How to Fill Out and Serve the CARES Act 30-Day Notice

If you’re a landlord of a federally connected rental property preparing to evict a tenant for unpaid rent, you must give a written CARES Act 30-day notice to vacate before filing in court. There is no official government form; you draft the notice yourself or adapt a template, deliver it in a way that creates proof of receipt, and wait a full 30 days before filing anything. The requirement lives in 15 U.S.C. § 9058(c), and most courts that have looked at it agree it still applies in 2026 even though the original CARES Act eviction moratorium expired years ago.¹

Some federal agencies have recently pulled back on their own enforcement. Fannie Mae retired its CARES Act compliance notice requirement effective October 8, 2025.² USDA published a final rule in February 2026 removing its 30-day notice requirement for Section 515 and 514 properties, and HUD issued an interim rule attempting the same for project-based rental assistance and public housing before legal challenges forced it into a proposed-rule posture. None of that erases the underlying statute. A tenant can still raise Section 9058(c) as a defense in court, and until Congress repeals it or courts uniformly say otherwise, the safe practice is to give the notice on any covered property.³

Confirm Your Property Is Covered

The statute reaches a “covered dwelling” on a “covered property.” A property qualifies through any one of three paths, and a single unit can qualify through more than one at the same time.¹

The property participates in a covered federal housing program defined in 34 U.S.C. § 12491(a). That list includes Section 8 project-based and tenant-based vouchers, public housing, LIHTC, HOME, HOPWA, McKinney-Vento programs, HUD Section 202 and 811, the Housing Trust Fund, several VA supportive housing programs, and USDA rural housing programs, plus a catch-all for other federal affordable-housing programs.⁴
The property has one to four units and a mortgage insured, guaranteed, or assisted by a federal agency, or owned or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. FHA, VA, and USDA-backed loans all qualify.
The property has five or more units and carries the same kind of federal backing or GSE ownership.

Individual tenants do not need to receive a direct subsidy. If the property itself qualifies, every rental unit on it is a covered dwelling.

If you’re unsure, a few free tools can help. Fannie Mae’s Loan Lookup checks whether Fannie Mae owns the mortgage; you’ll need the borrower’s name, the property address, and the last four digits of the SSN, and the tool notes results may not be complete.⁵ Freddie Mac has an equivalent tool, and address precision matters — abbreviations or extra words in the street field can throw off results.⁶ HUD’s LIHTC database at huduser.gov is searchable by state, city, county, or placed-in-service year.⁷ Your original loan documents or a call to the mortgage servicer will confirm FHA, VA, or USDA backing. When in doubt, treat the property as covered. In court, the landlord carries the burden of showing the property is not.

What to Put in the Notice

Because no federal form exists, you’re building the notice yourself. The elements below are what courts have looked for when deciding whether a notice is sufficient.

Full legal names of every adult tenant on the lease.
The property address exactly as it appears on the lease, including any unit or apartment number.
A clear statement that the notice is for nonpayment of rent, with the total amount owed and the period it covers.
The vacate date, which must be at least 30 days after the date you deliver the notice.¹
A reference to the CARES Act. At least one court has held that the notice must “unequivocally inform” the tenant they have 30 days from the notice date to cure or vacate “pursuant to the CARES Act.” Citing 15 U.S.C. § 9058 or Section 4024 of the CARES Act protects the notice against a challenge.
Payment instructions telling the tenant how and where to pay if they want to cure the default: a mailing address, an online portal, or a physical office.
The landlord’s or property manager’s name, address, and phone number.

Sign and date the notice. If a property manager or agent signs on the owner’s behalf, include their title and the entity they represent. Add a certificate of service at the bottom: a short statement identifying who delivered the notice, when, and how. That certificate becomes your evidence if the tenant later argues they never received it.

Serving the Notice

The federal statute doesn’t dictate a delivery method, so state law fills the gap. Whatever your state allows, pick a method that produces a verifiable record.

Certified mail with return receipt requested. The signed green card documents both delivery and its date.
Personal service by a process server or sheriff’s deputy. The server signs a proof of service affidavit recording the date, time, and location. Sheriff service fees run roughly $40 to $140 depending on jurisdiction.
Hand delivery by the landlord where state law permits it. Bring a witness, and have both of you sign a written statement of delivery.

Some states allow email or other electronic delivery when the lease specifically authorizes it, and even then you must retain an electronic receipt or confirmation. Rules vary widely, so confirm your state’s before relying on email alone.

Keep the original signed notice, any return receipts, and any proof-of-service affidavits together in your file. The judge will look at these before letting the eviction proceed, and if you can’t prove proper service, the case can be dismissed on that basis alone.

Counting the 30 Days

The statute says a landlord “may not require the tenant to vacate the covered dwelling unit before the date that is 30 days after the date on which the lessor provides the tenant with a notice to vacate.”¹ Day one is the day you actually deliver the notice, or the day the tenant signs for certified mail. The tenant then has at least 30 days from that date.

Serve on June 1 and the earliest you can require the tenant to vacate is July 1. You cannot file an eviction lawsuit until the full 30-day period has run. Filing one day early can get the case dismissed, and you’d have to re-serve and start counting again.

The statute is silent on what happens when day 30 lands on a weekend or holiday. Some state procedural rules push deadlines to the next business day, but that is state law, not the CARES Act itself. Check your local court rules, and if you’re close to the line, add a day or two of cushion before filing.

When the 30-Day Notice Does Not Apply

The requirement is tied to nonpayment of rent. Courts have generally held that it doesn’t apply to evictions based on other lease violations, like property damage, unauthorized occupants, or illegal activity.³ The statute has no explicit safety-threat carve-out, but because the notice provision references subsection (b), which deals only with nonpayment, most courts read the notice requirement as limited to that context.

If your property doesn’t participate in any federal housing program and doesn’t carry a federally backed mortgage, the CARES Act notice provision doesn’t apply at all, and standard state notice periods (often three, five, or fourteen days) govern instead.

What Happens If You Skip It or Get It Wrong

The CARES Act doesn’t set a specific fine. The consequence is procedural: the court throws out the eviction. The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed an eviction because the landlord hadn’t given the required notice.⁸ Ohio appellate courts have held that the statute “mandates” the 30-day notice before an eviction can be filed. A Washington court found a notice that failed to clearly inform the tenant of the 30-day CARES Act right “deficient as a matter of law.”

Dismissal means starting over: draft a proper notice, serve it again, wait the full 30 days, and refile. When you’re already carrying months of unpaid rent, that lost time is expensive. Getting the notice right the first time is the single biggest thing you can do to keep the case on track.

For HUD-assisted properties, the risk goes beyond dismissal. HUD retains authority to impose administrative sanctions on owners and agents who violate program requirements, which can include penalties and removal of the management agent from the property.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 9058 – Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings
2
Fannie Mae. Retirement of Supplement 21-08: CARES Act Compliance with Law Notice
3
EveryCRSReport.com. CARES Act Eviction Notice Requirements: Background and Recent Developments
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 12491 – Housing Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking
5
Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Loan Lookup Tool
6
Freddie Mac. Loan Look-Up Tool
7
HUD User. LIHTC Database Access
8
Justia Law. Arvada Village Gardens v. Garate