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What is a 3 Days to Pay Rent or Quit Notice in California and When Can it be Served?


There are a variety of different eviction notices that can be served to tenants depending on the problem at hand. It’s important to know about different types of notices and when a specific notice be served because your only chance of getting a court decision in your favor in case the tenant goes to court is in case you had served the tenant the right notice for the right reasons.

What is a 3 Day Notice?

A 3 Day Notice which is also called the 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quit and the basic reason why this notice is served to the tenant is to inform the tenant that the rent hasn’t been paid on time and that there are 3 days for the tenant to respond before you can start eviction proceedings.

The 3 Day Notice not only helps you ensure that you have proper legal grounds to start an eviction process in case the tenant doesn’t respond within 3 days, it also ensures that the tenant understands the gravity of the situation and forces the tenant to pay the rent or to move out.

When Can You Serve a 3 Day Notice?

Rent is due in full on the date specified in your rental agreement. You can serve the notice when the rent due date passes without the tenant paying the rent. So, for instance, if the rent is due on the third of every month and the third passes without the tenant paying you the rent, you can serve the 3 Day Notice on the fourth of the month.

There is some confusion found 3 Day Notice to Pay or Quit with late fee provisions. Late rent fees have absolutely no impact on the 3 Day Notice. This is because the late rent fee provision does nothing other than specifying the amount that would be paid in case the rent is paid late and the time after which a late fees would be charged. The provision though does not stop the landlord from serving the 3 day notice when the rent hasn’t been paid on time.

How to Serve a 3 Day Notice?

The 3 Day Notice has to be legally served to the tenant and has to be also sent to the tenant via certified mail. Once you hand over the notice and once the tenant receives and signs the notice sent through certified mail, the tenant would then have 3 business days starting from the next business day after the notice has been received by the tenant to either pay the rent, to nullify the agreement or to do nothing and let you proceed with eviction.

At Fast Eviction Service, help on any of the issues discussed in this article is simply a click or phone call away. Email intake@fastevict.com or call our office at (800) 686-8686 to discuss your questions for a free evaluation of your case.

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