Last Updated February 27, 2024
Alternate Names
A Lease Notice is also known as a/an:
- Eviction Notice
- Notice to Vacate
- Notice of Termination of Lease
- Notice to Remedy
What is a Lease Notice?
A Lease Notice is a formal, written warning that a landlord sends to a tenant regarding a breach in lease terms or a termination of the tenancy.
In a Lease Notice, landlords often specify whether a tenant's lease will terminate if the tenant does not correct a lease violation within a reasonable timeframe.
Landlords may also use this form to notify tenants that their lease will not renew at the end of the lease term.
How much notice does a landlord have to give?
Required notice periods vary depending on your jurisdiction and reason for giving notice. Typically, notice periods range from 14 to 90 days. To determine the minimum notice period that's legally required in your city, you should consult your local landlord and tenant board or tribunal.
LawDepot provides guidelines for minimum notice periods within our document questionnaire. It's important to note that you cannot provide a shorter notice period than what is required by law. However, you may specify a longer notice period if that suits your needs.
What should a landlord do when a tenant violates their lease?
Landlords can send a Notice to Remedy when a tenant seriously violates their lease. For instance, a landlord may use a Notice to Remedy to ask tenants to rectify situations such as:
- Failing to pay rent on time
- Violating terms of the lease (e.g., unauthorized occupants)
- Causing substantial damage to the property
- Harassing people on the premises with violence or threats
- Conducting illegal activities on the premises
This notice letter gives fair warning to tenants to resolve a problem within a certain time frame (often 14 days). If the tenant fails to do so, their landlord may proceed with terminating the tenancy. In this case, the landlord would then provide a Notice to Vacate. In some jurisdictions, landlords must send a Notice to Remedy before they send a Notice to Vacate.
If the breach of lease terms was not of a serious nature (e.g., a noise complaint), the landlord and tenant may prefer to resolve the issue by talking to each other. Landlords often reserve sending a Notice to Remedy for a serious violation.
How many breach notices should a landlord send before evicting a tenant?
Unfortunately, there may be tenants who repeatedly breach lease terms—like a tenant who pays rent late every month. Although the tenant may resolve the problem within an appropriate time frame, landlords may find themselves sending multiple breach notices for the same issue.
If a landlord sends two or more breach notices within a span of 12 months, it's possible they could start taking steps to evict the tenant. If a tenant has a history of being non-compliant, a landlord has the option to apply to their local landlord and tenant board or tribunal for help evicting their tenant. Otherwise, landlords may begin the eviction process by sending a Notice to Vacate.
It's important to note that some tribunals will only step in when lease violations are of a serious nature (as outlined in the above section). When authorities do get involved, they may issue a warrant for possession and send police to remove a tenant from the property.
Be sure to check your local laws for the legal process of eviction, as it varies by jurisdiction.
Can a landlord serve an eviction notice?
In most states, landlords may deliver an eviction notice by hand, through the mail with proof of service, or through an electronic communication such as email (if the tenant agreed in writing to receive notices this way).
However, some states and territories (such as the Australian Capital Territory) require police to carry out evictions. As such, it's important to consult your local landlord and tenant authority before proceeding with an eviction.
If you deliver the document in person, having an objective third party witness the event is beneficial if the tenant ever denies receiving the notice.
If you send the notice through the mail, it's generally advisable to send it through a registered post service. This kind of mail service provides proof of delivery and receipt (often with a signature on delivery and online tracking). Sending a notice through a registered post service often provides more security than sending it electronically.
If you serve the notice through email, you can check if your email service allows you to request delivery and read receipts. A delivery receipt confirms the delivery of your email to the recipient's mailbox, while a read receipt confirms the email was opened.
Unfortunately, not all email services support read receipts, and there is no way to force a recipient to send a read receipt. Notedly, serving an eviction notice via email is often difficult to prove in court, and Australian law makers have only recently ruled emails as a valid form of communication.
