What Does a Pay or Quit Notice Mean?

A pay or quit notice is sent to a tenant who has failed to pay rent as required by the leasing contract. Most times, this type of notice is sent prior to the landlord beginning eviction proceedings against the tenant. This letter provides a tenant with a certain amount of time, typically 10 days, to pay the amount of rent due or to vacate the apartment. Failure to do either can result in the tenant being forcibly evicted pursuant to a court order from the leased premise.

Because a pay or quit notice is delivered prior to an eviction proceeding being initiated, chances are good that the landlord is owed a large amount of money for rent, typically more than a month’s worth. Moreover, this amount could be even higher if the landlord is entitled to assess interest on overdue payments. This means that the amount demanded paid could be quite high. Paying the amounts due and remaining in the apartment does not change the lease agreement; the tenant is still required to pay the next month’s rent as stated in the lease contract.

Quitting an apartment is not the same as an eviction. A tenant that leaves an apartment after receiving a quit or pay notice effectively breaks the lease. This breaking a lease will not, however, appear on the tenant’s credit report because it is not an eviction that involved the courts. Breaking the lease, however, may ruin a tenant’s rental history by inducing the landlord to provide a negative review of the tenant while he lived on the landlord’s property.