How to Write a 30-Day Notice From a Tenant to a Roommate

A tenant is a person who signs a lease with a landlord for a rented property. If the lease permits it, the tenant may allow a roommate to live with him in return for a monthly fee. The roommate is generally not listed on the lease and therefore the tenant has the right to ask him to leave. You need to follow a specific process, however, or your notice to quit may be invalid.

The first step in getting rid of a roommate is simply to ask. While you must serve a 30-day notice if you want to make the eviction watertight, in many cases, the roommate will walk away if you ask. This will save you a lot of time, paperwork and hassle. If asking gets you nowhere, you must write an eviction notice and present it to your roommate. What you're essentially doing here is treating your roommate like a tenant, even though she is not, so there's no doubt that you've terminated her occupation rights. Every state has different rules regarding eviction notices, so it is important to find out the specifics of your state.

While your roommate is not a tenant, and may not have any type of written agreement, you should treat him as if he had a month-to-month lease. This means you must give him only a month, or 30 days, to vacate. The beauty of a 30-day notice is that it's a no-fault notice. You do not a specific reason, or any reason, to serve one. If you need to get your roommate out earlier, then you could serve a fault-based notice. You need a legal reason to do this, for example, your roommate has damaged the property or has not paid any rent. Fault-based notices lead to faster evictions, in that you generally only need to give 3 days' notice in most states. However, these notices are "or else" notices – pay up or else you'll be evicted. If you roommate fixes the violation, she can stay at the property. It's almost always better to serve a 30-day notice for this reason.

Look online and find a template form of notice for your state. All you have to do now is fill in the blanks. The details you need include the roommate’s name and address, your name and address and the date. Writing the date is important as this starts the 30-day clock ticking. The notice should explain that if the roommate fails to vacate, you will take the appropriate legal action to have him and his belongings removed by the date. Sign the letter.

The best way to serve the notice is to hand-deliver it. Since the roommate lives with you, this should be easy to do. If you're away for any reason, it's sometimes possible to send the eviction notice by mail. By sure to check the rules in your state as each state differs. Your roommate now has 30 days to pack up and leave. If she is still in the property after the deadline, you have legal grounds to evict her. This involves filing an eviction lawsuit at your local county court.