Notice to Vacate Template
A state-specific eviction notice generator for landlords: you pick the state and the reason, the tool builds the notice with the deadline your state's statute requires — and shows you the exact legal citation.
A notice to vacate is the written warning a landlord must serve before filing an eviction.
This free template builds the notice for your state and reason — 3-day, 5-day, 7-day, 14-day, 30/60/90-day — with the deadline calculated from your service date and the statute cited on the document. Covered: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana. Every deadline was verified on the state's official statute website.
1Build your notice
2Why landlords use a state-specific notice
An eviction starts with a notice, and the notice is where small landlords most often lose months. The deadline is set by state statute, and it changes with the reason: the same California rental takes a 3-day notice for unpaid rent but 30 or 60 days to end a tenancy without cause. Use the wrong period — or a generic form where the statute expects specific language — and the court can dismiss the case, sending you back to day one while the rent stays unpaid.
That is the entire design of this tool. For each of the seven covered states, the deadline was read in the official statute text and the citation is printed on the notice itself, with the verification date. For the other states, the tool says not available instead of guessing — an out-of-state notice is worse than no notice, because it fails in court.
3The verified deadlines, state by state
- California — 3 days to pay or quit (excluding weekends and judicial holidays), 30/60 days to terminate without cause. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1161, Civ. Code § 1946.1
- Texas — 3 days to vacate for any default, 1 month to end a month-to-month tenancy. Tex. Prop. Code §§ 24.005, 91.001
- Florida — 3 days for nonpayment, 7 days to cure or quit, 30 days for a month-to-month termination. Fla. Stat. §§ 83.56, 83.57
- New York — 14-day written rent demand, 30/60/90 days for no-fault terminations. RPAPL § 711(2), RPL § 226-c
- Illinois — 5 days to pay, 10 days to quit for a lease default, 30 days for a periodic tenancy. 735 ILCS 5/9-209, 9-210, 9-207
- Michigan — 7 days for nonpayment, 1 month for a periodic tenancy. MCL 600.5714, MCL 554.134
- Louisiana — 5 days to vacate for any cause, 10 days before month-end for a month-to-month termination. La. C.C.P. art. 4701, Civ. Code art. 2728
The same table, with one row per notice type and the official source for each deadline, lives on the eviction notice requirements by state page — built to be cited, not sold to.
4How it works
- Select your state. Only states verified against their official statute are offered. For any other state you get a clear not available — with the reason — never a generic or borrowed form.
- Choose the reason. Only the notice types your state's statute actually provides appear: nonpayment, lease violation, or no-fault termination, with the exact variant for your situation.
- Fill in the notice. Click any dashed field in the document and type: tenant name, property address, amount due or violation, your contact. The legal deadline is computed from your service date as you type.
- Print or save as PDF — no watermark, no account, no card. Then serve the notice following your state's delivery rules and keep dated proof of service.
5Mistakes that get an eviction notice thrown out
Landlord associations and eviction specialists describe the same failure patterns, case after case. None of them is exotic — each one comes from treating a statutory document as a generic letter.
- Using a generic free form. Eviction proceedings require exact statutory language, and a generic fill-in form is unlikely to match it. A judge can throw the notice out and, with it, part or all of your lease argument.
- Guessing the deadline. The period is set by state statute and changes with the reason: the same California rental takes 3 days for unpaid rent but 30 or 60 days to end a tenancy without cause. Texas gives 3 days for any default but a full month to end a month-to-month tenancy. Serve the wrong period and the case starts over.
- Serving the notice the wrong way. States differ on how delivery must happen — in person, posted on the door, or by mail — and a correct notice served incorrectly still fails. Check your state's service rules before you deliver anything.
- Skipping the local check. Cities can add their own rules on top of state law: rent control, just-cause ordinances, licensing. A notice that ignores a local rule is a notice that fails.
- Paying for a "free" template with a hidden subscription. The dominant complaint about paid form services is pricing shown only after the document is filled, a credit card required for the "free" trial, and automatic renewal at 35–49 $/month. That is why this page shows its price — zero — before you type anything.
This tool exists to remove the first four: only verified deadlines with their citations, no generic fallback, no borrowed out-of-state form, and a printed notice you can hand to a local attorney before serving it.
Questions landlords ask
Is this notice to vacate template really free?
Yes. The template is free with no account, no credit card and no trial. Unlike form services that ask for a card up front and renew at $35-49 a month, the price here is zero and it is shown before you type anything. Nothing you enter is stored: the document is built in your browser.
How many days' notice does a landlord have to give a tenant?
It depends on the state and the reason. Verified examples: 3 days for nonpayment in California and Texas, 14 days in New York, 5 days in Illinois and Louisiana, 7 days in Michigan. No-fault terminations run 10 days to 90 days depending on the state and tenancy length. The full table with citations and verification dates is on the requirements page.
What happens if a landlord serves the wrong notice or the wrong deadline?
The eviction case can be dismissed and the landlord has to start over, adding weeks of unpaid rent. Courts routinely reject notices that use the wrong period or a generic form where state law requires specific language. That is why this tool never offers a generic notice and never substitutes another state's form.
How should a landlord deliver a notice to vacate?
State law sets the delivery rules, and they differ. New York requires service the way court papers are served (RPAPL § 735), Louisiana allows attaching the notice to a door only when the premises are abandoned or the tenant cannot be found (C.C.P. art. 4703), and Florida refers to the service manner of § 83.56(4). Whatever the method, keep proof of the date and manner of service — the notice period runs from delivery.
Can a tenant stay in the property after the notice expires?
Yes. A notice to vacate is the legal first step, not an eviction. If the tenant does not pay, cure or leave by the deadline, the landlord must then file an eviction case in court and obtain a judgment before possession can be recovered. Self-help measures such as changing the locks are unlawful in most states.
Does this tool store my tenants' information?
No. Names, addresses and amounts are typed into the document in your browser and never sent anywhere. Reloading the page clears everything. The only optional feature is an email field to hear when new states are added, and it sends only your email address — never the contents of your notice.