NOTICE TO PAY RENT OR QUIT

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A notice to pay rent or quit is the most common notice served. Essentially, a 3 day notice to pay rent or quit is demanding payment for the rent that is due or possession of the property if the tenant does not pay the rent. simple. well not really because there are a lot of rules to a 3 day notice. rules comeing from the State, the county, and the even the city. 

The most basic notice to pay rent or quit is governed by California Code of Civil Procedure. According to CCP 1161(2) which reads: "When the tenant continues in possession, in person or by subtenant, without the permission of the landlord, or the successor in estate of the landlord, if applicable, after default in the payment of rent, pursuant to the lease or agreement under which the property is held, and three days’ notice, excluding Saturdays and Sundays and other judicial holidays, in writing, requiring its payment, stating the amount that is due, the name, telephone number, and address of the person to whom the rent payment shall be made, and, if payment may be made personally, the usual days and hours that person will be available to receive the payment (provided that, if the address does not allow for personal delivery, then it shall be conclusively presumed that upon the mailing of any rent or notice to the owner by the tenant to the name and address provided, the notice or rent is deemed received by the owner on the date posted, if the tenant can show proof of mailing to the name and address provided by the owner), or the number of an account in a financial institution into which the rental payment may be made, and the name and street address of the institution (provided that the institution is located within five miles of the rental property), or if an electronic funds transfer procedure has been previously established, that payment may be made pursuant to that procedure, or possession of the property, shall have been served upon the tenant and if there is a subtenant in actual occupation of the premises, also upon the subtenant.

The notice may be served at any time within one year after the rent becomes due. In all cases of tenancy upon agricultural lands, if the tenant has held over and retained possession for more than 60 days after the expiration of the term without any demand of possession or notice to quit by the landlord or the successor in estate of the landlord, if applicable, the tenant shall be deemed to be holding by permission of the landlord or successor in estate of the landlord, if applicable, and shall be entitled to hold under the terms of the lease for another full year, and shall not be guilty of an unlawful detainer during that year, and the holding over for that period shall be taken and construed as a consent on the part of a tenant to hold for another year."

essentially, a simple notice to pay rent or quit must: 

1. give the tenant at least 3 days to act (pay rent or quit)

2. must state the amount of rent that is owed. 

3. must state the name of the person to whom the rent payment shall be made.

4. the telephone number of the person to whom rent shall be made.

5. the address of the person to whom th rent shall be made. 

6.  if the payment is requiered to be paid personallly, then the notice must statyet the ususal days and houses that person will be avaiab,e to recive the payment

7. if it can be mailed

8. or the number of an account in a financil institution in which the rent paument mauy be made and the namde and street address of the institutioen

9. if the payment is to be made in a financil instituoin -- the institution must be within 5 miles of the rentl property. 

10. if mustalso state if it can be transfered (usually through zelle or a wire trnasfer) --if this method has been used in the past 

11. must state: "excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and other Judicial Holidays"

12. the notice must be served with in 1 year of the rent being owed  

13. the notice must state the demand possession of the property if rent is not payed within the 3 days.

okay so even a simple 3 day notice to pay rent or quit must state all these thing, if not; and a case has be filed in court (unlawful detainer), a tenant may raise the violation as an affirmaitve defense, may demurrer, and may even seek a judgment on the pleadings. ofthen forcing the ladnlord to restart the whole eviction process. 

important things to remeber:  3 day notice to pay rent or quit is used to demand rent payment or possession only. basiccally if the tenant owes utitlities or late fees, those fees can not be added to the notice because this notice is used for non payment of rent only. 

Another thing that i have seen make a landlor lose an evictoin (unlawful detainer ) case is because the notice demanded rent that was owed over one year. example: it is September 2026, and thenotice demands rent that becme due on January 2025. --- because the rent owed is over 1 year, the notice was deemed defective and the tenant was able to preveil in court. this forced the landlord to have to start the whole eviction over by having to dismiss the case, serve a new notice, wait for the expiratoin, and then having to go to court again. The thing is that by that poitn most tenant end up owing thousands of dollars before the landlord can finally get a jdgment against them, then the ladnlrid has to wait for the sherriff to actually execute the lock out and to top it off, a landlord will have a hard time collecting on that judgment because most tenants dont have hard assets or get paid cash. 

calculating the 3 days: its not as simple as waiting three days, but its also not hard, 3 days start counting from the day after the notice was served, however if one any of those 3 days after the notice was served, is either a saturday, sunday, or judicial holiday-- then those days dont count. Example: a landlord serves a notice on a friday. Then the first out of the 3 days is monday because saturdays and sundys dont cournt. 

lets say a landlord servs a notice on a fridasy but its a long weekend because a judicial holiday is on a monday, then under this scenerial the first day out of the 3 days would be tuesday because saturdays, sundays, and judical holidays do not count. 

another thing to rememebr: rent being demanded in the notice must be due before you demand it. example the tentns are requiered to pay the rent on the 5th of each month instead of the first. the first day the notice a landlord can serve a notice to pay rent or quit would be on the 6th. I have seen a lot of landlords lose their case because the tenats have argued that at the time th notice was served, the rent being demanded was not owed because the landlord served the notice on 1st but their rent is due on the 5th. 

The language "excluding Saturdays, Sundays,  and other judicial holidays" must be in the notice, i have seen a lot of landlords download a free 3 day notice to pay rent or quit from the internet that doesnt include that language only to end up losing in court because it does not include that language. 

now we see that a simple 3 day notice to pay rent or quit is not as simple as it may seem but it gets worse. 

these are rules unnder the state but sometimes there are rules put in place by the county, city, or local ordinance. 

Example: The city of los angeles have their own added rules for a 3 day notice to pay rent or quit. 

The county of los angeles have their own rules for a 3 day notice to pay rnt or quit when it comes to unincorporated areas of los angeles. 

so while it may seem siple at first glance, it often is not. 

Click here to view 3-day notice to pay rent or quit (Los Angeles City)

Click here to view more about a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit (Los Angeles County)

Important*** since you have read this far, here is another tip: dont forget to date and sign the notice, and add the date the notice was served and the date the notice is set to expire. (click here to view more about why its good to add the date the notice was served and the date the notice will expire.