Eviction Notice Requirements in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Connecticut's eviction process is called summary process and lives in Title 47a. The document that starts it is the notice to quit possession under § 47a-23 — a single form used for every ground, and it gives a flat "at least three days." But that short number is misleading on its own, because for the two most common reasons a landlord must complete an earlier step first: a grace period before a nonpayment case (§ 47a-15a) and a 15-day notice to cure before a lease-violation case (§ 47a-15). The real notice you get is the earlier step plus the 3-day notice to quit.

Notice for unpaid rent

Rent is not immediately "late" for eviction purposes. Under § 47a-15a, if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant "fails to pay rent within nine days thereafter or, in the case of a one-week tenancy, within four days thereafter," the landlord may then move to terminate. That nine-day (or four-day) window is the statutory grace period, and paying the rent within it stops the eviction before it starts. Only after the grace period runs may the landlord serve the 3-day notice to quit for nonpayment — and for nonpayment there is no separate 15-day cure notice.

Notice for a lease violation

For a fixable violation other than rent, the landlord must first serve a pretermination notice under § 47a-15 "specifying the acts or omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement shall terminate upon a date not less than fifteen days after receipt of the notice." If the breach "can be remedied by repair... or payment of damages" and the tenant "adequately remedies the breach within such fifteen-day period, the rental agreement shall not terminate." So the practical rule is 15 days to cure; only if you don't cure does the landlord serve the 3-day notice to quit.

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

Section 47a-15 itself lists what skips the 15-day cure step: eviction "based on nonpayment of rent, on conduct by the tenant which constitutes a serious nuisance or on a violation of subsection (h) of section 47a-11." For those, the landlord goes straight to the 3-day notice to quit with no cure. "Serious nuisance" is defined narrowly — for example, inflicting or threatening bodily harm, or using the unit for prostitution or illegal drug sales. And a repeat matters: "if substantially the same act or omission for which notice was given recurs within six months," the landlord may terminate without another cure chance.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Connecticut is a genuine outlier here. To end a month-to-month tenancy for no reason, the landlord relies on termination "by lapse of time" (§ 47a-23(a)(1)(A)) and serves a 3-day notice to quit effective at or after the end of a rental period. There is no 30-day (or longer) no-cause notice as in most states — three days is the statutory minimum. The notice must still be properly worded and served, and it can only take effect once the current rental month has run.

Just cause to evict required?

For most tenants, no. But § 47a-23c(a)(1) creates a protected class: a tenant who is 62 or older, or who has a physical or mental disability (or who lives with such a family member), and who resides "in a building or complex consisting of five or more separate dwelling units" or in a mobile-home park. Such a tenant may be evicted only for the good-cause grounds enumerated in § 47a-23c(b) — nonpayment, refusing a fair and equitable rent increase, material noncompliance affecting health/safety, voiding the lease, breaking the landlord's rules, the landlord permanently removing the unit from the market, or the landlord's bona fide intention to move in. Outside that protected class, Connecticut imposes no general just-cause requirement.

How the notice must be served

Under § 47a-23(c), a copy of the notice to quit "shall be delivered to each lessee or occupant or left at such lessee's or occupant's place of residence... by a proper officer or indifferent person," and "delivery of such notice may be made on any day of the week." In practice the notice to quit is served by a state marshal or other proper officer; a defect in service can invalidate the whole case.

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

Connecticut's cure rights are front-loaded: for nonpayment, paying within the nine-day (or four-day) grace period stops the case (§ 47a-15a); for a fixable violation, remedying within the 15-day § 47a-15 period keeps the tenancy. The state also bars retaliatory eviction: a landlord "shall not maintain an action or proceeding against a tenant to recover possession... within six months after" the tenant complained in good faith to a government agency or fair rent commission, exercised a legal right, or organized with other tenants (§ 47a-20). That creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation the landlord must overcome.

What trips people up

The "3-day notice to quit" is not the whole story. For nonpayment and for fixable lease violations, the landlord has to complete an earlier step first — the nine-day grace period or the 15-day cure notice. If the landlord skips straight to a 3-day notice to quit for those grounds, the case can be dismissed.

Paying within the grace period is powerful. For unpaid rent, paying within nine days (four for a weekly tenancy) stops the eviction entirely, before any notice to quit can issue (§ 47a-15a). Keep proof of the date you paid.

No-cause notice is unusually short here. Unlike states that require 30 or 60 days to end a month-to-month tenancy, Connecticut allows a 3-day notice to quit by lapse of time — but only effective at the end of a rental period, and only for tenants who aren't in the § 47a-23c protected class.

Serious nuisance skips the cure step. Conduct that meets the statute's narrow "serious nuisance" definition, or nonpayment, lets the landlord go straight to the notice to quit — there is no 15-day fix-it period for those.

Common questions

My rent was due on the 1st and my landlord handed me a notice to quit on the 5th — is that valid? Probably not, for nonpayment. Section 47a-15a gives a nine-day grace period (four days for a weekly tenancy), and the landlord can't move to terminate until it runs. Paying within the grace period stops it.

How long do I get to fix a lease violation? At least 15 days. A § 47a-15 pretermination notice must give a termination date "not less than fifteen days after receipt," and fixing a repairable breach within that window keeps your tenancy — unless the ground is nonpayment or a serious nuisance, which skip the cure step.

I'm month-to-month and did nothing wrong — how much notice does my landlord owe me? Connecticut only requires a 3-day notice to quit "by lapse of time," effective at the end of a rental period (§ 47a-23). It's much shorter than most states, so watch the dates closely. If you're 62 or older or have a disability in a building of five or more units, the landlord instead needs good cause under § 47a-23c.

Can my landlord evict me for reporting bad conditions? Not within six months of your complaint. Section 47a-20 bars a landlord from seeking possession within six months after you complain in good faith to officials or a fair rent commission, exercise a legal right, or organize with other tenants — a rebuttable presumption of retaliation.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23(a), (c) — notice to quit: at least 3 days; lapse-of-time, violation, and nonpayment grounds; service by a proper officer, any day of the week. https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_832.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-15 — 15-day pretermination cure notice; serious-nuisance / nonpayment / § 47a-11(h) go straight to the notice to quit; repeat within 6 months loses the cure right. https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_830.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-15a(a) — nonpayment grace period: 9 days (4 days for a one-week tenancy). https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_830.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23c(b) — protected tenants (62+ or disabled, 5+ unit buildings): good-cause-only eviction grounds. https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_832.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-20 — retaliatory eviction barred within six months (rebuttable presumption). https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_830.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)