Free Notice of Non-Renewal of Lease (All States)

Direct answer: a landlord who does not want to renew a lease must give the tenant written notice at least as far ahead as the state’s law and the lease require, and in a growing number of places must also state a lawful reason. The period is state law. New York uses 30, 60 or 90 days depending on how long the tenant has been there (Real Prop. Law 226-c); California requires 60 days to end a periodic tenancy, or 30 days if the tenant has lived there under a year (Civ. Code 1946.1); the model Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act uses 60 days for month-to-month. Whether a reason is needed is also state law: California requires just cause for covered tenancies after twelve months, and Oregon limits no-cause endings after the first year. The form below prepares the notice for any state; the guide beneath it explains the national rules, links every state-specific version we publish, and shows where landlords most often go wrong.

Start with the state, because it decides the notice period and whether you must state a reason. Then enter the tenancy dates, the period your state and lease require, and the date the tenancy ends. Check your state’s page in the table further down before you choose the end date. In New York, Real Property Law section 226-c requires the Good Cause Eviction Law notice under section 231-c to be attached to a non-renewal; use our New York notice of non-renewal, which covers it.

A notice of non-renewal is a landlord’s written statement that a lease or tenancy will not be continued after its current term, and that the tenant must leave by a specific date. It is sometimes called a non-renewal letter, a lease non-renewal notice, or, for a month-to-month tenancy, a notice of termination of tenancy. It differs from every eviction notice in one essential way: it does not claim that the tenant did anything wrong. It simply exercises the landlord’s right, where the law allows it, to end the relationship when the agreed term runs out.

That right is narrower than many landlords assume. A fixed-term lease generally ends on its end date, but many leases contain automatic renewal or month-to-month conversion clauses, and some states convert a long tenancy into a protected one. Periodic tenancies, such as month-to-month, end only by proper notice. And in states and cities with just-cause laws, a landlord may decline to renew a long-term tenancy only for a reason the law recognizes. The notice is therefore both a courtesy and a legal act, and it must satisfy the rules of the place where the property sits.

At least the period your state’s statute requires for this type of tenancy, or the longer period your lease promises, measured to the date the tenancy is to end. There is no national number. The table shows what four sources actually say, checked against the official texts.

Three patterns stand out. First, periods increasingly depend on the length of the tenancy, not only on the rental period: New York’s tiers and California’s one-year line both reward long-term tenants with more time. Second, the numbers in the model act are bracketed, which means each state that adopted it chose its own, so neighboring states that share the same statutory structure can still require different periods. Third, the lease can add time but generally cannot take it away where a statute sets a minimum; the model act, for instance, bars a rental agreement from providing that the tenant “agrees to waive or forego rights or remedies under this Act” (URLTA section 1.403(a)(1)).

In much of the country no reason is required, but a growing list of states and cities require just cause for longer tenancies, and nowhere may the reason be discriminatory; most states also bar a retaliatory non-renewal. Three verified examples show how different the rules can be:

• California. Civil Code section 1946.2 provides that “after a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a residential real property for 12 months, the owner of the residential real property shall not terminate a tenancy without just cause, which shall be stated in the written notice to terminate tenancy.” The section defines at-fault and no-fault just causes and has its own exemptions, so a California landlord must first decide whether the tenancy is covered.
• Oregon. ORS 90.427 lets a landlord end a tenancy without cause during the first year of occupancy on at least 30 days’ notice. After the first year, a fixed-term tenancy becomes month-to-month when the term expires unless the parties agree to a new term, the tenant gives notice, or the landlord has a qualifying reason; the qualifying landlord reasons (such as demolition, conversion, certain renovations, owner or family occupancy, or a sale to a buyer who will live there) require at least 90 days’ notice stating the reason and supporting facts.
• New York. Real Property Law section 226-c requires the non-renewal notice to append or contain the Good Cause Eviction Law notice described in section 231-c; where the unit is covered by that law, a lawful basis must be stated. Our New York notice of non-renewal walks through coverage in detail.

Outside such rules, a landlord may decline to renew for any lawful reason or none. But two federal and near-universal limits always apply. The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful “to refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin,” and extends the same protection to disability (42 U.S.C. 3604). And retaliation statutes, modeled on URLTA section 5.101, protect tenants who complain to a housing code agency, complain to the landlord about maintenance, or join a tenants’ organization. A non-renewal that follows closely on protected activity invites scrutiny, so document the legitimate reason and its timing even where no reason must be stated on the notice.

The form’s reason field is optional for that reason: leave it blank only where your state and city allow a no-reason non-renewal, and fill it in, with supporting facts, wherever the law requires a stated cause.

Use your state’s own page to confirm the notice period, whether a reason is required, and any local rules before you serve. Each state page below carries a notice written to that state’s statute. Two Illinois local forms are included because Cook County and Chicago set their own notice periods.

For a side-by-side comparison of how tenancies end in each state, see our lease termination laws by state guide. If you have decided to keep the tenant after all, a lease renewal offer puts the new terms in writing, and our lease renewal guide for landlords covers the decision in depth.

The tenant’s name, the property address, a clear statement that the lease will not be renewed, the exact date the tenancy ends, any reason the law requires, move-out information, and the landlord’s signature and contact details. The form on this page includes each of these:

Keep the tone neutral and factual. A non-renewal notice is not the place to air grievances; anything you write can be read by a judge, and an unnecessary accusation can make a lawful non-renewal look retaliatory.

In writing, by a method that proves the date the tenant received it, and by any method your lease or statute specifies. Because notice periods usually run from delivery or receipt, the delivery record is as important as the notice itself.

• Personal delivery with a signed acknowledgment is the strongest evidence. The PDF includes an optional acknowledgment line.
• Certified mail, return receipt requested, creates a postal record; allow for mailing time if your state measures from receipt.
• Delivery to an adult at the unit or posting, with mailing, is recognized in many states for termination notices; check your statute.
• Email or electronic delivery should be used only where the tenant agreed to it in writing and your state allows it, and never as the only record.

Complete the proof-of-delivery block on the PDF the same day: the method, the date, who received it, and who delivered it.

A late or missing notice usually means the tenancy continues past the date you wanted, on its existing terms, until a proper notice period has run. New York states the rule expressly: if the landlord fails to provide timely notice, the tenant’s lawful tenancy continues under the existing terms from the date actual written notice was given until the notice period has expired (Real Prop. Law 226-c). In other states, a lease that reaches its end date without notice may renew automatically under its own clause, or the tenancy may continue month to month; Oregon’s statute, for example, converts a fixed term that ends after the first year of occupancy into a month-to-month tenancy unless one of the listed exceptions applies (ORS 90.427(4)(c)).

The fix is never to shorten the tenant’s time. If you are late, serve a correct notice now with the full period measured from today, and plan around the later end date.

Keep the tenancy running normally until the end date, plan the handover, and prepare for the rare case in which the tenant does not leave.

A tenant who stays after the tenancy ends is a holdover, and the landlord’s remedy is a court action for possession, sometimes with extra damages for a bad-faith holdover. The model act provides that if the tenant remains in possession without the landlord’s consent after the term expires or the tenancy is terminated, “the landlord may bring an action for possession and if the tenant’s holdover is willful and not in good faith the landlord may also recover an amount not more than [3] month’s periodic rent or [threefold] the actual damages sustained by him, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney’s fees” (URLTA section 4.301(c)). States that follow the model act set their own figures, and others handle holdovers differently.

Two things to avoid. First, self-help: the model act prohibits a landlord from recovering possession by interrupting essential services or otherwise, except as the act permits (URLTA section 4.207), and state laws impose similar rules. Second, accepting rent for a period after the end date without deciding what that means: acceptance can be treated as consent to a continued tenancy. If the tenant offers rent after the end date, get advice on how your state treats it before you deposit it.

Common lawful reasons include selling the property, moving in an owner or family member, major renovation, changing how the property is used, and a pattern of lease problems that fell short of an eviction. Where a reason must be stated, it must be one the statute recognizes and it must be true; Oregon, for example, ties several of its qualifying reasons to intentions carried out “within a reasonable time” and requires supporting facts in the notice. Where no reason must be stated, many landlords still include a brief, neutral one, because it reduces conflict and helps show the decision was not retaliatory. If the real reason is a lease violation that is still happening, consider whether a notice to cure or quit is the better tool, since it addresses the problem directly and creates a record.

• Using the lease end date as the only rule. The state may measure the period by occupancy, require a reason, or convert the tenancy.
• Serving too late. Count backward from the end date and add a margin.
• Omitting a required reason in a just-cause state or city, or stating one that is not true.
• Timing that looks retaliatory, such as a non-renewal right after a code complaint, without documentation of the real reason.
• Naming only one tenant or giving an incomplete address.
• No proof of delivery. Without it, the tenant can dispute when, or whether, the notice arrived.
• A lockout after the end date. Only a court can remove a holdover tenant.

1. Select the state and the date of the notice.
2. Enter every adult tenant, the full address, and your landlord details.
3. Choose the tenancy type and enter the first move-in date and, for a fixed-term lease, the current end date.
4. Enter the notice period from your state page and lease, the statute if you have it, and the end date.
5. Choose a reason if your state or city requires one, and add supporting facts.
6. Add move-out instructions and decide on the forwarding address request and walk-through offer.
7. Choose the delivery method, generate the PDF, sign it, deliver it, and complete the proof-of-delivery block.

• Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Uniform Law Commission, 1972), sections 1.403, 4.207, 4.301 and 5.101
• N.Y. Real Property Law section 226-c (notice of rent increase or non-renewal of residential tenancy), official text at nysenate.gov
• Cal. Civil Code sections 1946.1 and 1946.2, official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• Or. Rev. Stat. 90.427, official text at oregonlegislature.gov
• Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604

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