A West Virginia eviction notice form is a legal demand for a tenant to comply with the terms of the rental agreement or else move out of the premises. West Virginia landlords may deliver an eviction notice because of unpaid rent, lease violations, or illegal activity on the rental property.
Types of West Virginia Eviction Notice Forms
Notice Form | Grounds | Curable? |
Notice To Quit for Unpaid Rent | Unpaid Rent | Yes |
Notice To Comply or Vacate | Lease Violation | Maybe |
Immediate Notice To Vacate | Intentional Property Damage /
Illegal Activity |
No |
30 Day Notice To Vacate | No Lease | No |
West Virginia Notice To Quit for Unpaid Rent
A West Virginia Notice To Quit for Unpaid Rent evicts a tenant for nonpayment of rent. In West Virginia, a landlord can file this notice the day after rent is due, with no grace period for the tenant.
Alternatively, a West Virginia landlord may begin eviction proceedings immediately by filing an ejectment or unlawful detainer action in court as soon as rent is late. The case will be dismissed if the tenant pays the past due balance before the court hearing.
West Virginia Notice To Comply or Vacate
A West Virginia Notice To Comply or Vacate evicts tenants for a lease violation. A lease violation might include property damage, failure to maintain health and safety on the rental property, or interfering with the quiet enjoyment of neighbors.
The landlord may decide to allow the tenants an opportunity to take corrective action during the eviction notice period. If the tenants do not complete corrective action, or the landlord doesn’t allow corrective action, the tenants must move out by the termination date.
West Virginia Immediate Notice To Vacate
A West Virginia Immediate Notice To Vacate evicts tenants for negligent or deliberate property damage, or for illegal actions on the premises. The tenant is not allowed an opportunity for corrective action, and must move out immediately.
West Virginia 30 Day Notice To Vacate
A West Virginia 30 Day Notice To Vacate terminates a month-to-month lease, an expired lease, or a situation with no written lease where the tenant pays rent monthly. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least thirty (30) calendar days before the date of termination.
How to Write an Eviction Notice in West Virginia
To help ensure the legal compliance of an eviction notice:
- Use the tenant’s full name and address
- Specify the lease violation as well as any balance due
- Specify the date of termination
- Print name and sign the notice, including the landlord’s address of record
- Note the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature
It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.
How to Calculate Expiration Date in West Virginia
The “clock” for an eviction notice period starts “ticking” the day after the notice gets delivered (served). For example, to give at least 30 days of notice and begin court action as of June 30th, delivery of the eviction notice must be no later than May 31st.
In most jurisdictions, if the last day of a notice period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the notice period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. This is called the “next judicial day;” in other words, the next day a courthouse is open.
How to Serve an Eviction Notice in West Virginia
West Virginia landlords may deliver an eviction notice using any of these methods:
- Hand delivery to the tenant
- Hand delivery to a member of the tenant’s family on the premises, at least 16 years old, who has had the contents of the notice explained to them
- Only if the premises are vacant: Posting at a conspicuous place on the premises
Sources
- 1 WV Code § 37-6-19
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Any person who shall have the right of reentry into the lands by reason of any rent issuing thereout being in arrear, or by reason of the breach of any covenant or condition, may serve a declaration in ejectment on the tenant in possession or may commence an action of unlawful detainer.
Source Link - 2 WV Code § 37-6-23
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If any party having a right or claim to such lands shall, at any time before the trial in such action of ejectment or of unlawful detainer, pay or tender to the party entitled to such rent, or to his attorney in the cause, or pay into court, all the rents and arrears, with interest and costs, all further proceedings in the action shall cease.
Source Link - 3 West Virginia Court Rules of Civil Procedure - Rule 6
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Time
- Computation. — In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by the local rules of any court, by order of court, or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event, or default from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included. The last day of the period so computed shall be included, unless it is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday. When the period of time prescribed or allowed is fewer than 11 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation. As used in this rule and in Rule 77(c), “legal holiday” includes New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, West Virginia Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, any day on which a general, special or primary election is held in the state or in the county in which the circuit court sits, and any other day appointed as a holiday by the Governor or by the President of the United States as a day of special observance or thanksgiving, or a day for the general cessation of business.
- 4 W.Va. Code § 37-6-19
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Any person who shall have the right of reentry into the lands by reason of any rent issuing thereout being in arrear, or by reason of the breach of any covenant or condition, may serve a declaration in ejectment on the tenant in possession, where there shall be such tenant, or, if the possession be vacant, by affixing the declaration upon the chief door of any messuage, or at any other conspicuous place on the premises, which service shall be in lieu of a demand and reentry; or may commence an action of unlawful detainer, and obtain service either in person or by publication, as in other such actions, which service shall be in lieu of a demand and reentry.
Source Link - 5 W.Va. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(1)(A) & (B)
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Service upon an individual other than an infant, incompetent person, or convict may be made by:
(A) Delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the individual personally; or (B) Delivering a copy of the summons and complaint at the individual’s dwelling place or usual place of abode to a member of the individual’s family who is above the age of sixteen (16) years and by advising such person of the purport of the summons and complaint