How much notice is required before an eviction in the United States?

It is set state by state. California Code of Civil Procedure § 1161(2) requires three days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays for non-payment. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 711(2) requires a fourteen-day written rent demand. Texas Property Code § 24.005(a) requires three days' written notice to vacate but lets the written lease contract for a shorter or longer period.

What must a New York rent demand contain?

Beyond the fourteen-day demand for rent or possession, N.Y. Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 711(2) requires the notice to append or contain the notice required by Real Property Law § 231-c. That notice must state whether the premises are subject to the good cause eviction law and, if exempt, why; the lawful basis for any non-renewal of a covered unit; and the justification for any rent increase above the applicable local rent standard.

Can a defective notice sink a US eviction case?

In California it can. Civil Code § 1946.2(g) provides that an owner's failure to comply with any provision of the just cause section renders the written termination notice void, and § 1946.2(a) requires the just cause to be stated in the notice itself. Section 1946.2(h)(1) exposes an owner who acts in material violation to actual damages, attorney's fees at the court's discretion, and up to treble damages for wilful or oppressive conduct.

Eviction Notice in the US

The notice period before a United States eviction filing is fixed by state statute and varies by a factor of five. California requires three days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays, New York requires a fourteen-day rent demand that must now carry a further statutory good-cause notice, and Texas requires three days but expressly allows the lease to contract for a shorter or longer period. In California, failure to comply with the just cause rules renders the written termination notice void.

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Governing law

Summary possession procedure and pre-filing notice are creatures of state statute. Federal law adds a 30-day notice requirement for dwellings on federally backed or federally assisted property.

15 U.S.C. § 9058(c)

What a eviction notice has to contain in the US

In California a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer after default in rent only once served with three days' notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other judicial holidays, stating the amount due and the name, telephone number, address and available hours of the person to be paid.
Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1161(2)
In New York a non-payment proceeding requires a written rent demand with at least fourteen days' notice, and that notice must append or contain the notice required by Real Property Law § 231-c stating whether the premises are subject to the good cause eviction law and, if exempt, why.
N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 711(2)
In Texas a landlord must give a tenant who defaults or holds over at least three days' written notice to vacate before filing a forcible detainer suit, unless the parties have contracted for a shorter or longer period in a written lease.
Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(a)
In California, after a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a residential property for 12 months, the owner may not terminate without just cause, and that just cause must be stated in the written notice to terminate.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(a)
Where a California termination rests on a no-fault just cause, the owner must either pay relocation assistance equal to one month of the rent in effect when the notice issued or waive the final month's rent in writing before it falls due, and must state that entitlement in the notice.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(d)

Form, notarisation and registration

The lessor of a covered dwelling on federally backed or federally assisted property may not require the tenant to vacate before 30 days after giving a notice to vacate; the 120-day filing moratorium in the same section ran only from 27 March 2020, while the notice provision contains no equivalent time limit in its text.
15 U.S.C. § 9058(b) and (c)

What catches drafters out

The federal E-SIGN Act does not validate electronic delivery of a notice of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure or eviction, or of the right to cure, under a rental agreement for an individual's primary residence.
15 U.S.C. § 7003(b)(2)(B)
In California, failure to comply with any provision of the just cause section renders the written termination notice void, and an owner who attempts to recover possession in material violation is liable for actual damages, discretionary attorney's fees and up to treble damages for wilful or oppressive conduct.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(g) and (h)(1)