Eviction Notice Requirements in District of Columbia
At a glance
| Governing law | The District is a 'for cause' jurisdiction under the Rental Housing Act of 1985. The controlling eviction section is D.C. Code § 42-3505.01, which bars eviction except on enumerated grounds and sets a distinct notice period for each; retaliation is separately barred by § 42-3505.02. The court case is a Landlord & Tenant action in D.C. Superior Court. Rent-stabilization details also live in Title 14 of the DCMR (outside this survey's statute scope) |
|---|---|
| Notice for unpaid rent | At least 10 days' written pre-filing notice — but the landlord 'shall not issue such notice if the amount of rent that the tenant has failed to pay is less than $600' (§ 42-3505.01(a-1)(1)). The mandated notice must tell the tenant they 'have the right to remain in the rental unit if the total balance of unpaid rent is paid in full,' and that a case may be filed if the balance is not paid 'within 30 days of this notice' (§ 42-3505.01(a-1)(2)). Nonpayment of a late fee alone can never be the basis for eviction (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)) |
| Notice for a lease violation | 30 days to cure. A landlord 'may recover possession of a rental unit when the tenant is violating an obligation of the tenancy, other than nonpayment of rent, and fails to correct the violation within 30 days after receiving notice' (§ 42-3505.01(b)). Curing within the 30 days stops the eviction |
| Unconditional quit (no cure allowed) | No landlord-set unconditional quit for ordinary misconduct — DC requires a court to first determine an illegal act occurred. For a court-determined illegal act in the unit or accommodation, a 30-day notice to vacate, no cure (§ 42-3505.01(c)). For a case filed after Dec. 31, 2025 alleging a 'dangerous crime' or 'crime of violence' (defined in § 23-1331), the notice is 10 days and the court hears it on an expedited basis within 20 days (§ 42-3505.01(c)(2)) |
| Ending a month-to-month tenancy | Barred. DC does not allow a no-cause end to a residential tenancy — a tenant may stay past lease expiration 'so long as the tenant continues to pay the rent' (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)). To recover the unit the landlord must fit a statutory ground: owner personal use (90-day, § (d)), sale for a buyer's personal use (90-day, § (e)), renovation (120-day, § (f)), demolition (180-day, § (g)), substantial rehabilitation (120-day, § (h)), or discontinuing housing use (180-day, § (i)) |
| Just cause to evict required? | Yes. § 42-3505.01 permits eviction only on enumerated grounds, each with its own notice: nonpayment (10-day pre-filing, arrears ≥ $600); tenancy violation (30-day cure, (b)); court-determined illegal act (30-day, or 10-day for a dangerous/violent crime, (c)); owner use (90-day, (d)); sale (90-day, (e)); renovation (120-day, (f)); demolition (180-day, (g)); substantial rehab (120-day, (h)); discontinuance (180-day, (i)); condo/co-op conversion (per § 42-3402.06(c), (j)). Lease expiration is not a cause |
| How the notice must be served | Written notice. Every notice except for nonpayment must be served on BOTH the tenant and the Rent Administrator (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)). If served by posting, a timestamped photograph must be filed with the court (§ (a)(2)); if the tenant's primary language is a covered language other than English or Spanish, the notice must be in that language (§ (a)(3)). The nonpayment notice must go out by certified/tracked mail with return receipt AND by hand delivery or posting on the front door (§ (a-1)(3)). A court may dismiss a case where notice was missing, premature, un-photographed, or untranslated (§ (a)(4)) |
| Tenant's right to cure/reinstate | Pay-to-stay and cure: paying the rent keeps the tenancy (§ (a)(1)); curing a lease violation within 30 days stops that eviction (§ (b)). Retaliation is barred and presumed if the landlord acts within 6 months of the tenant requesting repairs, reporting code violations, lawfully withholding rent, organizing, or suing — rebuttable only by 'clear and convincing evidence' (§ 42-3505.02). A domestic-violence (intrafamily-offense) victim has a defense to a (b) or (c) eviction (§ (c-1)). Evictions are blocked on days below 32°F, above 95°F, or during precipitation (§ (k)); the landlord must show a current rental business license (§ (q)); and a pending Emergency Rental Assistance application can stay a nonpayment case (§ (r)) |
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Washington, DC is a "for cause" jurisdiction — one of the few places where a landlord cannot evict simply because the lease ended. The rule comes from the Rental Housing Act of 1985, codified at D.C. Code § 42-3505.01. That single section both lists the only grounds on which a tenant can be evicted and sets a separate notice period for each. A companion section, § 42-3505.02, bars retaliatory evictions. The eviction case itself is a Landlord & Tenant action in D.C. Superior Court, carried out (if the landlord wins) by the U.S. Marshals Service — never by the landlord directly.
Notice for unpaid rent
Even for unpaid rent, the landlord must clear two hurdles before filing. First, the arrears must be at least $600 — the landlord "shall not issue such notice if the amount of rent that the tenant has failed to pay is less than $600" (§ 42-3505.01(a-1)(1)). Second, the landlord must give written "notice of the housing provider's intent to file a claim... at least 10 days before filing." The notice itself, whose wording the statute dictates, must tell the tenant they "have the right to remain in the rental unit if the total balance of unpaid rent is paid in full," and that a case can be filed only if the tenant does "not pay the balance of unpaid rent in full within 30 days of this notice" (§ 42-3505.01(a-1)(2)). Nonpayment of a late fee alone can never be a basis to evict (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)).
Notice for a lease violation
A fixable, non-rent breach gets 30 days to cure. The landlord "may recover possession of a rental unit when the tenant is violating an obligation of the tenancy, other than nonpayment of rent, and fails to correct the violation within 30 days after receiving notice" (§ 42-3505.01(b)). Fix the problem inside the 30 days and the eviction cannot go forward.
Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)
DC has no landlord-issued "unconditional quit" for ordinary bad behavior. The closest ground requires a court to have first "determined that the tenant, or a person occupying the premises... has performed an illegal act within the rental unit or the housing accommodation," after which the landlord serves a 30-day notice to vacate with no cure (§ 42-3505.01(c)). For the most serious cases — a "dangerous crime" or "crime of violence" (as defined in § 23-1331) alleged in a case filed after December 31, 2025 — the notice drops to 10 days and the court must hold an expedited hearing "within 20 days following the filing of the complaint" (§ 42-3505.01(c)(2)). Even then, a tenant who was a victim, or who didn't know and had no reason to know of the activity, has a defense.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy
You cannot be put out just because the landlord wants the unit back. A tenant may stay past the end of the lease "so long as the tenant continues to pay the rent" (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)) — this is the District's "perpetual tenancy." To recover a unit for the landlord's own plans, the landlord must fit one of the statutory grounds and give its long notice: 90 days for the owner's personal use (§ (d)) or a sale for the buyer's personal use (§ (e)), 120 days for renovation (§ (f)) or substantial rehabilitation (§ (h)), and 180 days for demolition (§ (g)) or discontinuing the housing use entirely (§ (i)). Several of these also carry relocation-assistance and rent-recapture strings.
For a condominium or cooperative conversion, § 42-3505.01(j) points to § 42-3402.06(c): the owner cannot serve the notice to vacate until at least 90 days after the tenant received the conversion-intent notice or before the 60-day purchase-opportunity period expires.
How the notice must be served
Written notice is mandatory, and for every ground except nonpayment it must be served on both the tenant and the Rent Administrator (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)). If the landlord serves by posting, a photograph of the posted notice "with a readable timestamp" must be submitted to the court (§ (a)(2)). If the landlord knows the tenant's primary language is a covered language other than English or Spanish, the notice must be provided in that language (§ (a)(3)). The nonpayment notice has its own service rule: certified or tracked mail with return receipt, and hand delivery or posting on the front door (§ (a-1)(3)). A judge "may... dismiss a claim" where the landlord gave no proper notice, filed too early, skipped the timestamped photo, or failed to translate (§ (a)(4)).
Tenant's right to cure/reinstate
The tenant's core protections are the flip side of the grounds: keep paying rent and you cannot be evicted for nonpayment (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)); cure a lease violation within 30 days and that eviction ends (§ (b)). On top of that, DC layers unusually strong defenses. Retaliation is presumed — and the landlord must rebut it "with clear and convincing evidence" — if within the prior six months the tenant asked for repairs, reported code violations, lawfully withheld rent, organized or joined a tenant group, or sued the landlord (§ 42-3505.02). A domestic-violence victim has a defense to a lease-violation or illegal-act eviction (§ (c-1)). Evictions cannot even be executed on a day the forecast is below 32°F or above 95°F, or while precipitation is falling (§ (k)). And the landlord must produce a current rental business license to get a writ (§ (q)); a tenant with a pending Emergency Rental Assistance application can get a nonpayment case stayed (§ (r)).
What trips people up
"Just cause" means the end of your lease is not a reason to evict you. In most states a landlord can end a month-to-month tenancy for no reason on 30 days' notice. Not here — § 42-3505.01(a)(1) lets you stay past lease expiration as long as you pay rent, and the landlord needs one of the statute's enumerated grounds to get the unit back.
The nonpayment notice has a $600 floor and a 10-day-versus-30-day quirk. The landlord can't even send the pre-filing notice unless you owe $600 or more (§ (a-1)(1)), and while the statute lets the landlord file "at least 10 days" after the notice, the notice's own required wording tells you that you can keep your home by paying the full balance "within 30 days" (§ (a-1)(2)). Practically, paying the full arrears — at any point the statute allows — is what stops the case; don't assume the 10-day figure is your deadline to act.
Notices for anything other than rent must also go to the Rent Administrator. Miss that step (or the timestamped photo when posting) and the court can dismiss the case (§ (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(4)). This catches many landlords who serve the tenant correctly but forget the second recipient.
Common questions
Can my DC landlord evict me just because my lease is up?
No. As long as you keep paying rent, you can stay past the lease term; the landlord needs a statutory "just cause" to end the tenancy (§ 42-3505.01(a)(1)).
How much do I owe before my landlord can take me to court for rent?
At least $600. Below that, the landlord "shall not issue" the notice needed to file, though they can still tell you the amount due (§ 42-3505.01(a-1)(1)).
My landlord wants to move into my apartment — how much notice do I get?
You get 90 days. An owner (a natural person) seeking the unit for their own personal use must serve a 90-day notice to vacate, and cannot re-rent it to someone else for 12 months (§ 42-3505.01(d)).
Can I be evicted in the middle of winter?
Not on a day the National Weather Service forecasts below 32°F, above 95°F, or when precipitation is falling (§ 42-3505.01(k)) — with narrow exceptions for illegal-act, abandonment, or undue-hardship findings.
Statutes and sources
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(a) — just-cause principle; late fees can't ground an eviction; non-rent notices served on the tenant and Rent Administrator; posting photo and possible dismissal. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(a-1) — nonpayment: 10-day pre-filing notice, $600 floor, 30-day pay-to-remain language, service by tracked mail plus hand delivery/posting. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(b) — 30 days to cure a violation of an obligation of the tenancy other than rent. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(c) — 30-day notice for a court-determined illegal act; 10-day notice and 20-day expedited hearing for a dangerous/violent crime in a case filed after Dec. 31, 2025. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(d) — 90-day notice for the owner's personal use and occupancy. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(e) — 90-day notice for a sale for the buyer's personal use. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(g) — 120-day renovation (f) and substantial-rehab (h) notices; 180-day demolition (g) and discontinuance (i) notices. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.01(k) — no eviction below 32°F, above 95°F, or during precipitation; current rental license required (q); ERAP stay of a nonpayment case (r). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.01 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.02 — retaliatory action prohibited; rebuttable presumption of retaliation within 6 months of protected tenant activity. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.02 (accessed 2026-08-08)
- D.C. Code § 42-3402.06(c) — conversion notice to vacate cannot be served until at least 90 days after the intent-to-convert notice or before the 60-day purchase period expires. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3402.06 (accessed 2026-08-08)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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