The Notices

There are several types of notices that a landlord can give a tenant.

Notices to Quit or Vacate.
In California, if the tenant agreed to a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord can serve a thirty-day notice to quit if the tenant has lived in the unit less than one year (unless the unit is in a rent controlled city like Los Angles or Santa Monica). If the tenant has lived there for more than a year, the landlord must serve a sixty-day notice to quit.

Three-Day Notice to Pay or Quit. 
After the tenant has failed to pay rent, the landlord will give a three-day notice to pay or quit. This is notifying the tenant that he has three days to pay all the past-due rent (pay) or to leave the property by the end of the third day (quit). Even if the tenant decides to leave, he still must pay the landlord the past-due rent. Now, there are a few exceptions, but I will discuss those in a later post. The three-day notice must be properly served on the tenant.

The notice must conform to statute to be valid. For instance in California, under Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) section 1161(2), a notice must:

1. Include each tenant who signed the rental agreement and pays the rent, or both.
   
2. State the exact amount of rent that is then due. A three-day notice cannot include late charges or penalties.
3. Include the property address.
4. Include the date of the notice.
5. Include a person (or company) to pay rent to and contact information such as that person's phone number, the address where payment should be made and hours when payment may be received.
   

If the tenant pays the rent, then the tenancy continues. If the tenant fails to either pay all the past due rent or to leave then the next step is for the landlord to file an unlawful detainer action. This is a lawsuit, so there are some significant ramifications for the tenant (which I will discuss later).

It is important to act quickly, because once the three days have passed, the landlord has the option of: (1) accepting the rent and thereby automatically waiving his right to evict his tenant for failing to pay rent; or (2) refuse to accept the rent and file an unlawful detainer action.

Regarding the address where the rent should be tendered, the landlord should use a physical address (as opposed to a post office box). Because when a landlord sues a physical address the rent must be paid within the three day period, but when he uses a post office box the payment must be postmarked within the three days.

Three-Day Notice to Cure or Quit.
If the tenant has violated the lease or rental agreement and the problem can be fixed (i.e., tenant is subletting the unit, the unit is in disarray, or some other violation of the agreement), the landlord can ask his tenant to correct the violation within three days or move out.