Connecticut 3 Day Notice To Vacate

A Connecticut 3 Day Notice To Vacate is a letter that complies with state legal requirements to begin eviction against a tenant for an “incurable” breach of the lease (i.e., one which the tenant isn’t allowed to correct). The tenant must receive notice from a proper officer or indifferent person at least three (3) calendar days before the date of termination.

When To Use a Connecticut 3 Day Notice To Vacate

A Connecticut 3 Day Notice To Vacate begins the eviction process for the following tenant situations:

Substantial interference with the peace and enjoyment of others
Sale of illegal drugs on the premises
Threatened or inflicted serious harm on another person
Engagement in or promotion of prostitution
Causing substantial property damage
Refusal to accept a fair and equitable rent increase
Termination of employment, or failure to show up for work, while living in employer-paid housing
Removal of the premises from the rental market by the landlord
Holding over (overstaying the lease)
Repeat lease violation within six (6) months of the previous notice of noncompliance

Some types of Connecticut lease termination notice may allow different reasons for termination, or different notice periods. This may also apply to an eviction notice issued because of a lease or legal violation.

warning

Many Connecticut properties are federally entitled to a minimum 30 days of advance notice before a landlord can file for eviction. This minimum applies to any residential property covered by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, even after the act’s other protections have expired.

How To Write a Connecticut 3 Day Notice To Vacate

Connecticut law requires that a 3 Day Notice To Vacate contain language substantially similar to the following:

I (or we) hereby give you notice that you are to quit possession or occupancy of the (land, building, apartment or dwelling unit, or of any trailer or any land upon which a trailer is used or stands, as the case may be), now occupied by you at (here insert the address, including apartment number or other designation, as applicable), on or before the (here insert the date) for the following reason (here insert the reason or reasons for the notice to quit possession or occupancy using the statutory language or words of similar import, also the date and place of signing notice). A.B.

The law further stipulates: “If the owner or lessor, or the owner’s or lessor’s legal representative, attorney-at-law or attorney-in-fact knows of the presence of an occupant but does not know the name of such occupant, the notice for such occupant may be addressed to such occupant as John Doe, Jane Doe or some other alias which reasonably characterizes the person to be served.”

How To Serve a Connecticut 3 Day Notice To Vacate

Connecticut law requires that a 3 Day Notice To Vacate be delivered by an officer or authorized process server. The third party who serves the process may deliver it by hand or leave it at the tenant’s address.

note

In almost all cases, notice is legally served when it is received by the other party, NOT when it’s sent. Check specified date of termination carefully to ensure compliance with the legal requirements for a notice period.

Sources

1 CT Gen Stat § 47a-23: (a) When the owner or lessor, or the owner’s or lessor’s legal representative, or the owner’s or lessor’s attorney-at-law, or in-fact, desires to obtain possession or occupancy of any land or building, any apartment in any building, any dwelling unit, any trailer, or any land upon which a trailer is used or stands, and (1) when a rental agreement or lease of such property, whether in writing or by parol, terminates for any of the following reasons: (A) By lapse of time; (B) by reason of any expressed stipulation therein; (C) violation of the rental agreement or lease or of any rules or regulations adopted in accordance with section 47a-9 or 21-70; (D) nonpayment of rent within the grace period provided for residential property in section 47a-15a or 21-83; (E) nonpayment of rent when due for commercial property; (F) violation of section 47a-11 or subsection (b) of section 21-82; (G) nuisance, as defined in section 47a-32, or serious nuisance, as defined in section 47a-15 or 21-80; or (2) when such premises, or any part thereof, is occupied by one who never had a right or privilege to occupy such premises; or (3) when one originally had the right or privilege to occupy such premises but such right or privilege has terminated; or (4) when an action of summary process or other action to dispossess a tenant is authorized under subsection (b) of section 47a-23c for any of the following reasons: (A) Refusal to agree to a fair and equitable rent increase, as defined in subsection (c) of section 47a-23c, (B) permanent removal by the landlord of the dwelling unit of such tenant from the housing market, or (C) bona fide intention by the landlord to use such dwelling unit as such landlord’s principal residence; or (5) when a farm employee, as described in section 47a-30, or a domestic servant, caretaker, manager or other employee, as described in subsection (b) of section 47a-36, occupies such premises furnished by the employer and fails to vacate such premises after employment is terminated by such employee or the employer or after such employee fails to report for employment, such owner or lessor, or such owner’s or lessor’s legal representative, or such owner’s or lessor’s attorney-at-law, or in-fact, shall give notice to each lessee or occupant to quit possession or occupancy of such land, building, apartment or dwelling unit, at least three days before the termination of the rental agreement or lease, if any, or before the time specified in the notice for the lessee or occupant to quit possession or occupancy.
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2 Nwagwu v. Dawkins, No. BPHCV215004438S, 2021 WL 2775065, at *7 (Conn. Super. Ct. Mar. 2, 2021): “This matter is dismissed as a 30-day notice under the Cares Act was not provided to the tenant.”
3 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23(b): The notice [to quit] shall be in writing substantially in the following form: “I (or we) hereby give you notice that you are to quit possession or occupancy of the (land, building, apartment or dwelling unit, or of any trailer or any land upon which a trailer is used or stands, as the case may be), now occupied by you at (here insert the address, including apartment number or other designation, as applicable), on or before the (here insert the date) for the following reason (here insert the reason or reasons for the notice to quit possession or occupancy using the statutory language or words of similar import, also the date and place of signing notice). A.B.”. If the owner or lessor, or the owner’s or lessor’s legal representative, attorney-at-law or attorney-in-fact knows of the presence of an occupant but does not know the name of such occupant, the notice for such occupant may be addressed to such occupant as “John Doe”, “Jane Doe” or some other alias which reasonably characterizes the person to be served.
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4 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23(c): A copy of such notice [to quit] shall be delivered to each lessee or occupant or left at such lessee’s or occupant’s place of residence or, if the rental agreement or lease concerns commercial property, at the place of the commercial establishment by a proper officer or indifferent person. Delivery of such notice may be made on any day of the week.
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