DC Cut the Nonpayment Eviction Notice from 30 Days to 10 Days

One of the quietest but most useful changes in the RENTAL Amendment Act of 2025 is buried in Title I: the pre-filing notice for a nonpayment case drops from 30 days to at least 10 days. For a small DC landlord carrying a non-paying tenant, that's three weeks of arrears you no longer have to eat before you can even start.

What changed

Section 501 of the Rental Housing Act of 1985 used to require a landlord to serve a notice giving the tenant "at least 30 days" to cure the nonpayment or vacate before filing. The Act strikes "at least 30 days" and inserts "at least 10 days."

That's the good news. The catch is that the Act also spells out *how* the notice must be delivered — and it's stricter than what many landlords were doing.

The new service requirement

The 10-day notice must be provided both:

• By certified mail or a delivery service that provides delivery tracking confirmation, return receipt requested; and
• By hand delivery to the rental unit, or by posting on the front door of the unit.

This is an "and," not an "or." One method alone is not enough. In practice that means: mail it with tracking *and* either hand it to the tenant or tape it to the door — and document both. Keep the certified-mail receipt (or the delivery service's tracking record) and take a dated, time-stamped photo of the posted notice.

Why the documentation matters more now

The Act gives courts more discretion — they "may, in their discretion when weighing the prejudice to all parties" dismiss a defective complaint, rather than being required to. That cuts both ways: a small defect might be forgiven, but you don't want to bet a case on a judge's mercy. Clean service evidence is the cheapest insurance you can buy, and it's the difference between a case that moves and one that stalls.

What it means for voucher landlords

For Housing Choice Voucher tenants, remember that a nonpayment case is generally about the tenant's portion of the rent — DCHA pays the HAP portion directly. The 10-day notice and the faster timeline still apply to that tenant share. Separately, your DCHA lease addendum and the HCV program rules require you to send the housing authority a copy of any eviction notice, so build that into your process. We go deeper in Voucher nonpayment: using the faster notice on the tenant portion.

Do this now

1. 1Replace your 30-day nonpayment notice template with a 10-day version.
2. 2Change your service process to certified/tracked mail plus hand delivery or door posting.
3. 3Save the tracking receipt and a dated photo of the posting to the tenant's file.
4. 4Pair the notice with a plan to move for a court-registry rent deposit once you file.

None of this is legal advice — statutes and forms change, and DC counsel should review your templates. But if your notice is still built around a 30-day clock, you're leaving weeks of rent on the table. See the full step-by-step on serving the notice correctly.