To write a 60-day notice, put the date, your name and address, the recipient’s name and address, a direct statement that you are terminating the agreement, the exact end date, and a reference to the contract or unit into a short formal letter, then deliver it the way the contract requires with proof of receipt. Most people need one to end a month-to-month lease, but the same structure works for service agreements and employment contracts that build in a 60-day notice period. The details matter: a letter with the wrong date, a missing identifier, or sloppy delivery can be treated as if you never sent it.
Before you draft anything, read the notice provision in your lease or contract. It will tell you whether 60 days is actually the right number, whether the clock runs from mailing or from receipt, whether the termination date has to line up with the end of a rental period, and how the notice has to be delivered. When your contract specifies a notice period or a delivery method, that language controls. When it’s silent, your state’s default rules fill the gap.
What to Put in the Letter
A valid 60-day notice is specific enough that no one can credibly claim they didn’t understand it. Include each of the following:
- The date of the letter. This anchors your 60-day window.
- Your full legal name and address, using the name that appears on the lease or contract rather than a nickname.
- The recipient’s full legal name and address. For a lease, that is the landlord or management company named in the agreement. For other contracts, it is whoever the agreement identifies as the party to receive notices.
- A direct statement of intent. Something like “I am providing 60 days’ notice that I will vacate the property at [address] on [date].” Don’t bury it.
- The exact termination date, calculated at least 60 days from the date of the letter or from when the recipient will receive it, depending on your contract’s language.
- Contract or account identifiers: lease number, unit number, account number, or any other reference that ties the notice to the specific agreement.
- A forwarding address, if you’re ending a lease and want your security deposit mailed somewhere specific.
Errors in names, addresses, and dates are the most common grounds for challenging a notice. Check every detail against the original agreement before you print.
How to Format It
Use a standard business letter. Your name and address at the top, then the date, then the recipient’s name and address. Add a subject line that states the purpose plainly: “60-Day Notice to Vacate” or “60-Day Notice of Contract Termination.”
Open with a formal greeting. Keep the body short. One paragraph states your intent and the termination date. A second paragraph covers logistics: the forwarding address, a request for a move-out walkthrough, contact information, or any step you expect the other party to take. Close with “Sincerely,” leave space for a handwritten signature, and type your full name below it.
Sample Lease Termination Letter
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Date]
[Landlord or Property Manager Name]
[Their Address]
Re: 60-Day Notice to Vacate — Unit [Number] at [Property Address]
Dear [Landlord Name],
I am writing to provide formal notice that I will vacate the above-referenced property on [Move-Out Date], which is 60 days from the date of this letter. This notice is provided in accordance with [Section X of the lease agreement / our month-to-month rental arrangement].
Please send my security deposit refund to [Forwarding Address]. I am available to schedule a move-out walkthrough at your convenience. You can reach me at [Phone Number] or [Email Address].
Sincerely,
[Handwritten Signature]
[Typed Full Name]
Adapt the same structure for a service contract or employment agreement by swapping the property details for the relevant account or contract reference.
Counting the 60 Days Correctly
This is where most people get into trouble. Whether your 60 days run from the date you mail the letter or the date the other party receives it depends on what your contract says. Some agreements say “60 days’ written notice” without specifying a trigger, which leaves room for argument. Others say “60 days from receipt” or “60 days from the date of mailing.” Read the provision carefully.
When the contract is silent, the safer move is to count from the date the recipient actually receives the notice. Certified mail typically takes two to five business days, so build in a cushion. If you want to be out on August 31 and your lease requires 60 days measured from receipt, your landlord needs the letter in hand by July 2 at the latest, which means mailing a week earlier.
Also check whether the termination date has to line up with the end of a rental period or billing cycle. Some leases only allow termination at the end of a calendar month, so a mid-month notice may not shorten your obligation by as much as you expect.
How to Deliver It
The best delivery method is the one your contract specifies. If the agreement says certified mail, use certified mail. If it names a specific address for notices, send it there and nowhere else.
When the contract is silent, certified mail with return receipt requested is the standard. The postal service gives you a tracking number when you send it, and you get a signed card back confirming who received the letter and when. Hand delivery works too, but only if you get the recipient to sign and date a copy acknowledging receipt. Without that signature, you have no proof the notice reached them.
Email and Electronic Delivery
Email can work, but only under specific conditions. Federal law provides that an electronic record or signature cannot be denied legal effect just because it is in electronic form.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 7001 General Rule of Validity That doesn’t make every emailed notice valid. The law preserves whatever requirements your contract or state law imposes beyond the form of the document.
Most lease agreements and service contracts do not authorize email as a notice delivery method. If yours doesn’t explicitly permit electronic delivery, don’t rely on it. Even where electronic notice is allowed, the federal statute requires that the recipient has affirmatively consented to receiving records electronically and hasn’t withdrawn that consent.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 7001 General Rule of Validity An email to someone who never agreed to electronic communication gives them an easy argument that the notice was ineffective.
If you do send electronically, save the sent message, any read receipts, and any reply confirming receipt, and consider following up with a hard copy by certified mail.
Keep the Paper Trail
After you send the notice, hold onto every piece of paper and every confirmation tied to it: the notice itself, the certified mail receipt, the green return receipt card, any signed acknowledgment, any email thread. Put it all in one folder you can find later. If a dispute lands in front of a judge a year from now, the question will be whether you can prove what you sent, when you sent it, and that the other party received it. A clean record answers all three; your memory of handing over the letter won’t.
What a Defective Notice Costs
If you move out of a rental without giving proper notice, most landlords will treat you as a holdover tenant. That usually means you owe rent for an additional period, often another full month or rental cycle, even though you’re no longer living there. Some leases explicitly make you responsible for rent through the end of the next notice period when notice is deficient. Your security deposit is the first thing at risk, because landlords in many states can deduct unpaid rent from it. The worst outcome is a collections action or a judgment on your record.
Walking away from a service contract without proper notice can trigger early-termination fees or penalties spelled out in the agreement. For an employment contract, leaving early may cost you severance, deferred compensation, or protections tied to a proper resignation. The specifics depend entirely on what the contract says, which is why reading the termination clause before you draft the notice is time well spent.
A Note on Mass Layoff Notices
If you landed here looking for the 60-day notice that employers have to give before a plant closing or mass layoff, that’s a different document governed by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. It applies to employers with 100 or more full-time employees and requires written notice to affected workers or their union, the state’s rapid-response workforce agency, and the chief elected official of the local government where the layoff will happen.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 29 – Section 2101 Definitions3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 29 – Section 2102 Notice Required Before Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs The content, recipients, and penalties for a WARN Act notice are set by statute rather than by contract, so the guidance above about lease and service-contract notices doesn’t substitute for it.