I have several questions regarding notices to tenants who are late with their rent. What happens if the tenants pay the past due rents during the notice period? I served a tenant with a Pay or Quit Notice but now he has paid the rent within the 3 day notice period. Does the Notice just expire? What would happen if I served a Notice and the tenant only paid part of the rent? Does the tenant still have to move out?
If you serve a tenant a Pay or Quit Notice but then accept the tenant’s payment for the full amount of the rent due for the rental period, you have cancelled the termination notice for that rental period. The tenant will no longer be in lease default. In many states the matter will be considered the same as if the tenant paid timely rent to begin with.
If the tenant defaults on rent in a future time, you will need to start over by serving a new Pay or Quit Notice for a new time period.
If you serve a tenant a Pay or Quit Notice but the tenant only makes a partial rent payment, by accepting the partial payment, you have cancelled the termination notice for that rental period. However, after accepting the partial payment, you can immediately serve the tenant with a new Pay or Quit Notice for the balance due. If the tenant does not pay the balance due within the required notice period the tenant must quit (move out) the rental premises.
If you refuse to accept the tenant’s partial rent payment, the Pay or Quit Notice is still in effect for the specified notice period. If the tenant does not pay the full amount due, he must quit (move-out) the rental premise per the notice.