Free legal notices
Legal notices should not be confused with other legal pleadings, such as a summons, complaint, motion, order, or writ of restitution. The notice is the first document in the eviction process served upon the tenant.
3 day pay or vacate
This is the most common type of notice served. This commands the tenant to pay the rent, which is due and owing, within three days or vacate the premises. Do not include late fees or charges, utilities owed, unpaid security deposits or other nonrent related items in the total amount due and owing. Only list the rent due and owing.
3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate
To: _________________________________
Residing at: ___________________________
______________________________
YOU AND EACH OF YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that rent for the premises identified above is due and owing.
Rent in the monthly amount of $_____________ is due and owing. Total rent due and owing is $_____________.
If you do not pay the total rent due and owing or do not vacate and surrender the premises within three (3) days from receipt of this notice, judicial proceedings shall be commenced for your eviction.
Dated at _________________, Washington, this ___________ day of _________________, 2000.
___________________________
Your name here
3 day nuisance or waste
Unlike the three day pay or ten day comply notices, the tenant has no cure period in which to remain in the premises. (Examples: pay the rent or vacate; mow the lawn or vacate; and et cetera.) The tenancy is terminated and the tenant must move. Since this is a harsh remedy, this can be one of the most difficult methods to evict a tenant. By definition, a nuisance is a substantial and unreasonable interference with another's use and enjoyment of property. This type of notice is frequently used to evict tenants for violations of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, RCW 69.50.401 et seq. Generally speaking, This means use, possession, manufacture, or sales of illegal drugs. An eviction of this type requires more proof than the landlord coming to court and making allegations about perceived drug usage. A typical case involves a drug arrest by the police within the premises. The officers who arrested the tenant will be required to testify about found drugs within the premises.
Since these types of proceedings are far more difficult than a simple failure to pay rent, you should a lawyer before issuing a 3 day nuisance/waste notice. Issuing this type of notice guarantees legal action because few people are able to vacate and surrender within three days.
10 day comply or vacate
This type of notice informs the tenant that he/she is derelict in some contractual duty as stated in the rental agreement. This could be allowing more persons to reside in the premises than allowed under the lease, failing to pay water/sewer/garbage, failing to maintain the yard, and failure to perform other duties contained in the written agreement between the parties. You must state with specificity the nature of the breach, and the breach must be of a duty stated in the written rental agreement. You should quote the specific section from the lease so that there is no question about which provision the tenant has breached.
This can be a tricky notice to serve upon a tenant. It is best to serve this type of notice after rent for the month has been received, but before rent for the next period becomes due. The reason is that if you serve this notice, then accept rent during the ten days or after the ten days has elapsed, the court will find that you have waived the violation. You will have to start over again.
If you are uncertain about how to use this type of notice, it is best to obtain counsel before proceeding. Better to have it done correctly the first time than to do it twice.
10 Day Notice to Comply or Vacate
To: _________________________________
Residing at: ___________________________
______________________________
YOU AND EACH OF YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that you have ten days to comply with the terms of your rental agreement or to vacate the promises. This notice has been issued for the reason(s) listed below:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
If you do not correct this (these) breach(es) of your rental agreement or do not vacate and surrender the premises within ten (10) days from receipt of this notice, judicial proceedings shall be commenced for your eviction.
Dated at _________________, Washington, this ___________ day of _________________, 2000.
___________________________
Your name here
20 day vacate - outside Seattle City limits
A month-to-month tenancy may be terminated outside Seattle city limits with notice served no less than twenty days before then end of the month. Within Seattle, there must be "just cause" to terminate a month-to-month tenancy. "Just cause" here usually means a tenant was served with 4 three day notices to pay rent in a twelve month period or 3 ten day notices to comply with a term or condition of tenancy within a twelve month period. The Just Cause Ordinance states other lawful reasons to terminate a month-to-month tenancy. For Seattle cases, an attorney should be consulted before commencing an action based upon these other reasons.
A twenty day notice does not mean that the tenant should vacate in twenty days. A twenty day notice should be served more than twenty days before the end of the term. For example, a notice personally served on the tenth of April (a thirty day month) is adequate notice. A notice served on the fifteenth of April is inadequate notice. Arguably, this notice served on the fifteenth is effective at the end of May (the next calendar month). In this example, it would be safer to serve a twenty day notice on the fifteenth of April informing the tenant that he/she should vacate by the last day of May. Nothing prohibits a landlord from serving a notice substantially more than twenty days before the intended termination date.
Tip: provide the tenant with a twenty day notice on the first day that rent for the term is due. This avoids questions about which month the tenant must vacate, avoids questions about whether the tenant received sufficient notice (it must be personally served when twenty days are remaining or twenty one days if the notice is posted and mailed), and provides the tenant with sufficient time to vacate the premises. The less time you give the tenant to vacate, more likely you will need to hire an attorney to evict the tenant.
20 Day Notice to Terminate Tenancy
To: _________________________________
Residing at: ___________________________
______________________________
You are notified that your tenancy of the premises identified above is terminated on the last day of ___________ 2000, which is the last day of the rental period. On said date, you are commanded to surrender possession of said premises to the property owner or the owner's agent.
If you have not vacated and surrendered the premises by 12:01 a.m. on 1______________ 2000, judicial proceedings shall be initiated for your eviction.
Dated at _________________, Washington, this ___________ day of _________________, 2000.
___________________________
Your name here
Two different 20 day vacate notices - inside Seattle City limits
The first notice drafted below is one of the several exceptions to the Seattle Just Cause Eviction Ordinance. It allows a landlord, who resides within the same dwelling as the tenant, the power to terminate a month-to-month Seattle tenancy. For the other exceptions in the Just Cause Ordinance, review the statutes contained in my Statutes link. For another of the Seattle twenty day forms, see below.
The ordinance at SMC 22.206.160(C)(1)(o), specifically states:
"The owner seeks to discontinue sharing with a tenant the owner's own housing unit, i.e., the unit in which the owner resides, or seeks to terminate the tenancy of a tenant of an accessory dwelling unit authorized pursuant to SMC Section 23.44.025 that is accessory to the housing unit in which the owner resides, so long as the owner has not received a notice of violation of the development standards of SMC Section 23.44.025 regarding that unit. If the owner has received such a notice of violation, subsection [SMC 22.206.160](C)(1)(m) applies."
All advice stated above about when and how to service twenty day notices still applies. Seattle termination notices are dangerous medicines and should be applied only after professional consultation. Below is an example of a form based upon SMC 22.206.160(C)(1)(o).
20 Day Notice to Terminate Tenancy
To: _________________________________
Residing at: ___________________________
Seattle, Washington ______________
You are notified that your tenancy of the premises identified above is terminated on the last day of ___________ 2000, which is the last day of the rental period. On said date, you are commanded to surrender possession of said premises to the property owner or the owner's agent.
I, the owner, seek to discontinue sharing with you my own housing unit, a unit in which I reside. This is done pursuant to SMC 22.206.160(C)(1)(o).
If you have not vacated and surrendered the premises by 12:01 a.m. on 1______________ 2000, judicial proceedings shall be initiated for your eviction.
Dated at Seattle, Washington, this ___________ day of _________________, 2000.
___________________________
Your name here
This other twenty day Seattle termination notice allows a landlord to terminate a Seattle tenancy to allow a member of the landlord's "immediate family" to reside in the premises.
The applicable ordinance for this exception states:
e. The owner seeks possession so that the owner or a member of his or her immediate family may occupy the unit as that person's principal residence and no substantially equivalent unit is vacant and available in the same building. "Immediate family" shall include the owner's domestic partner registered pursuant to Section 1 of Ordinance 117244 or the owner's spouse, parents, grandparents, children, brothers and sisters of the owner, of the owner's spouse, or of the owner's domestic partner. There shall be a rebuttable presumption of a violation of this subsection if the owner or a member of the owner's immediate family fails to occupy the unit as that person's principal residence for at least sixty (60) consecutive days during the ninety (90) days immediately after the tenant vacated the unit pursuant to a notice of termination or eviction using this subparagraph as the cause for eviction.
20 DAY NOTICE TO TERMINATE TENANCYTo: _________________________________
Residing at: ___________________________
Seattle, Washington ______________
You are notified that your tenancy of the premises occupied by you as tenant of _________________, at the above stated address, is terminated effective midnight on _________________ 2000, which is the last day of the rental period. On said day you are required to surrender possession of said premises to the property owner or the owner's agent.
In compliance with SMC 22.206.160(C)(1)(e), you are notified that the owner seeks possession of the premises you occupy so a member of the owner's immediate family may occupy said unit as that person's principal residence and no substantially equivalent unit is vacant and available in the same building.
If you have not vacated the premises by 12:01 a.m. on 1_________________ 2000, judicial proceedings shall be initiated for your eviction.
Dated at Seattle, Washington, this ______ day of ____________, 2000.
___________________________
Your name here
60 day termination
A month-to-month tenancy within Seattle city limits may be terminated for the reasons stated in the below notice. This is another of the special Seattle notices.
60 Day Notice to Terminate Tenancy
To: _________________________________
Residing at: ___________________________
______________________________
You are notified that your tenancy of the premises occupied by you as a tenant of ______________________________ at the above stated address is terminated effective midnight on ______________________________ 2000, which is the last day of the rental period. On said day you are required to surrender possession of said premises to the property owner or the owner's agent.
In compliance with SMC 22.206.160(C)(1)(f), you are notified that the owner elects to sell the single family dwelling unit in which you occupy.
If you have not vacated the premises by 12:01 a.m. on ______________________________ 2000, judicial proceedings shall be initiated for your eviction.
Dated at _________________, Washington, this ___________ day of _________________, 2000.
__________________________
Your name here
Law Office of Mark B.
Tackitt
P.O. Box 46331
Seattle, Washington, 98146
This page last edited 2 August 2000.