4. Give your landlord the notice

After you figure out when you have to give the to your landlord, you need to know how to do this. This is sometimes called “serving” the notice.

IMPORTANT: Before giving notice, be sure that you really want to move out. If you do not move out when your notice says you will, your landlord can apply to the to have you evicted. Your landlord can do this without telling you or giving you any papers.

You can mail or fax the notice, or give it to your landlord in person. You can also deliver the notice to your landlord’s agent. An agent can be someone who works for your landlord, for example, the superintendent or someone who works in the property manager’s office.

Make sure to keep a copy of the notice, along with something to prove when you served it. If you give the notice to the landlord or agent in person, you can ask them to sign and date your copy. Or you can take someone with you to watch you the notice. If you fax the notice, keep a copy of the fax confirmation sheet.

If you mail your notice, keep a record of when you mailed it. The best way to do this is to get a receipt from the post office. Remember that the law says you must allow an extra 5 days for your landlord to receive the notice by mail. So, for example, if you need to serve the notice by June 1, and you want to do it by mail, you will have to mail it no later than May 27.

It is important that you serve the notice on time. If you rent by the week, you could owe an extra week’s rent if your notice is even one day late.

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