Idaho Eviction Process: Notice Periods, Timeline, and Costs

Idaho Code § 6-303(2) requires a written 3-day notice demanding payment of the rent due or possession of the premises, counted in calendar days. The notice must be in writing and state the amount owed. Service follows Idaho Code § 6-304: personal delivery to the tenant; or, if the tenant is absent from both residence and place of business, leaving a copy with a person of suitable age at either place plus mailing a copy; or, only as a last resort, posting conspicuously plus delivery to a resident plus mailing.

Idaho Code § 6-303(3) gives the tenant 3 days to cure a breach of a material lease term or vacate, served the same way as a nonpayment notice. Idaho also provides a faster route for controlled-substance activity on the premises under § 6-303, where the tenant is not given an opportunity to cure. Waste and other conduct listed in § 6-303 likewise support an unconditional 3-day notice.

Idaho Code § 55-208 lets either party end a month-to-month tenancy with written notice of not less than one month, served in the manner prescribed by the code of civil procedure. A separate and often-missed rule, Idaho Code § 55-304(2), requires 30 days' written notice to a residential tenant of any rent increase or of the landlord's intention not to renew the lease — so ending a fixed-term residential lease by nonrenewal takes its own 30-day notice. Idaho has no just-cause eviction requirement, and Idaho Code § 55-306 bars local governments from regulating rent, fees, or deposits.

Unlawful detainer actions are filed in the magistrate division of the district court in the county where the property sits. Filing fees vary by county and run in the neighborhood of $166 in Ada County, with sheriff service and writ of restitution fees charged separately.

Idaho does not give the tenant a fixed answer window. Under Idaho Code § 6-310 the court sets trial within 12 days of the complaint being filed, and the summons, complaint, and notice of trial setting must be served on the tenant not less than 5 days before the trial date.

Idaho is one of the faster states: 3-day notice, a day or two to file, trial within 12 days of filing, then a writ of restitution and sheriff enforcement. Realistically about three to five weeks uncontested. Bad service of the 3-day notice is the most common thing that resets the whole clock, along with a contested trial or a continuance.

Idaho landlords may not lock a tenant out, remove belongings, or shut off utilities to force a move-out; the only lawful route is an unlawful detainer action ending in a writ of restitution executed by the sheriff. A tenant who is forcibly or unlawfully shut out can sue, and under Idaho Code § 6-317 a court may enter judgment for three times the actual damages assessed. Be careful with the widely repeated claim that Idaho Code § 6-320 provides a flat award of three months' rent for a lockout — § 6-320 covers habitability, essential-services maintenance, and security deposit failures, and § 6-317 trebles actual damages rather than fixing a rent multiple.

Idaho Code § 6-310A, added by H.B. 321 (2025, ch. 222) effective July 1, 2025 and amended in 2026 (ch. 82), created a non-judicial route for removing unauthorized occupants: the owner submits a verified complaint to the county sheriff, who serves a notice to immediately vacate without any court case. It is deliberately walled off from landlord-tenant disputes — § 6-310A(2)(f) requires that the occupants are not current or former tenants under any written or oral rental agreement, and a person wrongly removed may recover actual damages plus statutory damages equal to triple the fair market rent, costs, and attorney's fees. Separately, 2025 ch. 65 renumbered the rent-increase and nonrenewal notice statute from § 55-307 to § 55-304 and added § 55-306, which preempts local rent regulation. The 3-day notice in § 6-303 and the one-month notice in § 55-208 were not changed.

Improper service of the 3-day notice is the single most common reason Idaho eviction cases get dismissed. Idaho Code § 6-304 sets a hierarchy: personal service first, substituted service plus mailing second, and posting plus mailing only when the earlier methods fail. Posting on the door as a first choice is not good service, and a judge will send you back to the start. Watch your citations on notice periods: the rent-increase and nonrenewal statute was renumbered from § 55-307 to § 55-304 in 2025, and § 55-307 now covers removal of fixtures, so any source citing § 55-307 for a rent increase is citing the wrong statute. Within § 55-304, the 15-day figure applies to month-to-month leases generally while residential property takes 30 days under subsection (2). Finally, Idaho's twelve-day trial setting means your ledger, lease, and proof of service should be organized before you file, because there is very little runway afterward.

• Idaho Code § 6-303
• Idaho Code § 6-310
• Idaho Code § 55-208