Eviction Notice Periods in Every U.S. State: A Complete Comparison

Compare eviction notice periods across all 50 states and DC. Nonpayment notice, lease violation cure periods, and court filing requirements in one table.

Published 2026-03-0414 min readData from 459 statutes
The short version: Eviction notice periods range from immediate filing (Georgia, West Virginia) to 30 days (DC, Massachusetts) for nonpayment of rent. Most states fall in the 3 to 7 day range. Every state requires a court order for formal eviction. Self-help evictions are illegal everywhere. We compiled eviction procedures for all 50 states and DC into one searchable table.

Evicting a tenant is one of the most stressful and legally risky processes a landlord faces. Every state has different notice periods, cure requirements, and court procedures. Serving the wrong notice or missing a deadline can reset the entire process and cost you months.

We pulled eviction process data from our 50-state landlord-tenant law database to create a side-by-side comparison. Here is what the data shows.

Key Findings

1
Nonpayment notice periods range from 0 to 30 days. Georgia and West Virginia allow landlords to file immediately with no mandatory notice. DC requires 30 days. Most states require 3 to 7 days.
2
14 states require 3 days or less for nonpayment notice. Arkansas, California, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming all have 3-day notice periods.
3
Every state requires a court order for eviction. No state allows a landlord to physically remove a tenant without a court judgment. Self-help evictions (changing locks, removing belongings, shutting off utilities) are illegal everywhere.
4
4 jurisdictions require just cause for all evictions. DC, New Jersey, Oregon (after 12 months), and Washington require landlords to have a specific legal reason beyond lease expiration to terminate a tenancy.
5
Cure periods for lease violations vary from 0 to 30 days. Some states like Utah offer no cure period for lease violations. Others like Ohio and Mississippi give tenants 30 days to correct the issue.

Eviction Notice Periods: All 50 States + DC

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StateEviction Notice RequirementsStatute
AlabamaNonpayment of rent: 7-day notice to pay or quit.Ala. Code § 35-9A-421
AlaskaNonpayment: 7-day notice to pay or quit.Alaska Stat. § 34.03.220
ArizonaNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay or quit.Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1368
ArkansasNonpayment: 3-day notice to vacate (no cure period).Ark. Code § 18-60-304
CaliforniaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit.Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161
ColoradoNonpayment: 10-day notice to pay or vacate.Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-40-104
ConnecticutNonpayment: landlord must wait until rent is 9 days late, then serve Notice to Quit giving 3 days.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23
DelawareNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay.Del. Code tit. 25, § 5502
District of ColumbiaJust cause required for all evictions.D.C. Code § 42-3505.01
FloridaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or vacate (excluding weekends/holidays).Fla. Stat. § 83.56
GeorgiaNonpayment: landlord may immediately demand rent and file dispossessory.Ga. Code § 44-7-50
HawaiiNonpayment: 5 business days notice to pay.Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-68
IdahoNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit.Idaho Code § 6-303
IllinoisNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay (10 days in Chicago).735 ILCS 5/9-209
IndianaNonpayment: 10-day notice to pay or quit.Ind. Code § 32-31-1-6
IowaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay.Iowa Code § 562A.27
KansasNonpayment: 3-day notice (10 days for lease violations with cure period).Kan. Stat. § 58-2564
KentuckyNonpayment: 7-day notice to pay or vacate.Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.660
LouisianaNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay or vacate.La. Code Civ. Proc. Art. 4701
MaineNonpayment: 7-day notice to pay or quit.Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 6002
MarylandNonpayment: landlord may file immediately after rent is late (no notice required for nonpayment in most counties).Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-401
MassachusettsNonpayment: 14-day notice to quit.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239, § 1
MichiganNonpayment: 7-day notice to pay or quit.Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5714
MinnesotaNonpayment: 14-day notice to pay.Minn. Stat. § 504B.321
MississippiNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or vacate.Miss. Code § 89-7-27
MissouriNonpayment: landlord may file rent and possession action after rent is due.Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.010
MontanaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay.Mont. Code § 70-24-422
NebraskaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit (7 days in Omaha).Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1431
NevadaNonpayment: 7 judicial days notice to pay or quit.Nev. Rev. Stat. § 40.253
New HampshireNonpayment: 7-day demand for rent, then 30-day notice to quit.N.H. Rev. Stat. § 540:2
New JerseyJust cause required for all evictions.N.J. Stat. § 2A:18-61.1
New MexicoNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit.N.M. Stat. § 47-8-33
New YorkNonpayment: 14-day rent demand notice.N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. & Proc. Law § 711
North CarolinaNonpayment: 10-day notice to pay or quit.N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-3
North DakotaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit (written demand).N.D. Cent. Code § 33-06-01
OhioNonpayment: 3-day notice to vacate.Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.04
OklahomaNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay or quit.Okla. Stat. tit. 41, § 131
OregonNonpayment: 72 hours notice (10 days grace after due date, then 72 hours).Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.394
PennsylvaniaNonpayment: 10-day notice to quit (10 days Philadelphia, 15 days rest of state for residential).68 Pa. Stat. § 250.501
Rhode IslandNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay.R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-36
South CarolinaNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay or quit.S.C. Code § 27-40-710
South DakotaNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit.S.D. Codified Laws § 21-16-1
TennesseeNonpayment: 14-day notice to pay or vacate (30 days if lease does not contain specific provision).Tenn. Code § 66-28-505
TexasNonpayment: 3-day notice to vacate (unless lease allows shorter).Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005
UtahNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit.Utah Code § 78B-6-802
VermontNonpayment: 14-day notice to pay.Vt. Stat. tit. 9, § 4467
VirginiaNonpayment: 5-day pay-or-quit notice (14 days for federally assisted housing).Va. Code § 55.1-1245
WashingtonNonpayment: 14-day notice to pay or vacate.Wash. Rev. Code § 59.18.650
West VirginiaNonpayment: landlord may file immediately after rent is past due (no mandatory notice period).W. Va. Code § 55-3A-1
WisconsinNonpayment: 5-day notice to pay or vacate.Wis. Stat. § 799.40
WyomingNonpayment: 3-day notice to pay or quit.Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1003

Fastest Eviction States

If speed matters, states like Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, and Utah have the shortest timelines. Georgia is unique in that a landlord can file a dispossessory action immediately after rent is late with no mandatory notice period. Texas requires only a 3-day notice and uses Justice of the Peace courts, which move quickly. Utah also requires just 3 days with no cure period for most lease violations.

Slowest Eviction States

DC, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts are the most time-consuming states for evictions. DC requires 30 days notice for nonpayment and mandates just cause for all terminations. New Jersey also requires just cause and tenants must be 30+ days late before a landlord can even begin the process. Massachusetts requires a 14-day notice followed by a summary process through housing court with strict procedural requirements.

How RentSolve AI Helps

RentSolve AI includes state-specific eviction guidance in its AI chat assistant. Ask it about the eviction process in your state and it will walk you through the notice requirements, cure periods, and filing steps with the correct statute citations. The platform also tracks maintenance and payment history, which provides documentation if you ever need to pursue an eviction.

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Methodology: Data compiled from state revised statutes, annotated codes, and landlord-tenant acts for all 50 U.S. states and Washington DC. Source statutes verified against official state legislature websites as of March 2026. RentSolve AI maintains a database of 459 landlord-tenant statutes. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

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