How Do You End a Month-to-Month Rental Agreement?

To end a month-to-month rental agreement, serve the tenant a written notice that names the date the tenancy ends and gives at least the number of days your state requires, which is often 30. Longer tenancies can need more: California requires 60 days once every tenant has lived in the unit a year or more, and New York requires 60 days after one year and 90 days after two. In places with just-cause laws (rules that let you end a tenancy only for reasons the law lists), including covered units in California, Oregon after the first year, Washington, New Jersey, and New York City, you also need a legal reason, and you must state it in the notice.

How many days of notice does your state require?

Timing rules differ. California counts from the day after service, and the notice can be served on any day of the month. Florida's notice must run to the end of a rental period: to end a tenancy on June 30 when rent is due on the 1st, deliver the notice no later than May 31. In Texas, the tenancy ends on the later of the date in your notice or one month after you give it. Your agreement can also require more notice than the state minimum, so read it before you pick a date.

When do you need a legal reason?

Outside just-cause areas, you do not have to explain why you are ending a month-to-month tenancy. The New York Attorney General's guide says landlords there need only give proper notice, unless the Good Cause Eviction Law applies. Where a just-cause law covers the unit, a no-reason notice is invalid:

• California. The Tenant Protection Act applies once a tenant has lived in a covered unit for 12 months. If an adult tenant was added before anyone reached 24 months, coverage begins when all tenants have lived there for 12 months or any tenant reaches 24 months, whichever comes first. Allowed reasons include nonpayment, a material lease violation left uncorrected after written notice, owner or family move-in, and taking the unit off the market. A no-fault reason requires you to pay one month's rent in relocation help within 15 calendar days after serving the notice or waive the last month's rent in writing before it is due. Failure to comply voids the termination notice. Owner-occupied duplexes, units under 15 years old, and many single-family homes and condos are exempt, but a house or condo is exempt only if you gave the tenant the required written exemption notice. Many California cities have stricter rent-control rules; see the California rent control guide for landlords.
• Oregon. After the first year, you may end a month-to-month tenancy only for tenant cause or a qualifying landlord reason: demolition or conversion, repairs that make the unit unfit to live in, move-in by you or immediate family, or a sale to a buyer who will live there. For a qualifying landlord reason, you generally need 90 days' notice stating the reason, and you must pay one month's rent when you deliver the notice unless you own 4 or fewer units. For a sale to a buyer who intends to use the unit as a primary residence, you may instead give at least 60 days' notice if you include written evidence of an accepted offer and pay an additional month's rent when you give notice, on top of any otherwise-required relocation payment. If you live in a building with no more than 2 units, you may end the tenancy without cause on 60 days' notice.
• Washington. You may end a periodic tenancy only for a cause listed in RCW 59.18.650, and the notice must state the facts supporting it. Examples include 90 days to move in yourself or sell a single-family home, and 60 days for another legitimate economic or business reason.
• New Jersey. The Anti-Eviction Act requires good cause for most rentals; owner-occupied buildings with 2 or 3 units are the main exception.
• New York. The Good Cause Eviction Law covers New York City and other localities that opt in. Check the New York Attorney General's list of participating localities and your city, town, or village's current rules before giving notice. The small-landlord exemption covers owners of 10 or fewer units statewide in New York City, but local limits differ: Newburgh exempts owners of no more than one unit statewide. The law also does not cover owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units, or buildings that received a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009.

What should the notice say?

Use a written notice that contains:

1. The names of every adult tenant on the agreement and the full unit address.
2. A plain statement that the month-to-month tenancy ends, with the exact termination date.
3. The reason and supporting facts, if a just-cause law applies, and any required relocation payment or rent waiver. Make the payment or waiver by the applicable deadline above.
4. Any statement your state requires. Every California 30-day, 60-day, or 90-day notice must include the state's statement about reclaiming personal property left behind. In New York, attach or include the prescribed Good Cause Eviction applicability notice with a nonrenewal notice, disclosing coverage or the exemption claimed, even for exempt units.
5. Your name, signature, and the date you served it.

Count the days from the day after you serve it and add a few days of margin, since a notice that gives too few days does not end the tenancy on the date you wrote. California also bars charging the tenant a fee for serving the notice. Once the date is set, a move-out letter can cover the key return, the final inspection, and the deposit.

How do you serve it?

Use a method your state law allows and keep proof. In California, you may hand the notice to the tenant, leave it with an adult at the home or workplace and also mail a copy, or post it on the door and mail a copy if neither works; a 30-day, 60-day, or 90-day notice may also go by certified or registered mail. Florida allows mailing, hand delivery, or leaving a copy at the home if the tenant is absent. Oregon adds 3 days to the notice period when you serve by first-class mail, and the notice must reflect those extra days.

Write down who served the notice, when, and how, and keep a copy. If the tenant does not leave, the court will ask for that proof.

How are rent and the tenant's own notice handled?

The tenant owes rent through the termination date, not past it. Texas law says a tenancy ending mid-period makes the tenant liable for rent only up to that date. Accept prorated rent for the final partial month and nothing beyond it: in Oregon, accepting rent prorated to the termination date does not cancel your notice, and if you receive a full month's rent that runs past that date, you keep the notice valid by refunding the unused part within 10 days. Money you collected at move-in as "last month's rent" counts as a security deposit in California and must be accounted for under the deposit rules.

Whether a tenant who wants to leave first must give you written notice depends on state law and the rental agreement. In California, a tenant who receives your 60-day notice may still leave sooner with notice equal to the rental period, usually 30 days. In California, a tenant who gives notice owes rent for the full notice period, unless you re-rent the unit to someone who moves in and pays rent before that period ends.

What if the tenant does not move out?

Do not change the locks or remove belongings. After the termination date passes, your remedy is an eviction case, called an unlawful detainer in California and a holdover proceeding in New York. Florida lets you recover double rent from a tenant who stays without your permission after the rental agreement ends, and a California court can award rent for each day the tenant stays until judgment, plus up to $600 more if the tenant held over maliciously. The steps for eviction proceedings explain what happens after you file.

Fixed-term leases follow different rules; see what happens when a fixed-term lease expires. For every other way a tenancy can end, see general ways to end a tenancy agreement.