How to Fill Out and Serve a Good Cause Eviction Notice

A good cause eviction notice form is the document you use to tell a tenant, in writing, the specific legal reason you are ending or refusing to renew their tenancy in a jurisdiction that requires a stated reason. To complete one correctly, you identify the property, state whether the unit is covered by the local good cause law, cite a recognized ground for the eviction, add any disclosures the statute requires for that ground, sign it, and then serve it on the tenant using the service method your state allows. Get any of those pieces wrong and the notice can be voided in court, no matter how legitimate the underlying reason.

The form itself, the grounds it must cite, the cure periods, and the service rules all vary by state and city. New York, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and New Hampshire are among the states with good cause protections, and roughly two dozen local governments have their own versions. There is no federal good cause eviction law. Before you draft anything, confirm which statute governs your unit and pull the official form for that jurisdiction if one exists — New York, for example, publishes a fillable Good Cause Eviction Law Notice through its court system.¹

What the Form Must Contain

Using New York’s Good Cause Eviction Law Notice (RPL 231-c) as a working example, a complete form walks you through the following:

The full property address, including unit number, city, state, and zip code.
A coverage determination: whether the unit is subject to Article 6-A of the Real Property Law. You mark yes or no.
If the unit is exempt, an identification of every exemption that applies. The New York form lists more than a dozen options (small landlord, rent-regulated, buildings with a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009, owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units, high-rent units, and others). For the small landlord exemption, you must disclose the name of each owner, the number of units each owns, and the addresses of those units.¹
A rent increase justification if you are raising rent above the statutory threshold for a “presumptively unreasonable” increase, defined in New York as either 5 percent plus the regional CPI change, or 10 percent, whichever is lower.
The specific reason for non-renewal or termination, selected from the statute’s list of recognized grounds.
Your signature, printed name, date, email, mailing address, and phone number.

Precision matters more than length when you describe the ground. For nonpayment, attach a ledger showing the exact amounts owed and the months they cover. For a lease violation, identify the provision that was violated and the dates it occurred. For owner occupancy, some jurisdictions want a signed declaration that the owner or family member will actually move in within a set period; Los Angeles requires the owner to occupy the unit within three months and remain for two consecutive years.² “Tenant violated the lease” without specifying which provision and when will not survive a challenge.

One point on exemptions: even if your property is exempt from the substantive good cause protections, the New York form still requires you to identify the specific exemption. The form is not optional just because the underlying rules don’t reach the unit.¹

Choosing the Right Grounds

Good cause statutes divide grounds into two categories, and misidentifying which one applies is one of the more common ways a case gets thrown out.

At-Fault Grounds

At-fault grounds mean the tenant did something that justifies ending the tenancy. Under New York’s Article 6-A, these include nonpayment of rent (as long as the unpaid amount didn’t result from an unreasonable rent increase), violating a substantial obligation of the tenancy, committing or permitting a nuisance, causing substantial damage, using the unit for an illegal purpose, and unreasonably refusing access for necessary repairs or showings.¹ California’s list is similar and adds criminal activity on or directed at the premises and subletting in violation of the lease.³

For lease violations other than nonpayment, most good cause statutes require a separate written cure notice before you can send a termination notice. New York gives the tenant 10 days to fix the problem after receiving the cure notice.⁴ Skip the cure notice and the eviction filing is premature.

No-Fault Grounds

No-fault grounds cover situations where the tenant has done nothing wrong but you have a legitimate reason to recover the unit. The most common are owner move-in — the landlord or an immediate family member intending to occupy the unit as a primary residence — and permanent withdrawal of the unit from the rental market for demolition or substantial renovation. New York’s form recognizes owner or family personal use and occupancy as a no-fault ground.¹ California requires that a notice claiming demolition or substantial remodel include a description of the planned work, the expected duration, and a copy of any required permits inside the notice itself.³

Cure Periods and Notice Length

Once the tenant receives the notice, a clock starts, and the length depends on the ground and the jurisdiction.

For nonpayment of rent, cure periods range from 3 days in states like California, Florida, and Texas to 14 days in New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The tenant can pay the full amount owed during that window to stop the eviction. Under good cause statutes the unpaid rent cannot include any portion resulting from an unreasonable rent increase, which is a wrinkle standard notices don’t carry.

For other at-fault lease violations under New York’s good cause law, the 10-day written cure notice comes first and is separate from the termination notice.⁴

No-fault evictions require longer notice periods, typically 30 to 90 days depending on the length of tenancy. California requires 30 days’ notice for tenants who have occupied the unit less than one year and 60 days for tenants of a year or more.⁵ The longer window reflects that the tenant did nothing wrong and needs time to find replacement housing.

Relocation Assistance on the Notice

If you are filing a no-fault eviction, several jurisdictions require you to pay relocation assistance, and the offer has to appear on the notice or in a document served with it. Oral promises don’t count.

California requires landlords to provide relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent, or to waive the final month’s rent, and the payment must be made within 15 calendar days of serving the termination notice. The notice itself must inform the tenant of that right.³ Local ordinances often layer on more. Los Angeles ties higher relocation amounts to the tenant’s age, disability status, income, and length of tenancy, and distinguishes between “eligible” and “qualified” tenants, with qualified tenants (62 or older, disabled, or with minor dependents) entitled to larger payments. Los Angeles landlords evicting from rent-stabilized units for no-fault reasons must also file a landlord declaration with the Housing Department before issuing a move-out notice.⁶

Serving the Notice

A perfectly completed form means nothing if it isn’t delivered the way state law requires. Using the wrong method can void the entire notice.

Personal Service

The strongest method is handing the notice directly to the tenant. The person serving must be at least 18 and cannot be a party to the case, which usually means the landlord cannot do it personally. A professional process server or any uninvolved adult who meets the age requirement can perform personal service. Process servers charge roughly $35 to $400 depending on location and difficulty.

Substituted and Conspicuous Service

When the tenant can’t be found after reasonable attempts, jurisdictions allow alternative methods. California substituted service requires two to three personal service attempts on different days and at different times, each documented with the date, time, and address. If those fail, the server can leave the papers with a responsible adult (18 or older) at the tenant’s home or workplace and then mail a copy to the same address. Service is not complete until 10 days after that mailing.⁷ In New York, conspicuous service involves taping or sliding the papers under the door and mailing copies by both certified and regular mail.

Proof of Service

After delivery, the server completes an affidavit or declaration recording the date, time, and method. That document goes into the court file if the case proceeds. Some jurisdictions require the server to sign under penalty of perjury; others require notarization. Wisconsin’s form, for instance, explicitly instructs the server not to use a notary and to sign an unsworn declaration under criminal penalty of false swearing. Without documented proof of service, a court will not proceed with the eviction even if the underlying cause is airtight.

After the Notice Period Expires

If the tenant does not cure the violation, pay the rent owed, or vacate by the deadline on the notice, you can file a holdover eviction proceeding in the local housing court.⁸ Filing before the notice period runs is a common mistake that gets cases dismissed. The waiting period is mandatory.

Court filing fees for holdover proceedings vary widely, from about $50 to over $400 depending on the jurisdiction and the court. Check with the local clerk before filing. If the court rules in the landlord’s favor, it issues a warrant of eviction authorizing a sheriff or marshal to physically remove the tenant and restore possession.⁸

Tenants in good cause jurisdictions can raise defenses that don’t exist in ordinary evictions. They can argue the notice was defective — wrong grounds, missing disclosures, improper service — that the filing was retaliation for a habitability complaint, or that the underlying rent was unreasonably high. Every one of those defenses attacks something on the face of the notice, which is why the drafting and the service matter as much as the reason itself.

1
New York State Unified Court System. Good Cause Eviction Law Notice
2
Los Angeles Housing Department. Landlord Occupancy – Owners – LAHD
3
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2
4
New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
5
California Courts | Self Help Guide. Types of Notices
6
Los Angeles Housing Department. Relocation Assistance Information
7
California Courts. Serve Eviction Papers by Substituted Service
8
LawHelpNY. What Can I Do if My Landlord Is Ending or Not Renewing a Lease and Starting a Holdover Case Against Me