A: No, in most states and localities. You could only start an eviction based on your notice to the tenant, not on their notice to you. The best thing to do is when you receive their notice send them a confirmation and telling them that you expect them to vacate the property by midnight on the termination date of their notice to you. You can also add language that, in effect, gives them a 30-day (or whatever your state requires) at the same time. Mind you, some state laws allow a different number of days notice for landlords and tenants, so make sure you get the days right. Tenants would also probably have some financial liability if you spent money in advertising and such trying to rerent the property and they did not move out when they promised.
Reader Bill Heikkila writes that in his state landlords are better protected than in most others, “in Georgia, a tenant’s (written) notice of intent to vacate is not only an irrevocable notice, but the landlord can move to evict should the tenant fail to vacate once he has given this written notice. The Georgia dispossessory forms even have a box to check for this specific purpose.” (Check your state law to see if your rights are protected this way.)
Q: My tenant is on a lease and the last day of that lease is the end of this month. Do I have to give them a 30-days written notice to coincide with the last day of the lease?
A: Not usually. However, there are customized leases that have it written in that either side would have to give 30 days written notice. Just as a courtesy, you might want to give your tenant a written reminder that the lease is ending on a certain date. If the tenant is one you want to keep, you might begin marketing to him or her to try to get them to continue making your property his or her home. Actually, studies have shown that tenants decide to move 45 days before they ever let their landlord know about it. So your marketing efforts need to start long before the 30 days before the lease is up.
Q: I have my tenants on a lease with a provision that is automatically converts to a month-to-month at the end of the lease. Do I need to give my tenants a notice to terminate.
A: Yes, you would. However, you could not issue a 30-day notice to terminate prior to the last month of the original lease period. You could give them a notice at any time that tells them you are not going to renew their lease that expires on x date. That way they will have more time to find another place to live.