Vermont termination notices by ground
Every Vermont eviction starts with a written termination notice under 9 V.S.A. 4467, and every notice must state the termination date specifically (4467(f)). The minimum depends on the ground and, for no-cause notices, on how long the tenant has lived there.
- Nonpayment: at least 14 days after actual notice. The tenancy doesn’t end if the tenant pays or tenders the rent due through the end of the rental period in which they pay (4467(a)).
- Breach of a material lease term or a tenant duty under the chapter: at least 30 days (4467(b)(1)).
- Criminal activity, illegal drug activity or violence that threatens other residents’ health or safety: at least 14 days (4467(b)(2)).
- No cause, monthly rent, no written lease: 60 days if the tenant has lived there two years or less, 90 days if longer (4467(c)(1)). Weekly rent: 21 days.
- No cause, written lease: at least 30 days before the term ends for tenancies of two years or less, 60 days if longer; seven days under a written week-to-week agreement (4467(e)).
- Building under contract for sale, no written lease: at least 30 days (4467(d)).
Rules that protect your notice
Three provisions in 4467 matter for owners of larger buildings. First, accepting partial rent after a nonpayment notice doesn’t waive your remedies or settle the debt (4467(a)). Second, you can serve several notices on different grounds, and none cancels another; you may rely on every ground the law allows at any point in the case (4467(i)). Third, accepting rent after a termination for other reasons, or during the case, doesn’t defeat a breach or no-cause eviction (4467(j)).
The catch is the clock. A notice supports a judgment only if you start the ejectment case within 60 days after the termination date it states (4467(k)). Miss that window and you serve a new notice and wait again.
Vermont has no statewide just-cause rule. A 2026 bill, H.772, would have revised eviction procedures, but the Senate refused it third reading on May 27, 2026, so the rules on this page are unchanged. Our Vermont landlord-tenant law guide covers deposits and no-cause notice examples.
Filing an ejectment in Superior Court
If the tenant stays past the termination date, you bring an action for possession, damages and costs under 12 V.S.A. chapter 169 (9 V.S.A. 4468). The case goes to the Civil Division of the Superior Court, whose judge issues the writ that restores possession (12 V.S.A. 4851).
Attach a copy of the rental agreement, if there is one, and the termination notice to the complaint (12 V.S.A. 4852). Either side has the right to a jury trial. In a nonpayment case, you don’t have to prove a formal demand for rent or a right of reentry (12 V.S.A. 4773).
Once served, the tenant has 21 days to answer under Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a). Before asking for a default, file the servicemember affidavit that the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. 3931, requires.
Rent escrow: the tool that shortens a Vermont case
Because cases take time, Vermont lets you ask the court to make the tenant pay rent into court while it is pending. Under 12 V.S.A. 4853a, the motion, supported by an affidavit, can be filed and served with the complaint. A hearing can be held any time after 14 days’ notice to the parties.
If the court finds the tenant owes rent and hasn’t paid, it orders full or partial payment into court of rent as it accrues, plus rent accrued from the filing or service of the complaint. You can apply to have the funds released if losing the income puts the property at risk or causes other hardship.
The real force is subsection (h). If the tenant misses a court-ordered payment, you are entitled to judgment for immediate possession, and the writ lets the sheriff put you in possession not earlier than seven days after service. Filing the escrow motion with the complaint starts that clock early.
Judgment, the writ and the tenant’s last chance to pay
When the court finds you are entitled to possession, you get judgment for possession, rents due, damages and costs, plus reasonable attorney fees if the written lease provides for them (12 V.S.A. 4854). The writ of possession issues on the date judgment is entered unless the court stays it for good cause. It directs a sheriff to serve it and, not earlier than 14 days after service, put you in possession. Act 13 of 2025, effective May 5, 2025, amended that section.
Until the writ is executed, the tenant can still stop a nonpayment case. Under 12 V.S.A. 4773, paying into court all rent due through the end of the current rental period, with interest and costs of suit, discontinues the action. A tenant can do this only once in 12 months, counted from the payment date.
That changes the math on a nonpayment case. A tenant who pays everything at the last moment keeps the unit, so a second default within the year is when the full process pays off.
Illegal evictions and retaliation
Under 9 V.S.A. 4463, a landlord may not willfully interrupt or end any utility service supplied to the tenant, except for temporary emergency repairs, and may not directly or indirectly deny the tenant access to the unit or to the tenant’s belongings except through proper judicial process. Lockouts and holding a tenant’s property are both off-limits.
Retaliation is barred by 9 V.S.A. 4465. You can’t change rental terms or bring or threaten an action because a tenant complained to a code agency about a health or safety violation, complained to you about a violation of the chapter, or joined a tenant union. The tenant can recover damages and attorney fees and has a defense to the eviction. If you serve a termination notice on any ground other than nonpayment within 90 days after a government notice that the unit fails health or safety rules, retaliation is presumed.
The CARES Act and Vermont notices
If the building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, or is in a covered federal housing program, Section 4024(c) of the CARES Act, 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars requiring a tenant to vacate until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The 120-day moratorium ended in 2020, but the 30-day text remains and courts have split on whether it still applies. For a covered building, the safer course is a nonpayment notice giving at least 30 days instead of 14, which Vermont law allows since 14 is only the minimum.
Vermont eviction timeline
Here is the path for a nonpayment case, with the statute or rule for each step.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Nonpayment notice | Termination at least 14 days after actual notice | 9 V.S.A. 4467(a) |
| Breach notice | 30 days; 14 for criminal, drug or violent acts | 9 V.S.A. 4467(b) |
| No-cause notice, no written lease | 60 or 90 days (monthly); 21 days (weekly) | 9 V.S.A. 4467(c) |
| File ejectment | Within 60 days after termination date | 9 V.S.A. 4467(k) |
| Tenant’s answer | 21 days after service | V.R.C.P. 12(a) |
| Rent escrow hearing | Any time after 14 days’ notice | 12 V.S.A. 4853a(b) |
| Missed escrow payment | Writ executed 7+ days after service | 12 V.S.A. 4853a(h) |
| Writ after judgment | Issues on judgment date; executed 14+ days after service | 12 V.S.A. 4854 |
| Tenant pays to discontinue | Before writ is executed; once per 12 months | 12 V.S.A. 4773 |
Worked example: one nonpaying unit in Burlington
Assume a 10-unit building in Burlington, a unit renting for $1,800, rent due Monday, March 1, 2027, and an assumed $2,000 attorney fee. The tenant pays nothing and doesn’t answer.
The notice is delivered Tuesday, March 2, with a termination date of Tuesday, March 16. The complaint is filed and served Wednesday, March 17. The 21-day answer period ends Wednesday, April 7. The court enters a default judgment Thursday, April 8, the writ issues that day and the sheriff serves it the same day. Fourteen days later, Thursday, April 22, the sheriff can put you in possession.
That is 52 days from the due date. At $59.18 a day ($1,800 × 12 ÷ 365), lost rent is $3,077, and with the attorney fee the case costs $5,077 before service and court costs. If the tenant pays all rent due, interest and costs of suit into court before April 22, the case ends and the tenant stays.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lost rent, 52 days at $59.18 | $3,077 |
| Attorney fee (assumed) | $2,000 |
| Total before court and service costs | $5,077 |
Alternatives to an ejectment case
With 52 days as the floor, a negotiated exit often beats litigation in Vermont. A written payment plan fits a tenant with a short-term problem, and Vermont’s rule that partial payment doesn’t waive your nonpayment remedies lets you accept money without restarting. Cash for keys, paying a tenant to leave by a set date, can cost less than seven or more weeks of lost rent plus fees.
Selling a Vermont building with a pending eviction
Tenants with written leases keep them after a sale, and the buyer steps into your position, so it can continue the case, settle it or start again. Note the 60-day filing window: a buyer relying on your notice needs to file in time. Give the buyer every notice with the stated termination dates, the ledger, the complaint, any escrow order and court filings, and collect tenant estoppel certificates.
Selling your Vermont apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units across Vermont with tenants in place, including buildings with nonpaying tenants, termination notices already served or ejectment cases in Superior Court. We price those units into the offer, so you don’t have to see the case through.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
