30-day notice letter: How to write one.

Whether you’re a landlord who needs to ask a tenant to move out or a tenant looking to find a new home, it’s always best to start with a 30-day notice letter. Here’s how to write one.

A 30-day notice to vacate letter is an official document notifying of an upcoming lease termination. It can be sent from a landlord to a tenant or from a tenant to a landlord. Whichever way it’s headed, it’s important to outline what’s expected of both parties as the lease ends.

Do you need a 30-day notice to vacate letter?

If you plan to terminate a lease — whether you’re the landlord or the tenant — you must provide formal notice in advance. You never know what disagreements might occur at the end of the lease, and the 30-day notice is a great way to ensure that both landlord and tenant are on the same page.

If you don’t give adequate notice, there could be consequences. As a tenant, you might be subject to penalties — like losing your security deposit. Landlords may not be able to officially terminate the lease if they don’t provide enough notice.

However, a 30-day notice is just the typical amount of notice you need to provide. Official laws vary from state to state, so make sure you review and understand your state’s rules before submitting your notice letter.

Information to include in your 30-day notice letter.

For a 30-day notice letter to be official, at minimum, it needs to include the following information:

• Landlord contact information
• Tenant contact information
• Property address
• Current date (when the 30 days begins)
• Signature

If you’re a landlord writing a 30-day notice letter for a tenant to move out, you should also include any actions required (or to be completed) that the tenant will need to do prior to their move-out date. Examples include cleaning the apartment, cleaning the bathroom, leave apartment empty, return keys, etc. However, if the lease termination isn’t due to tenant actions, you might not need to request anything.

A lease termination is similar to a two-week notice at a job. It’s not meant to be friendly and conversational; it’s all business. Keep the tone professional and state the information clearly so there’s no opportunity for misunderstanding.

Save your letter as a PDF.

Once you have your 30-day notice letter where you like it, make sure to save it as a PDF. PDFs maintain their formatting on any device, which is why they’ve become the standard for sending official documents.

It’s easy to save your document directly as a PDF or convert Word to PDF online right from your web browser. You can also convert a PDF back to nearly any type of format for easy editing down the road.

Just like any serious document, both the tenant and the landlord will need to sign the 30-day notice letter PDF to make it official. To make the process easier, you can sign the PDF online without needing to break out the printer and ink pens.

Sample 30-day notice letter

Not sure where to start writing your 30-day notice letter? Here’s a quick sample that you can easily customize with your personal information whether you are the landlord or the tenant:

Dear [landlord or tenant],

This letter is to notify that you will need to vacate the rental unit/I will vacate the rental unit on [date]. This letter meets the 30-day notice requirement as outlined by the lease agreement.

Keys will be returned to the property manager at [address of property manager’s office] on [date].

The security deposit (if applicable) will be sent within X days, as listed in the lease. Please provide a forwarding address where you would like the security deposit sent/You can send the security deposit to [new address].

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [your phone number] or [your email address].

Thank you,

[Printed Name]

[Your Signature]

Frequently asked questions.

Is a 30-day notice to vacate the same as an eviction notice?

No. A 30-day notice letter doesn’t necessarily mean the tenant or landlord has violated any specific lease agreements and won’t show up on their rental histories, meaning it won’t impact future background checks. It just means someone plans to change or end the lease.

Who can send a 30-day notice letter?

Anyone. Renters can send a 30-day notice letter to their landlord, and landlords can send them to their tenants. Whoever wants to end the lease can send a letter.

Do you have to submit a 30-day notice letter on the first of the month?

You can submit a 30-day notice to vacate at any time. It doesn’t have to be during the lease renewal period or even at the beginning of the month.

Content as a Service v2 - acrobat-hub - Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 10:18