You got a notice and do not know what it means

1. 1

   Who sent it

   Landlord, property manager, an attorney, a court, or a debt collector. Each means something different, and an attorney or court letterhead usually means the matter has escalated.

2. 2

   What it says it is

   A demand for payment, a notice to fix a lease violation, a notice that the tenancy is ending, a rent-change notice, an entry notice, or a lease-renewal offer.

3. 3

   Whether a court is involved

   Look for a court name, a case or docket number, a judge, or a date to appear. That distinction changes everything about urgency.

Names differ by state — the same document may be called a notice to quit, a notice to pay or vacate, a notice to cure, or a termination notice. The categories below are descriptive, not legal definitions.

• Pay-or-move notices — asserting unpaid rent and giving a period to pay.
• Cure-or-move notices — asserting a lease violation and, sometimes, a chance to fix it.
• No-cause or end-of-tenancy notices — announcing the tenancy will end, without alleging fault. Whether these are permitted at all, and when, is highly state- and city-specific.
• Rent-change notices — announcing a new amount and effective date.
• Entry notices — announcing a planned entry and its purpose.
• Lease non-renewal or renewal-offer letters.
• Court papers — a summons, complaint, or petition. These are not landlord notices; they are the case itself.

How a notice was delivered can matter as much as what it says, because most states set rules about service. Whatever the rule turns out to be, the tenant's job is the same: capture what happened while it is fresh.

• The date and, if you can, the time you received it.
• How it arrived — handed to you, handed to someone else, posted on the door, mailed, emailed, texted, or left inside.
• A photo of the document, all pages, plus the envelope and any posting.
• Whether anything was missing — an unsigned page, no date, no address, no amount.
• Who else saw it arrive.

If a notice claims an amount, compare it to your own payment record line by line and note any difference in writing. Disputed amounts are common and are much easier to raise later when the comparison was written down at the time.

• Respond in writing, keep a copy, and stay factual. Written records survive; phone calls do not.
• Do not agree to anything in the moment — including move-out dates or payment plans — before you understand what it gives up.
• Do not assume a notice is wrong because it looks informal, and do not assume it is correct because it looks official. Only your state's rule settles that, and legal aid can read it with you.
• If any court is named, treat the deadline as the priority over everything else on this page.

This site does not read notices for you. Paper, a folder, or any tool you trust is enough. Free legal help remains the first call when a court is involved.

Some living situations are covered by narrower rules, or by an entirely different part of state law. If any of these describe your situation, say so when you contact legal aid — it changes the answer:

• You share a kitchen or bathroom with the property owner, or the owner lives on site.
• You are a lodger or roomer rather than a tenant under a lease.
• You are staying in a hotel, motel, or extended-stay.
• Your name is not on the lease, or you sublet from another tenant.
• You live in a mobile home park, or you own the home and rent the lot.
• The housing is tied to a job, a school, or a treatment program.