A notice to quit is a legal letter that is used to end a tenancy. You are usually required by law to give this notice a warning letter before you are allowed to evict a problem tenant. In other cases, you can use this notice to end a periodic tenancy such as a week to week or month to month lease.

Using a Notice to Quit as a Warning Letter Before Evicting Your Tenant

There are a few main reasons why you might ask a tenant to leave. These include unruly behaviour, being a complete hazard to others and failing to pay his rent on time.

In short, if your tenant commits any serious, ongoing violation of your rental agreement or poses a threat to the health and safety of their neighbours and others, you can take action by giving them a written notice to quit.

After issuing the notice, your tenant must usually be given a fixed period of time to correct the situation. In most cases, this ranges from 3 to 14 days. The tenant must catch up on any late rent within this time or clean up his mess. The notice states that they must vacate the rental property should they fail to do so.

It is important to understand that while your notice will instruct the tenants to resolve these issues or move out, you cannot force them out at this stage if they refuse to leave. You may not change the locks or take any other action to prevent them from gaining access to your property as well.

If your tenant refuses to leave after you have issued a valid notice, you will need to initiate an eviction lawsuit against them. Once you receive a judgment against the tenants, only then can law enforcement officials remove them from the property.

Using a Notice to Quit to End a Periodic Tenancy with Your Tenant

A notice to quit can also be issued to end a periodic tenancy (week to week or month to month) and a verbal lease as well. Either the landlord or the tenant may issue this written notice.

Neither party will need the approval of the other as long as the notice is given 30 to 60 days before the next rental payment is due. In some areas and in some situations, the notice period may be longer or shorter.

For example different requirements may apply for those who are disabled or elderly. Renters covered by government housing subsidies such as Section 8 also have different requirements for ending a tenancy. In the case of Section 8, a tenant must be given 90 days notice to vacate the premises.

It's important to understand that you cannot end a lease in this way if you are in a lease with a fixed time period and your tenant has broken no rules. In that case, you are legally bound to honor the lease agreement under most circumstances.

If both the landlord and tenant have abided by the lease terms, the only way to end the lease is if both parties voluntarily agree to do so.  Teo Zhenjie