The 30-day notice is most commonly used to terminate a month-to-month lease, but it can also be used to change the lease. For example, if a landlord is renting month-to-month and wants to raise the rent, make the property no-smoking, no longer allow pets, or make any other change to the lease, the landlord must give a 30-day notice to the tenant before those changes take effect. If the tenant does not want to rent under those terms, the tenant can give the landlord a 30-day notice to move out and vacate the property.
A landlord CANNOT use a 30-day notice to change a term lease. If the landlord and tenant sign a lease for a period of time, that lease can only be changed by agreement of both the landlord and tenant. If the landlord wants to change the lease at the end of the term (see Term of Lease), the landlord may give a 30-day notice before the end of the lease to have those changes take effect immediately after the lease term ends. Click here for a sample 30-day notice.
When a landlord or tenant wants to end a periodic lease, or when a landlord wants to change the terms of a periodic lease, a 30-day notice is required. The timing of a 30-day notice is often confusing for both landlords and tenants, because the 30-day notice always takes effect on a rental due date rather than the 30th day after the notice is given. With all the other notices, the effective date is a certain number of days after the notice is given. The 30-day notice is unique in that it can only take effect on certain days: the rental due date during a periodic lease, or the end date of a term lease.
For example, if a landlord wants the tenant to vacate on February 1st, they would need to give a 30-day notice at least 30 days before February 1st. This means that the landlord would have to give the notice on December 31st or earlier. If the landlord did not give the 30-day notice until January 3rd, then the notice would not take effect and the tenant would not have to vacate until March 1st. As this example shows, delivering the 30-day notice just a couple of days late can mean that the move-out date is delayed a full month and the tenant has to pay a full extra month’s rent.
The easiest way to think about it is to take the day the notice was given and count forward 30 days, then the next rental due date that is either on or after that date is the day the notice effect. When giving a 30-day notice of any kind, it is always a good idea to play it safe and give the notice more than 30-days before the next rental due date.
If a tenant receives a 30-day notice, it is NOT AN EVICTION. It means that the landlord no longer wishes to continue the tenancy, but it does not mean that the tenant has violated the lease and it will not come up as an eviction on the tenant’s rental history. Landlords end tenancies for several reasons, such as to do renovation on the property or because they are selling the property.
