On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published the final rule, 30-Day Notification Requirement Prior to Termination of Lease for Nonpayment of Rent.
The rule requires PHAs and project-based rental assistance (PBRAs) owners to provide tenants with at least a 30-day notification prior to a formal judicial eviction is filed for the nonpayment of rent.
Previously, with limited exceptions, to evict a tenant for a lease violation for the nonpayment of rent, 14 days’ prior notice written notice was required. For Section 8 participants, notice was to be provided in accordance with state law, which in Pennsylvania, was 10 days.
Now, with the final rule’s implementation, in addition to providing the 30-day notice, landlords are restricted from providing tenants with a termination notice prior to the day after the rent is due as well as, not filing for eviction, if the tenant pays the alleged amount of rent owed within the 30-day notification period.
The final rule also imposes requirements as it relates to the content of the written notice. Written notification provided to tenants must include the dollar amount of the balance due on the rent, with its date of computation, instruction on how to the nonpayment of rent violation, how to recertify their income, apply for a hardship exemption, or request to switch from flat-rent to income-based rent, and any information required during a presidentially-declared national emergency.
Although the final rule became effective this month, PHAs have 18 months to revise and execute modifications to lease agreements, while PBRAs have 14 months from the date HUD published a multifamily program model lease. PHAs and owners are urged to actively address lease violations related to nonpayment of rent.
In support of this rule, HUD explains its purpose is to remove the variable patchwork of notice requirements across the states and to reduce, what it describes as, preventable evictions filed against HUD-assisted tenants. Further, according to HUD, this rule serves to give households a better chance to amicably resolve disputes involving nonpayment of rent with the housing provider.