A Notice of Non-Renewal of Lease Letter is a document that is used to formally notify a landlord or tenant that you will not continue with your lease agreement.
The lease will normally give instructions to tenants regarding how to pay their final rental payments and the moving-out process.
This letter is not considered to be an eviction notice, as you will only be formally ending the agreement at the end date.
However, if a tenant refuses to vacate when the agreement ends, an eviction notice could be used, and an unlawful detainer case can begin.
When you give the letter to either the landlord or tenant, it must be given with enough notice to be considered valid.
States have different notice requirements regarding terminating a lease. It is essential to understand how much notice is required before delivering your letter.
Different leases often also include different requirements for notice periods, so it is important to review the lease closely before sending a non-renewal letter.
Use our Non-Renewal Lease Letter template to easily create your document in minutes.
Non-Renewal Reasons
When providing a Non-Renewal of Lease Letter, a landlord or tenant doesn't need to give a reason as to why they would like to end the agreement.
Some reasons a lease is not renewed include:
- Landlord change
- Repairs or renovations to the property
- Tenant or landlord who has committed at least one breach of contract
- Construction
Landlords must be careful to avoid potentially discriminatory or retaliatory reasons for non-renewal. Stating the reason for the non-renewal can sometimes help prevent the other party (mostly tenants) from claiming the reason is discrimination or retaliation.
If a landlord ends a lease agreement for either of these reasons, the non-renewal may be considered illegal.
It is very important to ensure that if a reason is provided, it is very clearly indicative that the reason is not retaliatory. In most cases, it is wise to simply not include a reason for non-renewal. Inclusion of a reason can give tenants something to claim is retaliatory or discriminatory.