California Landlord Compliance
Everything you're responsible for as a landlord in California
Rent control, just-cause eviction, deposits, entry, repairs and recordkeeping, written for people who own or manage a few units, checked against the official sources, and kept current when the rules move.
Jurisdiction
key details
Rent cap · Detail
Tenant Protection Act: max 5% + regional CPI or 10% (lower) per 12 months, max 2 increases/yr; exempts housing <15 yrs old, most single-family homes not owned by corporations/REITs, and rent-controlled units. Sunsets 2030-01-01.
Deposit cap · Detail
Max 1 month's rent (since 2024-07-01, AB 12). Natural-person/LLC owners with ≤2 rental properties totalling ≤4 units may take 2 months, except from service members.
Rent increase notice · Detail
Month-to-month: 30 days' written notice if the increase (with all increases in prior 12 months) is ≤10%; 90 days if >10%. Fixed-term rent can only change per the lease.
City rules · Detail
Costa-Hawkins allows local rent control but exempts units with certificate of occupancy after 1995-02-01 and single-family homes/condos, and requires vacancy decontrol. Ordinances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Berkeley.
Just cause · Detail
After 12 months' continuous lawful occupancy (24 if adults added), landlord may terminate only for stated at-fault or no-fault just cause; no-fault requires relocation assistance. Same exemptions as §1947.12 (new construction, some single-family).
Return deadline · Detail
Refund and itemized statement no later than 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates; landlord must photograph unit before/after (2025 amendments).
Nonpayment notice · Detail
3-day written notice to pay or quit, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays, before an unlawful detainer may be filed.
What are you trying to do?
Start from the task. Each route gathers the guides, checklists and forms that apply to it in California.
Essential local guides
If you're new to owning here, these five cover most of what will come up in your first year.
View All GuidesCalifornia Rental Screening Fee Rules 2025: No Screening Fee When No Unit Is Available
An applicant who pays a screening fee for a unit that was never really available, or who never hears back about whether they got the place, has been a recurring complaint in California rental markets. AB 2493, in force since January 1, 2025, targets exactly that gap by tying screening fees to actual unit availability and adding a hard deadline for refunds and credit report disclosure.
Guide
California Bundled Internet Law 2026: Tenants Can Opt Out of Landlord-Arranged Internet and Cellular Services
A tenant signing a new lease in California can no longer be required to pay for whatever internet, cellular, or satellite service the landlord has arranged for the building. Starting January 1, 2026, AB 1414 gives tenants in covered tenancies the right to decline that bundled subscription.
Guide
California Eviction Defense Law 2026: New "Social Security Hardship" Defense in Nonpayment Cases
A tenant who lives on Social Security and misses rent because a federal payment got delayed, not because they chose not to pay, now has a specific legal defense to raise in court. AB 246, the Social Security Tenant Protection Act of 2025, took effect January 1, 2026 and gives that tenant a way to pause an eviction rather than lose the case outright.
Guide
California Security Deposit Refunds 2026: Electronic Refund Required if Rent or Deposit Was Paid Electronically
A tenant who's paid rent through a bank app for two years and then gets their security deposit back as a mailed paper check has run into exactly the gap AB 414 was written to close. As of January 1, 2026, California landlords who received a deposit or rent electronically generally have to return what's left of that deposit the same way.
Guide
California Eviction Summons Service Law 2027: What AB 747 (the SPARE Act) Requires Starting January 1, 2027
A landlord who wins an eviction by default, because the tenant never showed up, is about to face a higher documentation bar for proving that tenant was actually served. AB 747, known as the Service of Process Accountability, Reform and Equity Act, is already signed into law in California. It just isn't operative yet.
Guide
Recent changes
Only substantive changes, not copy edits.
1 Jan 2026
Appliances become part of habitability for new and renewed leases
For covered leases entered into, renewed or modified from January 1, 2026, a dwelling generally must include a functioning refrigerator and stove.
1 Jul 2025
Security-deposit photo documentation phases in
Landlords must take specified photographs around the tenancy and deposit-deduction process under the phased AB 2801 rules.
1 Jan 2025
Tenant-screening fee rules tighten
AB 2493 adds screening-fee disclosure, ordering and refund requirements and restricts fees where no unit is available.
1 Jul 2024
Security deposits generally capped at one month
AB 12 generally limits residential security deposits to one month’s rent, subject to a narrow small-landlord exception.
1 Apr 2024
Just-cause and owner-move-in rules strengthen
SB 567 revised owner and family occupancy requirements, notice content and remedies under the Tenant Protection Act.
Full California collection
Filter by what you're doing or by the kind of resource you need.
| Resource | Type | Task | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
California Eviction Defense Law 2026: New "Social Security Hardship" Defense in Nonpayment Cases A tenant who lives on Social Security and misses rent because a federal payment got delayed, not because they chose not to pay, now has a specific legal defense to raise in court. AB 246, the Social Security Tenant Protection Act of 2025, took effect January 1, 2026 and gives that tenant a way to pause an eviction rather than lose the case outright. | Guides | End a tenancy | Sep 29, 2026 |
California Eviction Summons Service Law 2027: What AB 747 (the SPARE Act) Requires Starting January 1, 2027 A landlord who wins an eviction by default, because the tenant never showed up, is about to face a higher documentation bar for proving that tenant was actually served. AB 747, known as the Service of Process Accountability, Reform and Equity Act, is already signed into law in California. It just isn't operative yet. | Guides | End a tenancy | Sep 29, 2026 |
San Francisco No-fault Terminations and Relocation: Where Specialist Review Starts A landlord decides a unit needs to be vacant, a parent's moving in, the building needs seismic work, maybe it's time to sell empty, and three search results in, four different legal processes are staring back. Owner move-in, Ellis Act withdrawal, capital improvement work, and a negotiated buyout aren't four names for the same thing, they're four separate paths with different notice periods and payment obligations. This guide maps the structural differences between all four, clarifies that only two actually end a tenancy, and flags precisely where specialist legal review becomes necessary before a landlord commits to any of them. | Guides | End a tenancy | Sep 25, 2026 |
Late or unpaid rent in San Francisco: what should landlords do first? A landlord notices rent hasn't landed, drafts a 3-day notice that afternoon, and tacks on a $200 late fee because the lease technically allows one. Two mistakes are already built into that notice before it's served. This guide starts with reconciling the ledger and checking whether a late fee could actually survive a legal challenge under California's reasonable-estimate standard, then walks through the 3-day pay-or-quit notice and the unlawful detainer process that follows. It closes with a clear line under self-help: no lockouts, no utility shutoffs, no removing doors, regardless of how much is genuinely owed. | Guides | End a tenancy | Sep 25, 2026 |
Fixed-term Lease Ending in San Francisco: Renew, Continue or Seek Advice? A landlord calendars a lease's end date, plans not to renew, and assumes that settles it. In San Francisco, it doesn't. The city's Rent Ordinance requires one of sixteen specific, enumerated reasons to end almost any tenancy, and "the term is over" isn't one of them. This guide separates San Francisco's own just-cause protections, which apply from day one, from California's statewide Tenant Protection Act, which kicks in after twelve months and often doesn't even apply where the local ordinance already governs. It flags where owner move-in, Ellis Act withdrawal, and negotiated buyouts genuinely require specialist legal review rather than a standard notice. | Guides | End a tenancy | Sep 25, 2026 |
Cost to Evict a Tenant in California | Fees, Process, and Timelines Navigating California evictions? Learn about filing fees, attorney costs, and how to avoid the legal errors that can spike your total expenses. | Guides | End a tenancy | Mar 24, 2026 |
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What you read about
Rent increase dates and notice
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Obligation tracking with reminders
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Move-in and move-out photos
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Records kept per unit, per tenancy
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Repair requests and responses
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Maintenance log with timestamps
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Everything a hearing could ask for
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