A tenancy ends in one of three ways: someone gives notice that the law and the lease allow, both sides agree in writing, or a court orders it. There is no national notice period. Each state sets its own, and it isn’t always 30 days. A landlord may also need a reason the law accepts, and a notice is never a court order: if someone stays past the date, only a court process can remove them. This section walks through the end of a tenancy in the order the questions usually come up, for landlords and tenants alike.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Landlord and tenant law varies by state and city, and changes. Ask the court, your state agency, a lawyer or legal aid about your case.
Every state rule below was read in the state’s official text on 5 November 2026 for the guides it links to, where each one is cited in full. A state not named here is not confirmed on this page, so check the state code or ask the court.
Find your place
- The tenancy is month-to-month and one side wants out: start with how much notice.
- The notice is ready to write: see putting it in writing.
- A fixed-term lease has months left: go to leaving before the lease ends.
- The date has passed and the tenant is still there: go to if the tenant stays.
First, what kind of tenancy is it?
A month-to-month tenancy usually ends with the state’s notice. A fixed-term lease at its end date depends on the lease and the state: many leases renew or roll to month-to-month, and some states make the landlord give notice of non-renewal first. Partway through a fixed term, a letter alone doesn’t end it. Unpaid rent or a lease violation calls for a separate notice that states set on their own terms.
How much notice, and how to count it
Of the twelve states our guide to the 30-day notice to vacate covers, only Florida, Arizona and Virginia use a flat 30 days for both sides by default. A few examples show how far the others spread, all for a month-to-month tenancy:
| State | Tenant ending it | Landlord ending it | Law read |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 30 days | 60 days, or 30 if the tenant has lived there under a year; just cause may also apply | Civ. 1946.1 |
| Pennsylvania | The Act is silent | 15 days for a term of a year or less or no set term; 30 if over a year. The lease may shorten or waive this | Landlord and Tenant Act s.501 |
| Washington | At least 20 days before the end of a rent period | Only for a listed cause, apart from narrow fixed-term cases | RCW 59.18.200, 59.18.650 |
| Maryland | No general period set | Written notice 60 days before the tenancy ends, with exceptions | Real Prop. 8-402(c) |
| Texas | Either side: the later of the date in the notice or one month after notice is given, unless a signed agreement differs | Prop. 91.001 | |
The length is only half of it. States count differently, so the same notice can end on three different dates. In California and Texas the time runs from the notice and can end on any day. In Florida the notice must come at least 30 days before a monthly period ends. In Arizona and Virginia it is measured back from a rent date. A notice delivered on 18 November with rent due on the 1st has an earliest end date of 18 December in the first group, 31 December in Florida and 1 January in Arizona and Virginia, on our reading of the statutes.
When a landlord needs a reason
For a landlord, the first question isn’t how many days but whether the tenancy can end at all. In California, after 12 months of lawful occupancy an owner generally needs just cause, stated in the notice, with exemptions in subdivision (e) (Civ. Code 1946.2). Washington lets a landlord end a periodic tenancy only for the causes the law lists (RCW 59.18.650). New York’s Good Cause Eviction Law applies in New York City and in places that adopt it, and exempts small landlords, by default those with no more than ten units in the state (Real Prop. Law 214). Our page on rules that change with unit count covers the exemptions, and whether a landlord can evict for no reason goes further.
Federal rules can add a layer, including voucher rules and the CARES Act. Its’s 30-day notice to vacate for covered dwellings (15 U.S.C. 9058(c)) has split the courts: Arizona’s Court of Appeals held in June 2026 that it has expired, while noting that most state courts have held it is still in effect. If a property may be covered, ask the court or a lawyer before a notice goes out.
Putting it in writing
We found no federal law that sets the contents of an ordinary notice, but what the statutes turn on gives a working list: the date, who it’s from and to, the address and unit, which tenancy, a plain statement that it is ending, the last day as a calendar date, any reason the law requires, and a signature. Some states require set wording, such as the Good Cause statement in a New York landlord’s non-renewal notice. Our guide to the lease termination letter sets out what eight states add, without a template to copy, because where a state requires particular words, those words matter more.
Delivery is the part that gets argued about later. An e-mail or text isn’t automatically notice: Florida needs a signed addendum under 83.505, and Virginia needs the rental agreement to allow it. Keep a copy of the signed notice and proof of the date it went out.
Leaving before the lease ends
There is no standard price for breaking a lease. The bill is usually built from a fee the lease allows, or rent for the time the unit sits empty plus the cost of re-renting it, then any unpaid rent and damage. Whether the landlord must try to re-rent can move the total more than anything else. In Texas, New York and Maryland the duty exists and a lease can’t waive it (Prop. 91.006, RPL 227-e, Real Prop. 8-207). Florida lets the landlord choose among four options, one of which is to stand by and hold the tenant to rent as it comes due, and caps an early termination fee at two months’ rent, only with a separate signed addendum (83.595). Pennsylvania’s Attorney General’s guide says the landlord there has no obligation to find a new tenant.
Some rights cut the cost to little or nothing. Federal law lets a servicemember with qualifying orders end a home lease with written notice and a copy of the orders, with no early termination fee (50 U.S.C. 3955). Several states give victims of domestic violence and related crimes similar rights. Our page on what it costs to break a lease works through the arithmetic, the nine states we read on re-renting, and what happens to the deposit.
If the tenant stays
A tenant who stays past a valid end date without a new agreement is a holdover. They came in lawfully, so they aren’t a squatter, and the tenant route generally applies; our page on what squatters’ rights really are covers the other case. What the landlord does in the first days matters. In California, accepting rent is presumed to renew the tenancy on the same terms, for no more than a month when rent is monthly (Civ. Code 1945). Staying on can also cost the tenant: Florida names double the rent due for the period the tenant refuses to leave (83.58). Our guide to the holdover tenant compares ten states.
Changing the locks or cutting utilities is not a way to end a tenancy. California (Civ. Code 789.3), Florida (83.67) and Washington (RCW 59.18.290) each bar it in their own words. The next step is the court, and some states add a further notice first: in Texas, at least three days’ written notice to vacate before filing, unless the lease sets a different period (Prop. 24.005(a)). Our guide to the lawful eviction steps picks up from there.
The money at the end
Rent often stops partway through a month: California says rent is payable to and including the termination date on a month-to-month tenancy (Civ. Code 1946), and the prorated rent calculator gives an estimate of the final amount by each method. Deposit return deadlines run from move-out or the end of the tenancy, not from the notice; see deposit return deadlines by state. In Texas, a landlord needn’t refund the deposit until the tenant gives a forwarding address in writing, though the tenant doesn’t lose the refund merely by not giving one (Prop. 92.107).
The next step
- Read the lease for its notice clause, any renewal or early termination clause, and any separate addendum.
- Find your state’s rule on the notice guide, or in the state code if it isn’t confirmed there. Then check for a city rule.
- Landlords: confirm the tenancy can end at all, by unit count, cause rules and any federal program. A unit under just cause or Good Cause rules, a subsidized tenancy, or a notice that follows a complaint is the point to stop and ask a lawyer.
- Work out the earliest end date from your rent due date, allowing for delivery, and keep proof of how and when the notice went out.
- Tenants: a notice isn’t an eviction order. If court papers arrive, the time to answer can be short, so contact the court named on them or legal aid right away. This can’t wait.
Sources checked on 6 November 2026.
