How to Serve a DC Nonpayment Notice Correctly in 2026

Getting the notice right is the least glamorous part of a DC nonpayment case and the one that most often trips landlords up. After the RENTAL Amendment Act of 2025, both the timing and the service method changed. Here's the current playbook. (General information, not legal advice — have counsel review your specific situation.)

Step 1 — Use a 10-day cure period

The pre-filing nonpayment notice period dropped from 30 days to at least 10 days. Your notice should give the tenant at least 10 days to pay the past-due amount or vacate. If you're still handing out 30-day notices, you're waiting three extra weeks for nothing — see 30 to 10 days.

Step 2 — State the amount owed accurately

The notice should reflect the actual past-due rent per your ledger. Accuracy matters at two later stages: a tenant can dispute "the calculation of the monthly rent amount" as a defense to a court-registry protective order, and courts now weigh prejudice to all parties when deciding whether a defect sinks a case. A clean number protects you at both points.

Step 3 — Serve it both ways

The Act requires the notice to 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.

Do both. Mailing alone isn't enough, and posting alone isn't enough.

Step 4 — Document everything

This is where cases are won or lost:

• Keep the certified-mail receipt or the delivery service's tracking record.
• Take a dated, time-stamped photo of the notice hand-delivered or posted on the door.
• Save both to the tenant's file the same day.

Because courts now have discretion over defects rather than a mandatory-dismissal rule, strong service evidence is what keeps a judge from tossing your case — or lets you correct a small problem instead of starting over.

Step 5 — For voucher tenancies, notify DCHA

If your tenant has a Housing Choice Voucher, your DCHA lease addendum and the HCV program rules generally require you to give the housing authority a copy of any notice to vacate or eviction filing. That obligation is separate from the RENTAL Act, but it belongs in the same checklist. Also remember the nonpayment case is about the tenant's portion of rent — see Voucher nonpayment: the tenant portion.

Step 6 — Line up the next moves

The notice is step one. When you file, plan to:

• Account for the new "at least 14-day" summons period.
• Move for a protective order requiring ongoing rent into the court registry.

The easy button

At Keyhold, the notice clock, the dual-service reminder, the evidence upload, and the DCHA copy are all steps our software walks the owner through — so nothing gets served the wrong way or filed on a stale template. If you'd rather not track this by hand, get a free rental analysis.