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Vermont Eviction Notice

Vermont eviction notice: 14-day nonpayment and 30-day lease-violation notices, 9 V.S.A. Section 4467. Free template, statute cites. Attorney review available.

Introduction

Vermont skips the personal-service-first hierarchy most states use for eviction notices. A Vermont termination notice only has to be "actual notice," meaning hand-delivered or mailed (first-class or certified) to the tenant's last known address, with no method ranked above another; posting a notice on the door alone is never enough. This page is the actual Vermont eviction notice a landlord fills out, dates, and serves, not a broader guide to Vermont's eviction process: an eviction notice is the written notice a landlord must give before filing an ejectment action (Vermont's eviction lawsuit) in court. Nonpayment of rent gets a 14-day notice, voided if the tenant pays everything owed before the termination date. A material lease term violation gets a longer 30-day notice, with no separate statutory right to cure. Criminal activity, illegal drug activity, or violence threatening another resident's health or safety gets the shorter 14-day notice. Vermont's residential rental chapter, 9 V.S.A. Chapter 137, Section 4467, sets these periods and requires every notice to state a specific termination date. There's no government-issued notice-to-quit form; the statute controls the content instead. Miss the day count, skip actual notice, or wait too long, and the case can fail: Vermont gives a landlord only 60 days after the termination date to file in court, or the notice no longer supports a judgment of eviction.

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Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    An eviction notice in Vermont is a written notice, meeting the "actual notice" standard below, that a landlord must give a tenant stating a specific termination date, before filing an ejectment action (Vermont's eviction lawsuit) in court.

  2. 2

    Nonpayment of rent gets a 14-day notice. The notice is voided entirely if the tenant pays or tenders all rent due through the end of the rental period before the termination date; accepting a partial payment doesn't waive the landlord's remedies. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(a))

  3. 3

    Failing to comply with a material term of the lease, or with obligations Chapter 137 imposes, gets a longer 30-day notice. Vermont's statute doesn't give the tenant a separate right to cure this category before the notice runs. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(b)(1))

  4. 4

    Criminal activity, illegal drug activity, or acts of violence that threaten another resident's health or safety get the shorter 14-day notice, the same length as nonpayment. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(b)(2))

  5. 5

    The governing law is Vermont's residential rental chapter, 9 V.S.A. Chapter 137, Section 4467, which sets every notice period on this page and requires the termination date to be specifically stated in the notice. A court case must be filed within 60 days of that termination date or the notice can no longer support an eviction judgment.

  6. 6

    Service must meet Vermont's "actual notice" standard: hand delivery, first-class mail, or certified mail, each addressed or delivered to the tenant, with no ranked order between them. Vermont law does not authorize service by posting alone. Mailed notice is presumed received 3 days after mailing. (9 V.S.A. Section 4451(1))

  7. 7

    There's no state-issued notice-to-quit form. A landlord writes the notice, but it must meet the actual-notice delivery standard and specifically state the termination date. Ending a tenancy with no cause takes longer than any for-cause notice: 60 or 90 days without a written agreement, or 30 or 60 days with one, depending on whether the tenant has lived there more than 2 years. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(c), (e))

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Eviction Notice in Vermont, 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 guide

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VERMONT EVICTION NOTICE

[14-DAY NOTICE TO QUIT (NONPAYMENT OF RENT) / 30-DAY NOTICE TO QUIT (LEASE VIOLATION) / 14-DAY NOTICE TO QUIT (CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, DRUG ACTIVITY, OR VIOLENCE)]

Date of Notice: [DATE]

1. LANDLORD AND TENANT

Landlord/Property Manager: [LANDLORD'S FULL LEGAL NAME] Landlord's Address: [STREET ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP] Landlord's Phone: [PHONE NUMBER]

Tenant(s): [FULL LEGAL NAME(S) OF ALL TENANTS ON LEASE]

2. PREMISES

Rental Address: [STREET ADDRESS, UNIT/APT NUMBER, CITY, VERMONT, ZIP CODE]

3. REASON FOR NOTICE

[SELECT ONE:]

  • Nonpayment of rent: The tenant is in arrears in the amount of $[AMOUNT DUE] for the rental period(s) of [DATES]. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(a))
  • Material lease term violation: [DESCRIBE the material term of the rental agreement, or the Chapter 137 obligation, that was violated]. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(b)(1))
  • Criminal activity, illegal drug activity, or violence: [DESCRIBE the conduct threatening the health or safety of other residents]. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(b)(2))

4. CURE OR VACATE PERIOD

If this is a nonpayment notice: This notice is void, and the tenancy will not terminate, if you pay or tender all rent due through the end of the rental period in which you pay, at any time before the termination date stated below.

Note (material lease term violation or criminal/drug/violence grounds): Vermont law does not provide a separate opportunity to cure before this notice period runs; the notice period itself is the only response window.

5. TERMINATION DATE

Termination Date: [DATE, calculated as at least 14 days after the date of actual notice for nonpayment or criminal/drug/violence grounds, or at least 30 days after the date of actual notice for a material lease term violation]

6. STATUTORY BASIS

Served under 9 V.S.A. Section 4467. If the tenant remains after the termination date without the landlord's consent, the landlord may bring an ejectment action under 12 V.S.A. Chapter 169, Subchapter 3, in the Civil Division of the Superior Court for [COUNTY] County, Vermont.

Note: A notice to terminate a tenancy cannot support a judgment of eviction unless the court proceeding is commenced within 60 days of the termination date stated above.

7. SERVICE / PROOF OF SERVICE

Method of service (9 V.S.A. Section 4451(1), the "actual notice" standard; no ranked order):

  1. Hand delivery to the tenant, OR
  2. First-class mail addressed to the tenant's last known address, OR
  3. Certified mail addressed to the tenant's last known address.

Vermont law does not authorize service by posting alone. Mailed notice is presumed received 3 days after mailing.

Served by: [NAME OF PERSON SERVING NOTICE] Date served: [DATE] Method used: [HAND DELIVERY / FIRST-CLASS MAIL / CERTIFIED MAIL]

Landlord Signature: _________________________ Date: [DATE]

Issued under 9 V.S.A. Chapter 137, Section 4467. This is a template; consult the current statute or an attorney to confirm details for your situation, attorney review is available and optional. For the full national Eviction Notice template covering all notice types, see the full Eviction Notice template.

Vermont Requirements for Eviction Notice

Governing Notice Statute (9 V.S.A. Chapter 137, Section 4467)

the statutory basis for every notice type on this page, requiring the termination date to be specifically stated and requiring court proceedings to commence within 60 days of that date.

Notice Period for Nonpayment of Rent (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(a))

14-day notice, voided entirely if the tenant pays or tenders all rent due through the end of the rental period before the termination date; accepting a partial payment does not waive the landlord's remedies.

Notice Period for Material Lease Term Violations (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(b)(1))

30-day notice for failing to comply with a material rental agreement term or a Chapter 137 obligation, with no separate statutory right to cure before the notice period runs.

Actual Notice Service Requirements (9 V.S.A. Section 4451(1))

notice must be hand-delivered or mailed (first-class or certified) to the tenant's last known address, with no ranked order among the methods and no service by posting alone; mailed notice is presumed received 3 days after mailing.

Notice Period for Criminal Activity, Drug Activity, or Violence (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(b)(2))

14-day notice where termination is based on criminal activity, illegal drug activity, or acts of violence threatening the health or safety of other residents.

No-Cause Termination Notice Periods (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(c), (e))

distinct from the for-cause notices above, ending a tenancy without cause requires 60 or 90 days' notice without a written rental agreement, or 30 or 60 days' notice with one, depending on whether the tenant has resided there more than 2 years.

No Prescribed Notice Form, Content Required (9 V.S.A. Section 4467(f); vtcourts.gov)

no government-issued notice-to-quit form exists, but every notice must meet the actual-notice delivery standard and specifically state the termination date.

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on the reason. Nonpayment of rent gets a 14-day notice, and so does a notice based on criminal activity, illegal drug activity, or violence threatening another resident's health or safety. A material lease term violation gets a longer 30-day notice. No-cause terminations take longer still: 60 or 90 days without a written rental agreement, or 30 or 60 days with one, depending on whether the tenant has lived there more than 2 years. (9 V.S.A. Section 4467)

No. Vermont law requires the landlord to give the tenant actual, written notice stating a specific termination date before filing an ejectment action for any of the grounds in 9 V.S.A. Section 4467, including nonpayment and lease violations. Skipping the notice, understating the day count, or filing after the 60-day window closes can sink the case.

By statute, the notice must be actual notice (hand-delivered or mailed to the tenant's last known address) and must specifically state the termination date. For a nonpayment notice, stating the amount of rent owed lets the tenant know exactly what full payment requires to void the notice. There's no separate content checklist beyond what 9 V.S.A. Section 4467 requires for each ground.

No. Vermont has no government-issued fill-in-the-blank notice-to-quit form; a landlord can write the notice. It still has to satisfy the actual-notice delivery standard and state the termination date, and once a case is filed, the court uses the general civil Complaint rather than an eviction-specific pleading form.

Only for nonpayment of rent. Paying or tendering all rent due through the end of the rental period, at any time before the termination date in the notice, voids the notice completely under 9 V.S.A. Section 4467(a). For a material lease term violation or a criminal-activity, drug-activity, or violence ground, the statute doesn't give the tenant a separate right to cure; the notice period itself is fixed and runs regardless.

Count from the date of actual notice, meaning the date the tenant received it (hand delivery, or 3 days after first-class or certified mailing under the statutory presumption), not the date the landlord wrote it. A 14-day or 30-day period runs from that date, and the notice must state the resulting termination date, not just the number of days. After that termination date, the landlord has only 60 days to file the ejectment action in court.

If the tenant hasn't paid, cured, or vacated by the termination date, the landlord may bring an ejectment action under 12 V.S.A. Chapter 169, Subchapter 3, in the Civil Division of the Superior Court for the county where the property sits. The tenant remaining without the landlord's consent after the termination date is what gives the landlord standing to sue; the landlord cannot remove the tenant without a court order.

The landlord or the landlord's agent signs and dates the notice. Any person can serve it, by hand delivery or by first-class or certified mail to the tenant's last known address; Vermont law does not authorize service by posting alone. Keeping a record of who served the notice, how, and on what date matters because that date starts the 14-day or 30-day countdown and the later 60-day filing window.