What is an eviction notice?
An eviction notice is the written notice a landlord serves before filing an eviction case, telling the tenant to pay, fix a lease violation or move out by a deadline. It isn’t a court order, and the tenant can’t be removed just because the deadline passes. What it does is start the clock, and in most states a court will throw out a case built on a defective notice.
Serving the notice is the step owners most often get wrong. State law sets the amount demanded, the number of days, how those days are counted, who signs and how it’s delivered, and some cities add their own wording. Get it wrong and the case gets dismissed, and you start over with another month of lost rent.
Types of eviction notices
There are four basic notice types, and the reason for the eviction decides which one you use. State statutes give each its own name and deadline, but the categories show up nearly everywhere.
- Pay rent or quit: the tenant owes rent and must pay the full amount demanded or move out by the deadline. This is the most common notice.
- Cure or quit: the tenant broke a lease term, such as an unauthorized occupant or pet, and must fix it or leave.
- Unconditional quit: the tenant must leave with no chance to cure, usually reserved for serious conduct like illegal activity, severe damage or repeated violations.
- No-fault or termination notice: ends a tenancy without tenant fault, such as at the end of a month-to-month term, for an owner move-in or for a substantial remodel. In just-cause states and cities, this notice must state a reason the law allows and may require relocation money.
3 day notice to pay or quit: rules by state
A 3 day notice to pay or quit tells a tenant to pay the rent owed within three days or move out, but what counts as “three days” varies by state. Some states skip weekends and holidays, others use a longer period, and a few let the lease set the number.
California’s notice under Code of Civil Procedure 1161(2) gives three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays, a counting rule the state added in 2018. Florida Statutes 83.56(3) also uses three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and court-observed holidays. New York’s RPAPL 711(2) requires a written rent demand with at least 14 days’ notice. Texas Property Code 24.005 sets three days’ written notice to vacate unless the lease says otherwise, and since January 1, 2026, a nonpayment case against a tenant who hadn’t been late before in the lease term generally needs a notice to pay rent or vacate first.
| State | Nonpayment notice | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| California | 3 days, excluding weekends and judicial holidays | CCP 1161(2) |
| Florida | 3 days, excluding weekends and court-observed holidays | Fla. Stat. 83.56(3) |
| New York | 14-day written rent demand | RPAPL 711(2) |
| Texas | 3-day notice to vacate unless the lease sets another period | Tex. Prop. Code 24.005 |
Lease violations and unconditional notices
For lease violations, states usually give the tenant a short window to cure, and they save no-cure notices for conduct the law treats as too serious to fix. Here the deadlines are often longer than for rent.
California uses the same three-court-day window to cure a violation under CCP 1161(3), and allows a three-day notice to quit without a cure under 1161(4) for nuisance, waste, unlawful use or an improper sublet. Florida gives seven days to cure under 83.56(2)(b), or seven days to vacate with no cure under 83.56(2)(a) for conduct like intentional damage or a repeat violation within 12 months.
No-fault notices sit in their own category. California’s Tenant Protection Act, Civil Code 1946.2, generally requires just cause once a tenant has lived there 12 months, and Oregon, Washington, New Jersey and New York’s good cause law add their own limits. Our landlord tenant law guide and the state pages, such as /california-landlord-tenant-law/, cover those rules.
How to evict a tenant: the court process step by step
To evict a tenant, you serve a valid notice, file an eviction lawsuit after it expires, serve the tenant, win a judgment and then have a sheriff, marshal or constable carry out the writ. The steps are the same in every state, but the deadlines inside each step are not.
- Document the default: rent ledger, lease, notices sent and any payment you accepted. Accepting partial rent after a notice can waive it in some states.
- Serve the notice exactly as your state requires, and keep proof of service.
- File the complaint or petition in the court that hears evictions once the notice period runs out.
- Have the tenant served with the summons and complaint.
- Wait for the answer period. In California, tenants have had 10 court days to respond since January 1, 2025. In Florida, a tenant who raises defenses other than payment must deposit the rent alleged into the court registry under 83.60(2), or lose those defenses.
- File a military status affidavit before any default judgment, as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act requires.
- Attend the hearing or trial and get a judgment for possession, plus rent if awarded.
- Get the writ and let the officer return possession. Florida’s sheriff posts a 24-hour notice under 83.62, and New York’s marshal must give at least 14 days’ written notice under RPAPL 749.
How long does an eviction take?
An eviction takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the state, the court’s calendar and whether the tenant contests the case. The statutes set minimums, not averages, so the honest answer is to add up your state’s deadlines and then ask your attorney what the local court is actually doing.
Texas shows how fast the floor can be. Under SB 38, which applies to cases filed on or after January 1, 2026, the justice court must hold trial 10 to 21 days after the petition is filed, the writ generally can’t issue before the sixth day after judgment, and a tenant who appeals has five days to do it and must keep paying rent into the court registry.
Contested cases, jury demands, bankruptcy filings and appeals can all stretch the timeline, so budget for the slower case, not the fastest one.
When the CARES Act 30-day notice may apply
If your building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, or takes part in a covered federal housing program, the CARES Act notice rule may apply. Section 4024(c), codified at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars a landlord of a covered property from requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate.
The 120-day moratorium in the same section expired in 2020, but the 30-day text is still in the statute and courts have disagreed on whether it still applies. Our landlord tenant law guide explains the split. Serving 30 days at a covered building sidesteps the question, and Texas’ SB 38 lets the state case go forward while barring service of the writ until a federal notice period has run.
Worked example: what one nonpaying unit costs
Let’s say you own an 18-unit building with rents of $1,725, and one tenant stops paying on the 1st. Your attorney quotes a $2,400 flat fee, filing and service run $435, and you expect possession at the end of the third month. Then it takes one more month and $1,800 of turnover work to repair and re-lease the unit.
You lose four months of rent at $1,725, or $6,900. Add $2,400 in legal fees, $435 in costs and $1,800 of turnover, and the gross cost is $11,535. Apply the $1,725 security deposit to the unpaid rent and your net loss is $9,810, about 2.63% of the building’s $372,600 in yearly gross potential rent, and all of it comes straight out of NOI.
Compare a payment plan offered early. If a tenant with a short-term hardship is one month behind, $1,725, and agrees to pay current rent plus $345 a month for five months, you recover the full $1,725 and spend nothing on court. If the plan fails, you’ve lost a few weeks, not the case.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lost rent, 4 months at $1,725 | $6,900 |
| Attorney flat fee | $2,400 |
| Filing and service | $435 |
| Turnover repairs | $1,800 |
| Gross cost | $11,535 |
| Less security deposit applied | −$1,725 |
| Net loss | $9,810 |
Alternatives to eviction
The main alternatives to eviction are a written payment plan, a cash for keys agreement and a negotiated move-out date, and each can cost less than a contested case. Courts often push the parties toward the same outcomes anyway through settlement or mediation.
A payment plan fits a good tenant with a temporary problem. Put it in writing, set firm due dates and say what happens on a missed payment. Cash for keys fits a tenant who won’t or can’t catch up, where paying for a quick, clean move-out beats months of lost rent. Our cash for keys guide covers how to structure one and the city rules that apply. Rental assistance programs, where they exist, can also pay arrears directly to the landlord.
Evictions in a 5+ unit apartment building
In a larger building, evictions are a management system, not a one-time event. Use the same ledger, notice forms and deadlines for every unit, and calendar each step so nothing is served late or counted wrong.
Consistency also protects you. Treating similar tenants differently, or skipping notices for some and not others, invites fair housing claims. A building with Section 8 voucher tenants adds another layer, since the owner must also send the housing authority a copy of the eviction notice. Our Section 8 landlord guide explains how that works.
Selling an apartment building with pending evictions
You can sell an apartment building while eviction cases are pending, and for a tired landlord that can be simpler than seeing every case through. Leases and tenants stay with the building, so a buyer simply takes over the problem units along with the rest of the rent roll.
Disclose every pending case, notice and payment plan, and give the buyer the ledgers and court filings. The buyer decides whether to continue the case, settle it or start over in its own name, depending on state rules. Tenant estoppel certificates help confirm what each tenant claims to owe. Expect a buyer to price the nonpaying units realistically, which is still often better than carrying the legal costs and lost rent yourself.
Selling your apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units nationwide with tenants in place, including buildings with nonpaying tenants, notices already served or cases in court. You don’t have to finish an eviction before you call. We can work with a 1031 exchange timeline or offer seller financing terms.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
