When serving notice on a tenant, does a landlord have to use an official notice form, or can landlords create and use their own forms or use unofficial forms?
When serving notice on a tenant, does a landlord have to use an official notice form, or can landlords create and use their own forms or use unofficial forms?
Whenever there is an official, state- or court-issued notice form to terminate a tenancy, a landlord should use the official form. Small errors in the language of a form, and in some states even the font size or failure to boldface key text, could render a notice invalid.
It is possible to create your own notice forms, consistent with state law, but any form a landlord creates should be verified by the landlord's eviction lawyer to be consistent with state law, and should be periodically reviewed for continuing compliance.
In many states, official forms can be obtained online, or can be purchased in hard copy format from the court for a modest fee.