There is a guest in site 17 you need to remove tonight. They have been yelling at neighbors, the dog is loose, and one of your staff is afraid to walk by. Whatever you do in the next 60 minutes either resolves the situation or turns it into a six-month legal headache. Most park owners I talk to have never seen the right letters, so they improvise. The improvisation is what gets sued.
The single most important thing to understand before you write anything is whether you are dealing with a guest or a resident. Those two words look the same in everyday English. In a courtroom, they mean very different rules, very different timelines, and very different letters.
Guest vs. resident: the line that decides which letter you send
A short-stay camper has a license to be on your property. That license is revocable. You can end it. The notice can be short. If they refuse to leave, it becomes criminal trespass, which is a police matter, not a court matter.
A long-term resident has crossed into tenancy. In most states, that happens around the 28-to-30-day mark on a single continuous stay, or when you start billing by the month. Once tenancy attaches, the rules change. You owe a state-specified notice period (often 3, 7, 14, or 30 days). If they refuse to leave, you file with the local court, not the police. Self-help removals (locking the gate, cutting their power, towing their RV) become illegal even if the resident is in the wrong.
The common failure point we observe is parks reaching for a tenancy notice on a 4-day camper, or worse, reaching for a trespass warning on a resident who has been on site for two months. Both errors restart the clock.
Document everything before you write anything
The eviction letter is not where you make your case. The documentation log you started weeks ago is where you make your case. A clean log of warnings, witnesses, dates, times, and photos is the single strongest predictor of whether the eviction sticks.
Verbal warnings are worth zero in front of a judge. Three documented written warnings are worth the next eviction. Five are worth the one after that. Build the habit, train staff to log incidents in the same place every time, and keep the log somewhere a lawyer can reach in five minutes.
Letter A vs. Letter B: pick the right one
| The situation | Letter A: Trespass & Notice to Quit | Letter B: Notice to Vacate |
|---|---|---|
| Use when | Guest is under 30 days on site, no monthly billing. | Resident has been on site 30+ days or is on monthly billing. |
| Legal premise | License to be on the property is revoked. | Tenancy is being terminated under state law. |
| Notice period | Immediate or by a stated time the same day. | State-controlled. Often 3, 7, 14, or 30 days. |
| Enforcement | Call local police. Trespass after warning is criminal. | File for formal eviction in local court. Sheriff serves. |
| Refund | Refund prepaid unused nights within 14 days, less rule-violation charges. | Apply unpaid balance to deposit. Refund the difference if any. |
Field note: Do not lock the gate behind the RV, cut their power, tow the vehicle, or put their belongings on the curb. These are called self-help removals and they are illegal in most states even when the resident is wildly in the wrong. Every park owner I know who tried any of the four lost a case they would have otherwise won.
Free template: eviction and trespass letter pack (PDF)
The pack below contains both letters (short-stay and long-term), plus a pre-notice documentation log to fill in before you send anything. Two pages of letters, one page of log, signature lines on each. View it inline, or download and adapt the blanks before showing it to your attorney.
Five mistakes that turn an eviction into a lawsuit
- Self-help removal. Any of: locking the gate, cutting power, towing the RV, putting belongings on the curb. Illegal in most states. Almost always backfires.
- Sending the wrong letter. A 30-day resident served with a 24-hour trespass warning gets the eviction thrown out and a free month while you start over.
- No written warnings on file. Verbal warnings are not warnings. They are conversations. Conversations do not survive a judge.
- Refusing to refund prepaid nights. The unused portion of a paid stay is the camper's money. Keeping it makes your case look retaliatory, which is the one thing that flips a judge from neutral to hostile.
- Posting the removal on social media. Defamation is the cheapest lawsuit your attorney will ever defend. Do not do this. Not even from your personal account.
Legal disclaimer
This article and the linked template are provided by Campground Management as an editable starting point. Neither is legal advice. Eviction and tenancy law varies by state and by your park's operating structure. Have a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction review the template and your park rules before using either with a guest or resident.
About the author
Sean Hakes is the founder of Campground Management. He has spent the last decade working with independent parks on operations, software, and the difficult-conversation moments that come with running one. Send him a note if you want a hand adapting the template for your state.
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