A 60-day notice to your landlord is a short written letter stating the exact date you will move out, delivered in a way you can prove the landlord received. Get the move-out date, the address, and the delivery method right and the letter does its job. Miss any of those and you can stay on the hook for another month’s rent even after you’ve handed back the keys.
What to Put in the Letter
The notice does not need to be long. It needs to be specific enough that your landlord cannot claim confusion about what you said or when you said it. Include:
- The date you are writing the letter.
- Your full name, and the name of every other tenant on the lease.
- The complete rental address, including unit or apartment number.
- The exact date you intend to vacate. Count forward 60 days from when the landlord will receive the letter, not from when you drop it in the mail.
- A reference to the lease, either the start date or the clause that requires 60 days of notice, so the landlord can confirm you are in compliance.
- A forwarding address for your security deposit refund and any final correspondence.
- A request to schedule a move-out walkthrough, with a phone number or email where the landlord can reach you.
Keep the tone professional and stick to facts. You do not have to explain why you are leaving, and volunteering a reason can create friction without helping you. A clean, specific letter is harder for a landlord to dispute than a long one.
Sample Notice Language
Something this plain will do the job:
[Date]
Dear [Landlord or Property Manager Name],
I am writing to provide 60 days’ notice that I will be vacating the property at [full rental address] on [move-out date]. This notice is provided in accordance with the terms of my lease agreement dated [lease start date].
Please send my security deposit refund, along with any itemized statement of deductions, to the following address: [forwarding address]. I would appreciate the opportunity to schedule a move-out inspection before my departure. You can reach me at [phone number] or [email address] to arrange a time.
Thank you,
[Your printed name]
[Your signature]
That is the whole document. Resist the urge to over-explain or add legal jargon.
Counting the 60 Days
This is where tenants lose money. The 60-day clock generally starts when the landlord receives your notice, not when you mail it. If you mail a letter on March 1 and the landlord does not get it until March 5, those first four days do not count. Many leases and state laws treat mailed notice as received a few days after the postmark, with three days a common default, but that still means you need to send your notice early enough to absorb transit time.
Some leases also require the move-out date to fall on the last day of a rental period. If you pay rent on the first of each month, your landlord may not accept a mid-month departure. In that case, even a notice sent exactly 60 days out can get pushed to the end of the following month because the dates do not line up. Check your lease for language about notice aligning with the rental period and plan around it.
The safe approach: send the notice at least 65 to 70 days before you plan to leave. That buffer absorbs mailing time and avoids arguments about when the clock started.
Delivering the Notice So It Holds Up
A notice you cannot prove was delivered is almost as bad as no notice. Verbal notice, even if your landlord nods and says “got it,” is generally not recognized and will not protect you in a dispute.
Certified Mail With Return Receipt
Certified mail with a return receipt requested is the standard for tenant notices. The return receipt gives you the recipient’s signature, the delivery address, and the date of delivery, which is hard evidence that your landlord received the letter on a specific day.1United States Postal Service. Return Receipt – The Basics As of January 2026, certified mail costs $5.30 per item, and a hard-copy return receipt (PS Form 3811) adds $4.40, bringing the total to roughly $10 to $12 with postage.2United States Postal Service. USPS Notice 123 – January 2026 Price Change An electronic return receipt is cheaper at $2.82. That is a small price for proof of delivery.
One thing to know about postmarks: the date stamped on your envelope by USPS does not necessarily match the date you dropped off the mail. Automated postmarks are applied at processing facilities and may reflect a later date. If you need the postmark to match a specific day, visit a post office counter and request a manual postmark.3About.usps.com. Postmarking Myths and Facts
Hand Delivery
Handing the letter directly to your landlord works, but only if you can prove it happened. Bring a witness, or hand over two copies and ask the landlord to sign and date one as your receipt. If you cannot get a signature, have your witness write down the date, time, and location of delivery and sign a brief statement confirming it.
Email is increasingly accepted as written notice, but it depends entirely on your lease and local law. Some leases specifically authorize electronic delivery; others require hard-copy notice and treat email as legally meaningless. If your lease permits email, send it and save a copy, but consider following up with certified mail anyway.
Keep the Paperwork
Hold onto your copy of the notice, the certified mail receipt, the return receipt card, and your lease for at least two years after you move out. Deposit disputes and damage claims can surface months later, and the paperwork showing exactly when you gave notice is what wins those arguments.
If Your Notice Falls Short
Giving less than the full notice period can cost real money. The most common consequence is continued rent liability. If your lease requires 60 days and you give 30, the landlord can hold you responsible for rent during the remaining 30 days, even if you have already moved out and returned the keys. Many leases spell this out: the tenant owes the equivalent rent for 60 days after notice is given, regardless of when they physically leave.
In several states, a tenant who gives notice but then fails to leave by the stated date faces steeper penalties. Holdover tenants, meaning those who remain after their notice period or lease term expires, can be charged increased rent, commonly 1.5 to 2 times the normal monthly amount. A few states authorize double rent by statute for tenants who overstay after giving notice.
If the shortfall is small, say 55 days instead of 60, talk to your landlord before assuming the worst. Many will waive the difference, especially if you have been a reliable tenant. Get any agreement to accept a shorter notice in writing.
Taking Back a Notice After You Send It
Plans change. A new job falls through, or the next place is not ready in time. You can ask your landlord to let you withdraw the notice, but the landlord is not required to agree. Once delivered, a notice to vacate creates a legal event both parties may already have relied on, and the landlord may have started advertising the unit or screening applicants.
Whether a withdrawal succeeds depends on your state’s law, what the lease says about retracting notice, and your landlord’s willingness. If the landlord has already signed a lease with a new tenant, the door is almost certainly closed. Put any withdrawal request in writing immediately and deliver it the same way you delivered the original notice. Once the move-out date passes, withdrawal is off the table entirely.
When 60 Days Is Actually the Rule
Before you write anything, confirm that 60 days is the number that applies to you. Not every tenancy calls for it. Your lease controls the notice period, and many month-to-month arrangements only require 30. The 60-day requirement typically shows up in one of three situations: your lease explicitly says so, your lease converts to month-to-month with a 60-day notice clause after the initial term, or local landlord-tenant law imposes a longer window based on how long you have lived there. If your lease says 30 days and no local law overrides it, sending 60 days is fine as extra lead time, but you still need to meet the stated minimum.
Fixed-term leases often do not require any notice to vacate at the end of the term because the end date is already built in. The catch is the automatic renewal clause many of them contain. If you do not notify the landlord before a specific deadline, which is frequently 60 days before the lease expires, the lease can renew for another full term or roll into a month-to-month arrangement at a higher rent. Read the renewal language before you decide what notice you owe and when it has to arrive.