When you reach the end of your lease term at your rental property, you will have to make the decision to renew the contract or vacate the apartment.
If you have decided to move on to a new apartment or purchase your first home, you will have to notify your landlord of your intent to vacate a certain number of days before doing so in order to avoid paying additional rent and to receive a refund of your security deposit.
How Much Notice Should You Give Your Landlord Before Moving Out?
The first thing you need to do is review your lease.
Is it month-to-month or have a mandatory move out date?
Most landlords ask for a 30-day notice before you plan to move out.
Others request 60 to 90 days.
Give the requested amount of days notice to ensure the return of your security deposit.
You may also be required to pay an additional month's rent if you don't give adequate notice or terminate your lease before you are allowed to.
How Do You Give Your Landlord Notice?
After reviewing your lease to verify the length of notice required, you are now ready to notify your landlord.
The best and most effective way to notify your landlord that you will be moving out is by writing a letter of notice, so there will be a physical, written documentation of you moving out.
Here are some points regarding the key issues that must be included in your letter of resignation:
Date the letter. It is important to date your letter so that your landlord cannot dispute your number of days’ notice when reading your letter.
Specify the date on which you're moving out.
The letter must begin with the declaration that you're submitting the necessary notice period and the date on which you'll turn in the keys.
Confirm your plans to clean the apartment.
You should say that you plan to take all of your things out of the apartment and clean it properly as indicated in your tenancy agreement prior to vacating the premises.
Verify from your landlord whether there are any other additional cleaning requirements.
Turn in your new forwarding address. Make sure to include this information on your lease termination letter.
You must specify that this is where your security deposit is to be mailed and the amount that you would like to receive back (presumably 30 days from the moving date).
Sign the letter. The letter will be useless and invalid without your signature.
Make a copy for your records. Keep a copy of the letter for your personal records, in case of a dispute.
Send the letter by certified mail. To be sure the letter is delivered to your landlord in the appropriate amount of time, certified mail proves delivery with a signature confirmation.
This way, you can be confident that your landlord is aware that you have given notice, rather than just assuming the letter was received.
You can also hand-deliver the letter.
Sample Letter of Notice
Here is an example of an outline of a letter to help you write your notice for your landlord.
(Your name and current apartment address)
(Date)
(Landlord’s name and address)
Dear (Name of landlord),
By the terms of my lease, I am providing my (number of days that you need to provide) day notice that I will be moving out of the rented property at (rented property address) on or before my (date when you move out) move-out date.
My preference is to clean the apartment as set forth within my lease agreement before moving out. Should there be any additional move-out clean-out requirements, you are to contact me at your earliest convenience.
I am sure that my security deposit of $(amount of your deposit), which I handed over to you on (date of deposit handed over), will be fully refunded to me within 30 days of my vacating the premises since I have moved out, leaving the apartment in a clean condition.
The address where I should receive my fully refundable security deposit is:
(Forwarding address)
In case you have any questions, I can be contacted on this number: (Your Phone Number).
Sincerely,
(Your name)
TIP: Try to make the letter as specific and detailed as possible.
Conclusion
A notice letter addressed to the landlord concerning an issue or a question has a big part in getting the amount of the security deposit and avoiding further charges as well.
Reviewing your lease agreement, sending proper notice, and communicating through written means will certainly help you tie up loose ends in your current tenancy and give you time to move on.
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