Oklahoma Eviction Notice
Oklahoma eviction notice: the 5-day pay-or-quit demand under 41 O.S. Section 131 doubles as a demand for possession. Free template. Attorney review available.
Introduction
An eviction notice is a written notice a landlord serves on a tenant to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing a forcible entry and detainer action in court. This page is that notice itself, a document to fill in, sign, and serve, not a broader explainer of how Oklahoma eviction law works. Oklahoma's nonpayment notice does double duty most states split in two: a 5-day written demand for overdue rent is, by statute, also a demand for possession, so no separate notice to quit follows it. A material lease violation other than rent works differently: 10 days to cure, inside a notice period that must run at least 15 days from the tenant's receipt of the notice. Oklahoma's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, 41 O.S. Sections 101 through 135, sets these counts, plus two incurable tracks, imminent harm and criminal or drug-related activity, that let the landlord move to terminate immediately with no cure period. A second quirk: once a fixed lease term simply expires, Oklahoma requires no notice at all before the landlord can seek possession from a holdover tenant. No state-mandated form exists, but the statute requires specific content and the correct day count, or the case can be dismissed before it starts.
Key Things to Know
- 1
An eviction notice is a written notice a landlord must serve on a tenant to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing a forcible entry and detainer (FED) action in court.
- 2
Nonpayment of rent gets a 5-day written demand for payment. Under Oklahoma law, that demand for past-due rent is itself a demand for possession, so no separate notice to quit is required for a nonpayment case. (41 O.S. Section 131(B))
- 3
A material lease violation other than rent (curable) gets a written notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach. The tenant has 10 days from receipt to remedy it; if not remedied, the agreement terminates on a date stated in the notice that must be at least 15 days after receipt. (41 O.S. Section 132(B))
- 4
Two grounds are incurable: noncompliance causing or threatening imminent, irremediable harm to the premises or a person, and criminal or drug-related activity threatening other tenants. Both let the landlord move to terminate the tenancy immediately, with no cure period. (41 O.S. Section 132(C), (D))
- 5
The governing law is the Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, 41 O.S. Sections 101 to 135. A related quirk lives at the end of a lease: once a fixed lease term expires, Oklahoma requires no notice at all before the landlord may seek possession from a tenant who holds over. (41 O.S. Section 111(C), (D))
- 6
Notice must be served personally on the tenant first. If the tenant can't be located, it may be served on a family member over age 12 living with the tenant. If neither works, the landlord posts the notice on the dwelling unit and mails a copy by certified mail. (41 O.S. Section 111(E))
- 7
There's no state-mandated form for the notice itself, but the law requires specific content: the rent-demand notice must state the amount due, and the noncompliance notice must specify the acts and omissions and the termination date. (41 O.S. Sections 131(B), 132(B))
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in Oklahoma, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Eviction Notice guide walks through them.
Open the Eviction Notice guideCustomize your Eviction Notice Template with DocDraft
Oklahoma Requirements for Eviction Notice
5-day written demand for payment. The demand for past-due rent is deemed a demand for possession of the premises, so no further notice to quit is required for this ground. The notice may be given before or after the landlord files a forcible entry and detainer action.
Personal delivery to the tenant is required first. If the tenant cannot be located, service is made by delivering the notice to a family member of the tenant over age 12 residing with the tenant. If service cannot be made on the tenant personally or on such a family member, the notice must be posted at a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit, with a copy also mailed to the tenant by certified mail.
Written notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the noncompliance. The tenant has 10 days from receipt of the notice to remedy the breach; the rental agreement terminates on a date stated in the notice that must be not less than 15 days after receipt, unless remedied within the 10 days.
The statutory basis for every notice type on this page: the Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, 41 O.S. Sections 101 through 135. Includes the holdover rule that a tenancy for a definite term expires without notice, so the landlord may immediately bring an action for possession if the tenant remains after the term ends. The court process that follows a non-cured notice is separately governed by the Forcible Entry and Detainer Act, 12 O.S. Section 1148.1 et seq.
No cure period applies to noncompliance that causes or threatens imminent and irremediable harm to the premises or a person, where the landlord may terminate by immediately filing a forcible entry and detainer action, or to criminal activity threatening other tenants' health, safety, or peaceful enjoyment, or drug-related criminal activity, which the statute treats as grounds for immediate termination of the lease.
There is no government-mandated fill-in-the-blank form for the pre-filing notice. Specific content is required by statute instead: the rent-demand notice must state the amount due, and the noncompliance notice must specify the acts and omissions constituting the breach and the date the rental agreement will terminate.
Distinct from the for-cause notices above: ending a month-to-month tenancy or tenancy at will without cause requires at least 30 days' written notice, and ending a tenancy that is less than month-to-month requires at least 7 days' written notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oklahoma requires 5 days' written notice for nonpayment of rent, which doubles as the demand for possession, so no separate notice to quit follows it. A material lease violation other than rent gets a different structure: 10 days to cure, inside a notice period that must run at least 15 days from the tenant's receipt of the notice. Two grounds, imminent and irremediable harm, and criminal or drug-related activity, are incurable and let the landlord move to terminate immediately.
Not for nonpayment of rent or a curable lease violation: 41 O.S. Section 131 and Section 132 require written notice before those grounds can support a forcible entry and detainer action. The one exception is a fixed-term lease that has simply expired: once the term ends, Oklahoma requires no further notice before the landlord may seek possession from a tenant who holds over. Skipping required notice, or serving the wrong day count, can get the case dismissed.
It should identify the landlord, the tenant, and the rental address, and state the date of the notice. Beyond that, the content required depends on the ground: a nonpayment notice must state the amount of rent due, under 41 O.S. Section 131(B). A noncompliance notice must specify the acts and omissions constituting the violation and the date the agreement will terminate, under 41 O.S. Section 132(B).
There's no government-issued fill-in-the-blank form for the pre-filing notice under 41 O.S. Sections 131 or 132. A landlord can write their own notice, as long as it includes the statutory content for the ground being used, the correct day count, and is served the way the statute requires.
A material lease violation other than nonpayment is curable: the tenant gets 10 days from receipt of the notice to fix it, inside a notice period of at least 15 days. Imminent and irremediable harm to the property or a person, and criminal or drug-related activity, are treated as incurable under 41 O.S. Section 132(C) and (D): the landlord may move to terminate the tenancy immediately, with no chance to fix the problem.
For nonpayment, the 5-day period runs from the date the notice is given. For a curable noncompliance notice, the clock is tied to receipt, not service: the tenant has 10 days from receipt to remedy the breach, and the termination date stated in the notice must be at least 15 days after that same receipt date. Track the date the tenant actually received the notice, not just the date it was signed or mailed.
41 O.S. Section 111(E) sets an order of preference: personal delivery to the tenant first. If the tenant can't be located, the notice may be delivered to a family member over age 12 who lives with the tenant. If neither is possible, the landlord posts the notice conspicuously on the dwelling unit and mails a copy by certified mail.
If the rent isn't paid, the violation isn't cured, or the tenant hasn't vacated by the deadline, the notice itself doesn't remove anyone. The landlord's next step is filing a forcible entry and detainer action in the district court for the county where the property is located, under 12 O.S. Section 1148.1 et seq., and the petition must be accompanied by a copy of the notice that was served.