How Much Notice Must a Landlord Give to Raise Rent?

Most states require 30 days in writing and the range runs 7 to 90. In 41 of them that number comes from the statute for ending your tenancy, not raising rent.

Last updated:

In most states a landlord has to give you 30 days’ written notice before raising your rent, and cannot raise it at all in the middle of a fixed-term lease. The range runs from 7 days to 90. Three states and the District of Columbia also cap how much it can go up; the other 47 do not.

That is the answer most pages give, and it is incomplete in a way that costs tenants money. Only nine of the 51 jurisdictions have a statute written about rent increases. In 41 the number is borrowed from the statute for ending a tenancy, because rent cannot be changed inside a term at all — so the letter in your hand is your landlord ending your tenancy and offering a new one, not instructing you to pay more. You can say no. Wyoming alone has neither, so there the lease is the whole answer. The table marks which kind of state you are in.

Rent increase notice, all 50 states and DC

Verified November 2026. The badge says where the number actually comes from — a statute written about rent increases, or the statute for ending a tenancy doing the job instead. Rows without a green badge were classified from a dated industry chart and the notice period from agreement between secondary guides; check the statute before relying on one.
State Notice before an increase Where the number comes from Cap on the amount
Alabama 30 days termination statute
Ala. Code § 35-9A-441		 none
Alaska 30 days termination statute
Alaska Stat. § 34.03.290(b)		 none
Arizona 30 days prior to the periodic rental date for a month-to-month tenancy; 10 days week-to-week termination statute
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1375(B)		 none
Arkansas 30 days termination statute
Ark. Code § 18-17-704		 none
California 30 days for an increase of 10% or less; 90 days for an increase above 10% rent increase statute
Cal. Civ. Code § 827(b)		 yes — 5% plus regional CPI, or 10%, whichever is LOWER, of the lowest gross rent charged in the preceding 12 months
Colorado 60 days, but only where there is no written rental agreement rent increase statute
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-701 (HB21-1121, 2021)		 none
Connecticut 30 days termination statute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23		 none
Delaware 60 days termination statute
Del. Code tit. 25 § 5107		 none
District of Columbia 60 calendar days, counted to the first day rent is normally paid after they expire rent increase statute
D.C. Code § 42-3502.08		 yes — CPI-W plus 2%, with a statutory ceiling of 10%. For the rent control year 1 May 2026 - 30 Apr 2027 the standar
Florida 30 days before the end of a monthly period; 60 days for a year-to-year tenancy; 30 days quarter-to-quarter; 7 days week-to-week termination statute
Fla. Stat. § 83.57(3)		 none
Georgia 60 days termination statute
Ga. Code § 44-7-7		 none
Hawaii 45 days termination statute
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-21(d)		 none
Idaho 30 days termination statute
Idaho Code § 55-208		 none
Illinois 30 days for a tenancy of less than a year other than week-to-week, which covers month-to-month; 7 days week-to-week; 60 days for a year-to-year tenancy, under a different section termination statute
735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-207(b)		 none
Indiana 30 days termination statute
Ind. Code § 32-31-1-1		 none
Iowa 30 days termination statute
Iowa Code § 562A.13(5)		 none
Kansas 30 days termination statute
Kan. Stat. § 58-2570		 none
Kentucky 30 days termination statute
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 383.695		 none
Louisiana 10 days termination statute
La. Civ. Code art. 2728		 none
Maine 45 days rent increase statute
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14 § 6015		 none statewide; local caps
Maryland 90 days for a lease longer than one month; 60 days for month-to-month; 7 days with a written lease or 21 days without for weekly or shorter tenancies rent increase statute
Md. Code Real Prop. § 8-209		 none statewide; county programmes
Massachusetts three months, unless rent is payable more often than every three months, in which case the longer of the interval between rent days or 30 days — so 30 days on a monthly tenancy termination statute
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 § 12		 none
Michigan one month; where rent is payable at intervals shorter than three months, notice equal to that interval termination statute
Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.134(1)		 none
Minnesota the interval between the days rent is due, or three months, whichever is LESS — so one month on a monthly tenancy termination statute
Minn. Stat. § 504B.135		 none statewide; local caps
Mississippi 30 days termination statute
Miss. Code § 89-8-19		 none
Missouri 30 days termination statute
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.060		 none
Montana 30 days termination statute
Mont. Code § 70-24-441		 none
Nebraska 30 days termination statute
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1437(3)		 none
Nevada 60 days; 30 days for a periodic tenancy of less than one month rent increase statute
Nev. Rev. Stat. § 118A.300 (as amended by AB 308, 2021, § 7)		 none
New Hampshire 30 days termination statute
N.H. Rev. Stat. § 540:2		 none
New Jersey one full month’s written notice to quit, timed to the rental period termination statute
N.J. Stat. § 2A:18-61.2 (notice) with N.J. Stat. § 2A:18-61.1 (grounds)		 none statewide; local caps
New Mexico 30 days termination statute
N.M. Stat. § 47-8-37(B)		 none
New York 30 days if the tenant has occupied under 1 year and has no lease term of at least 1 year; 60 days for more than 1 but less than 2 years, or a lease term of 1 to 2 years; 90 days for more than 2 years, or a lease term of at least 2 years rent increase statute
N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-c (Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019)		 none statewide; local caps
North Carolina 7 days termination statute
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14		 none
North Dakota 30 days termination statute
N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-15		 none
Ohio 30 days termination statute
Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.17		 none
Oklahoma 30 days termination statute
Okla. Stat. tit. 41 § 111		 none
Oregon 90 days for any tenancy other than week-to-week; 7 days for week-to-week rent increase statute
Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.323 (as amended by SB 608, 2019)		 yes — 7% plus CPI (West Region, All Items), capped at 10%
Pennsylvania 15 days for a tenancy of one year or less; 30 days for longer, as a notice to terminate termination statute
68 Pa. Stat. § 250.501(b); no rent-increase notice statute exists		 none
Rhode Island 30 days, 60 days if the tenant is 62 or older termination statute
R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-16.1		 none
South Carolina 30 days termination statute
S.C. Code § 27-40-770		 none
South Dakota 30 days termination statute
S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-13		 none
Tennessee 30 days termination statute
Tenn. Code § 66-28-512		 none
Texas no rent-increase notice duty. The only route is termination under Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001, which takes one month termination statute
Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001 (termination of a monthly tenancy); no rent-increase notice statute exists		 none
Utah 30 days termination statute
Utah Code § 78B-6-802		 none
Vermont 60 days termination statute
Vt. Stat. tit. 9 § 4455		 none
Virginia 30 days termination statute
Va. Code § 55.1-1253(A)		 none
Washington 90 days; 30 days where the tenant’s share of rent is set by income or household composition (subsidised tenancies) rent increase statute
Rev. Code Wash. § 59.18.140 (as amended by HB 1217, 2025)		 yes — 7% plus CPI, or 10%, whichever is LESS, in any 12 months
West Virginia one rental period termination statute
W. Va. Code § 37-6-5		 none
Wisconsin 28 days termination statute
Wis. Stat. § 704.19		 none
Wyoming none — no statute sets a period for a rent increase, and none sets one for ending a periodic tenancy either. The lease governs no statute
no statute; Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1003 is a pre-suit eviction notice, not a termination notice		 none

Where the number comes from, and why it matters

Every guide in this field publishes a state, a number of days, sometimes a statute. None says where the number came from. In 41 states it came from the provision for ending a month-to-month tenancy, and that has three consequences a bare number hides.

The notice is an offer, not an instruction. A landlord cannot change a term of a running tenancy by announcing it; to charge more they must end the tenancy and offer a different one. Neither agreeing nor moving out leaves you holding over — which may expose you to an eviction case, but does not make you someone who owes the higher figure by default. In a dispute that distinction is the argument.

The notice has to work as a termination. Defects that would be trivial in a letter about rent are fatal in a notice to quit: served the wrong way, dated mid-period, unsigned, short by a day. States enforce those formalities strictly, because the same notice is what a court relies on to put someone out of their home.

It explains the numbers that look arbitrary. North Carolina says 7 days, Wisconsin 28. Neither is a judgement about rent — they are those states’ termination periods, inherited.

In the nine jurisdictions with a purpose-built statute — California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia — the notice is genuinely about rent, and several carry conditions the termination states do not: a tier keyed to how long you have lived there, a limit on how often the rent can move, or a cap on the increase itself.

The four places that cap the amount, and the two that limit how often

A notice period tells you when, not how much. Only California, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia cap the size of an increase on an ordinary private tenancy, and each does it differently.

  • California caps increases at 5% plus regional inflation or 10%, whichever is lower, measured against the lowest rent charged in the previous 12 months, and allows two increases a year at most. It expires 1 January 2030.
  • Oregon caps at 7% plus inflation up to 10%, allows one increase a year and none in the first year — but exempts buildings under 15 years old entirely, so a new building has no maximum.
  • Washington, newest of them, signed May 2025: 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is less, nothing in the first 12 months, and new construction exempt for 12 years.
  • The District of Columbia sets a figure annually for registered rent-controlled units: 4.1% from 1 May 2026, or 2.1% for tenants registered as elderly or disabled. Registering is what unlocks the lower cap; without it an eligible tenant gets the standard one.
  • Colorado caps nothing but allows one increase per 12 months, for every kind of tenancy — weaker than a percentage, stronger than most states manage.

Everywhere else a landlord may ask any figure once the notice period has run. Some states that cap nothing still forbid an increase aimed at you: Texas, which has no notice duty and no cap, bars a retaliatory increase for six months after you assert a legal right, and in New Jersey an unconscionable increase is a defence even where there is no rent control.

What your lease changes, and what it cannot

While a fixed-term lease is running, the rent is the rent, and raising it mid-term needs a clause that plainly says so. What a lease more often promises is a longer notice period than the state requires, or a figure at renewal — both of which bind the landlord, not you. It cannot shorten the statutory period or waive a cap, and in Colorado it cannot end your tenancy to sidestep the notice duty either.

Cities frequently beat the state. Seattle requires 180 days where Washington requires 90. Chicago’s ordinance runs longer than the Illinois default. Around a hundred New Jersey municipalities cap rent while the state does not. In a named city the row above is your floor, not your answer.

If the notice looks wrong

Check three things. Count the days from when you received the notice, not from the date on the letter. Check the period: an increase usually has to start at the beginning of a rental period, so a notice raising rent on the 14th is often defective. Check how it reached you — states that borrow the termination statute borrow its service rules too.

A short or misdated notice usually does not void the increase forever — it delays it until a valid period has run. New York says so expressly: the tenancy continues on existing terms until the full period has passed. Which defects actually count is worth checking before you reply, and before deciding what to ask for.

When this needs a lawyer

Get advice if you were served a termination rather than an increase, if the increase follows a complaint or repair request, if you are in a rent-stabilised unit and the figure exceeds the published cap, or if you are being asked to sign a new lease to accept it. Legal aid and tenant unions handle all four routinely, usually free.

Sources

Notice periods come from each jurisdiction’s rent-increase statute where one exists, and from its tenancy-termination provision where one does not. Preemption and rent-control status follow the National Multifamily Housing Council’s state chart of August 2026. Annual percentages come from the bodies that publish them: the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, the DC Rental Housing Commission, and Montgomery County, Maryland. Verified November 2026. Rules move — Washington’s cap arrived in May 2025, and Nevada’s notice period changed in 2021 while statute mirrors still serve the old text. Check the statute before relying on any summary, including this one.

Not sure what your lease says about increases?

Upload it and we will read the rent, renewal and notice clauses and tell you what they commit you to, in plain English. No account needed, and the preview is free.

Read my lease

Frequently Asked Questions

In most states, 30 days in writing. The full range is 7 days in North Carolina to 90 days in Oregon and Washington, and some states tier it: New York requires 30, 60 or 90 days depending on how long you have lived there. Maryland requires 90 days on a lease longer than a month and 60 on a month-to-month. Texas obliges a landlord to give no advance notice of an increase at all. Cities often require more than the state does, and Seattle requires 180 days.

Not while a fixed term is running, unless the lease itself contains a clause that plainly says they can. Rent is a term of the agreement, and a landlord cannot change one by announcing it. That is why a mid-tenancy increase on a month-to-month arrangement is legally a termination: in 41 states the landlord has to end the tenancy and offer you a new one on different terms. You can decline. Declining does not oblige you to pay the higher figure.

In most places, no. Only California, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia cap the size of an increase on an ordinary private tenancy. California allows 5% plus regional inflation or 10%, whichever is lower; Oregon and Washington allow roughly 7% plus inflation up to 10%; DC publishes a figure each year, 4.1% from May 2026. Everywhere else a landlord may ask any amount once the notice period has run, though a city ordinance may still cap it.

Usually the increase is delayed rather than cancelled. It takes effect once a full valid notice period has run from the date you actually received it. New York states this expressly: the tenancy continues on the existing terms until the required period has passed. Because 41 states borrow their notice rules from the tenancy-termination statute, a notice that is misdated, served the wrong way or unsigned can fail on formalities that a letter about rent would survive.

In most states yes, as long as each increase gets its own notice period. Three places restrict it. Colorado allows one increase per 12 months on every kind of tenancy, and also forbids ending a tenancy to get around the notice duty. Oregon allows one per 12 months and none at all during the first year. California permits two increases in a year, but the two together cannot exceed its annual cap.