, the days and times you can pay the rent and the address where you can pay it

  • If you can pay by mail, the Notice must give the address where you can mail the payment

From April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022, if the Notice is asking for rent (or other money owed under the lease or agreement, like parking fees) due October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the Notice must include this statement:

  • NOTICE FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:
    If you completed an application for government rental assistance on or before March 31, 2022, you may have protections against eviction. For information about legal resources that may be available to you, visit lawhelpca.org.

How much money is owed

This type of Notice can only include past due rent. It cannot include fees, like late fees, fees for bounced checks, or utilities. The Notice is not valid if it asks for more than what's owed.

How to figure out your deadline

  • Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice
  • Don't include Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays when counting the days

Your landlord may give you a 15-day Notice to Pay or Quit to demand payment of COVID-19 rental debt. COVID-19 rental debt is rent and other payments required under the rental agreement, like utilities or parking fees, that came due between March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.

If you have COVID-19 rental debt from sometime between September 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021, your landlord must give you:

For notices served on or after April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022, the Notice must include this statement:

  • NOTICE FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:

    If:

    (1) Before October 1, 2021, you paid your landlord at least 25 percent of any rent you missed between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, and you signed and returned on time any and all declarations of COVID-19 related financial distress that your landlord gave to you,

    or

    (2) You completed an application for government rental assistance on or before March 31, 2022,

    You may have protections against eviction.

    For information about legal resources that may be available to you, visit lawhelpca.org.

If you have a high income, your landlord may give you another Notice. Learn more 
If your landlord has proof you have a high income, they can give a Notice that says if you turn in a COVID-19-Related Declaration of Financial Distress, you must also turn in proof of your financial distress. High income means your household earns at least 130% of the median income where your home is located. You are not high income if your household earns less than $100,000 per year.

If you received this Notice, you must include proof of your financial distress when you turn in your  COVID-19-Related Financial Distress Declaration.

How to  figure out your deadline

  • Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice
  • Don't include Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays when counting the days

A landlord can use this kind of Notice if their tenant isn’t following the rental agreement or lease, and the problem can be fixed. 

For example, the tenant has a pet and the lease says "no pets," or the tenant is bothering neighbors with loud noise. The Notice must ask the tenant to fix the problem within 3 days or move out.

This Notice can go by other names, like a 3-Day Notice to Cure.

The Notice must be in writing and include: 

  • The tenant(s) full name(s) 

  • The rental home’s address 

  • A description of what the tenant is doing to violate the lease 

  • That the tenant must fix the problem or move out in 3 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays). 

How to figure out your deadline

  • Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice
  • Don't include Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays when counting the days

Some city laws (ordinances) require that your landlord send you a letter about the problem before they give you notice. This is sometimes called a "cease and desist letter." 

If your tenancy falls under the Tenant Protection Act, this is also the Notice your landlord must give you before they give you a 3-day Notice to Quit (next section). If you don't fix the problem they tell you about in this Notice then they can give you a 3-day Notice to Quit (without the option to fix the problem) to end your tenancy. 

A landlord gives their tenant a 3-day Notice to Quit (move out) if they think the tenant is responsible for serious problems at the rental home like: 

  • Causing or allowing a nuisance on the property (like a dangerous dog) 

  • Doing something illegal (like sell drugs) at the home 

  • Negatively affecting other people’s health and safety (using highly flammable or toxic chemicals at the home) 

  • Causing major damage to the home that makes it worth much less money (sometimes called commits waste)

  • Moving in other tenants (subtenants) without the landlord's permission 

If your tenancy falls under the Tenant Protection Act, your landlord gives you this Notice if you didn't do what was asked in a 3-Day Notice to Perform Covenants or Quit by the deadline.

The Notice must be in writing and include: 

  • The tenant(s) full name(s) 

  • The rental home’s address 

  • Describe everything that the tenant did to deserve a 3-day Notice to move out, including details and dates

  • Say clearly that the tenant has to move out as soon as the 3 days are up (not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays)

This Notice can go by other names like a 3-day Notice to Vacate, 3-day Unconditional Notice to Quit.

How to figure out your deadline

Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice. Then you count every day.

Tenant protection laws require many landlords to provide a just cause to end a rental agreement. 

For example, a just cause could be that the landlord must make major repairs for a required health and safety reasons. Or, that they sold the house to someone who plans to move into it. If the laws apply, your Notice must have a just cause listed. Your landlord may be required to give you money to help you move (relocation assistance). 
 

A landlord uses a 30-day Notice to Quit (move out) to end a month-to-month tenancy if the tenant has been renting for less than 1 year. A landlord uses a 60-day Notice to Quit if their tenant has been renting for 1 year or more.

In many cases, landlords can’t cancel a month-to-month tenancy for just any reason. They will need a just cause if required the Tenant Protection Act of 2019. 

In some cases, a landlord can use the 30-day or 60-day Notice to end a rental agreement without a just cause. For example, 

  • If their tenant has lived in the home for less than a year. If there's more than 1 tenant in the same home, the one year is measured by the tenant who’s lived there the longest.
  • If the landlord lives in the rental home (single-family home with no more than 2 in-law units, or condominium) with their tenant except if the landlord is a primary tenant (they rent a home from the owner and then rent out to other tenants).
  • If the landlord lives in ½ of a duplex full-time and rents out the other half
  • New housing that's been built within the last 15 years

If you get a 30 or 60-day Notices to Quit, it must be in writing and include: 

  • The tenant(s) full name(s) 

  • The rental home’s address 

  • That the month-to-month tenancy will end in 30 days if they're giving a 30-day Notice or in 60 days if they're giving a 60-day Notice. 

  • A statement on how to pick up any property left behind (reclaim abandoned personal property)

If required by the Tenant Protection Act the Notice must also include 

  • The just cause (legal reason) 

  • That if the tenant has lived in the home for more than 1 year they have (1) a right to money to help them move (relocation assistance) or (2) they don't have to pay their last month's rent (rent waiver). If you decide to waive last month's rent (choice 2) you'll include what the last month's rent amount is and that your tenant doesn't owe you rent for their last month.

How to figure out your deadline

Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice. Then you count every day.

Landlords can only use this type of Notice if their rental property is Section 8 subsidized housing. The Notice is a demand that the tenant moves out within 90 days.

The landlord must have a legal reason ("just cause") to ask the tenant to move. 

The Notice must be in writing and include:

  • The date the tenancy will end ("be terminated")
  • Detailed reason(s) for the eviction
  • That if the tenant doesn't move out within 90 days the owner may start a court case to evict them and that they can give their side of the story then
  • That they have 10 days to talk about the Notice with the landlord. The 10-day period begins on the day that the Notice is properly delivered to them
  • That people with disabilities have the right to request reasonable accommodations to participate in the hearing process

How to figure out your deadline

Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice. Then you count every day.

Notices you may have gotten before April 1, 2022

Before April 1, 2022, landlords were required to deliver different types of notices for rent or other fees due under the rental agreement. These notices gave you information about eviction protections or rental assistance.

Before April 1, 2020, your landlord may have given you a 15-day Notice to Pay or Quit to demand payment of COVID-19 rental debt. COVID-19 rental debt is rent and other payments required under the rental agreement, like utilities or parking fees, that came due between March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.

There are different 15-day Notices depending on when the rent was due and your income. This section just covers 1 type of 15-day Notice. You can find the different Notices on Housing is Key.

If you have COVID-19 rental debt from sometime between September 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021, your landlord must give you:

If your landlord has proof you have a high income, they can give a Notice that says if you turn in a COVID-19-Related Declaration of Financial Distress, you must also turn in proof of your financial distress. High income means your household earns at least 130% of the median income where your home is located. You are not high income if your household earns less than $100,000 per year.

If you received this Notice, you must include proof of your financial distress when you turn in your  COVID-19-Related Financial Distress Declaration. If you do not include proof, your landlord can file an eviction case once the 15-day notice period ends. 

The 15-day Notice says that within 15 days (not including Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays), you must either

  • Pay the past due rent
  • Give your landlord a completed COVID-19-Related Declaration of Financial Distress
  • Move out

If you don't pay the rent, move out, or give your landlord the Declaration they can start an eviction case after the 15-day deadline passes. 

How to  figure out your deadline

  • Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice
  • Don't include Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays when counting the days

Before April 1, 2022, your landlord may have used a 3-day (or more) Notice to Pay or Quit to demand:

  • Payment of rent due (or other money owed under the lease or agreement, like parking fees) due October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
  • Payment of 25% COVID-19 rental debt if you didn't pay it by September 30, 2021 after turning in a Declaration of Financial Distress

A Notice to Pay Rent or Quit Notice is used when the landlord thinks their tenant is behind on rent. It’s asking the tenant to pay the back rent or move out (quit). The Notice also says you have 15 business days to complete a government rental assistance application. 

The Notice must be in writing and include: 

  • The tenant(s) full name(s) 

  • The rental home address 

  • Exactly how much rent they owe you 

  • That all the past due rent must be paid within 3 days or you must move out

  • The name, address, and telephone number of the person to whom rent is due

  • If you can pay in person, the days and times they can pay the rent and the address where you can pay it

  • If you can pay by mail, the Notice must give the address where you can mail the payment

  • The phone number and web address of the government rental assistance program for where you rent

  • The below statement from the California Code of Civil Procedure 1179.10

  • The notice must have in at least 12-point font and bold text

    “IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA – YOU MUST TAKE ACTION TO AVOID AN EVICTION: As part of the state’s COVID-19 relief plan, money has been set aside to help renters who have fallen behind on rent or utility payments.

    If you cannot pay the amount demanded in this notice, YOU SHOULD COMPLETE A RENTAL ASSISTANCE APPLICATION IMMEDIATELY! It is free and simple to apply. Citizenship or immigration status does not matter.

    DO NOT DELAY! IF YOU DO NOT COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE WITHIN 15 BUSINESS DAYS, YOUR LANDLORD MAY BE ABLE TO SUE TO OBTAIN A COURT ORDER FOR YOUR EVICTION.

    You can start your application by calling 1-833-430-2122 or visiting http://housingiskey.com."

How much money is owed

This type of Notice can't include fees, like late fees or fees for bounced checks, or damages. The Notice is not valid if it asks for more than what's owed.

How to figure out your deadline

You had 15-business days to complete a government rental assistance application.

  • Day 1 is the 1st day after you got the Notice
  • Don't include Saturdays, Sundays, or court holidays when counting the days
success alert banner:

Have a question about Eviction?

Look for a "Chat Now" button in the right bottom corner of your screen. If you don’t see it, disable any pop-up/ad blockers on your browser.