An eviction is a legal term used for enforcing law into a landlord-tenant relationship. When a tenant does something out of legal terms and conditions of the lease or rental agreement, the landlord can evict them with the help of eviction laws.

But first, the landlord has to send the tenant a warning. One such warning is a 30-day notice of eviction. The deadline for the notice can change depending on the cause of eviction. However, not all of the notices landlords serve on tenants are for eviction. Sometimes when the landlord needs to change or apply some new terms on the lease agreement, he needs to send a 30-day notice to the tenant.

Notice

The most commonly used notice to terminate or change a month-to-month contract is the 30-day notice. If the landlord is renting a tenant in a month-to-month lease and wants to raise the rent, the landlord must give the tenant a 30-day notice before those changes take effect. There can be other reasons for the notice including making the property a no-smoking zone, no longer allowing pets in the property, or if the landlord wants to make any other change to the lease. If the tenant does not wish to rent under those terms, the notice can serve as a 30-day notice to move out and vacate the property.

Lease

The landlord can’t use a 30-day notice to change a lease term. The landlord and the tenant usually sign a lease contract for a period of time; that contract can only be changed by agreement of both the landlord and tenant. If the landlord wants to change the terms of the lease contract at the end of the term, he has to give a 30-day notice to the tenant before the end of the lease to have those changes to take effect immediately after the lease ends.

Timing

A 30-day notice is required when a landlord wants to end the periodic lease with his tenant, or when the landlord wants to change the terms of the periodic lease. The timing of the 30-day notice can be confusing for both the landlord or the tenant because rather than the 30th day after the notice is given, the 30-day notice takes effect on the rental due date. Aside from this notice, the effective date for all the other notices is a certain number of days after the notice is given. But the 30-day notice only takes effect on a specific day, such as the rental due date during a periodic lease, or at the end date of a term lease.

Delivering

Delivering the 30-day notice just a couple days late can mean that the eviction date is delayed a full month, and the tenant has to pay rent of an entire extra month. For example, if the landlord wanted to vacate the tenant on February 1, he needs to send the 30-day notice at least 30 days before February 1. It means that the landlord has to send the notice on December 31 or before that date. By any chance, if the landlord did not send the 30-day notice until January 2, then the 30-day notice will not take effect, and as a result, the tenant would not have to vacate the apartment until March 1.

Reply

A tenant has to reply to the 30-day notice as soon as possible. It is not always that when you receive a Notice, you have to quit from the apartment. The landlord may need to change the terms of the lease contract or may want to renovate the apartment. But it is still ideal to reply to the notice, or else the tenant may be slapped with an unlawful detainer lawsuit to force him out by the law.

If you want to stay safe and sound, you have to live by the law. A notice does not always represent eviction, but it can if you don’t take proper action. So it is better to remember all the terms and conditions of the lease contract and follow them accordingly. If you need something that is not in the lease, it is best to ask the landlord for his permission. Or else the next notice can be your eviction notice. An eviction can be recorded in your credit history for years and result in a huge problem. You have to work very hard to find an apartment to rent because of a previous eviction. So it is wise to avoid getting an eviction.