Free California 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit

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The 3-day notice to pay rent or quit is the notice a California landlord must serve before filing an unlawful detainer for nonpayment of rent. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2) gives the tenant 3 days, excluding weekends and judicial holidays, to pay in full or vacate. Following Eshagian v. Cepeda (June 2025) the notice must state the start date, end date, the holiday exclusion, and the consequences. Generate a compliant notice below.

3-Day Notice Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2) Eshagian-Compliant Free PDF

A California 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the statutorily-required written notice a landlord must serve before filing an unlawful detainer (eviction) for nonpayment of rent. It is governed by Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2), with service rules at § 1162 and the 5-day mail extension at § 1013. The June 2025 Court of Appeal decision in Eshagian v. Cepeda tightened the notice-content requirements: a compliant notice must state when the 3-day period begins, when it ends, that weekends and judicial holidays are excluded, and the consequences of nonpayment. The form below produces an Eshagian-compliant notice; our California eviction notice laws guide covers the full process, and the tenant screening laws by state hub helps you place reliable tenants in the first place.

The 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the statutorily-required written notice a California landlord must serve on a tenant who has failed to pay rent when due. It is the procedural prerequisite to filing an unlawful detainer (UD) action under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2). Without a properly-drafted, properly-served 3-day notice, no California court will entertain an eviction lawsuit for nonpayment of rent.

The notice does three things in one document. First, it demands the past-due rent. The amount must be precise to the cent. Late fees, utilities, repair charges, and other non-rent items cannot be included in the demand. A notice that overstates the amount owed – even by a small amount – is a defect that can void the entire unlawful detainer.

Second, it gives the tenant a 3-day cure period. The tenant has 3 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays) to either pay the full amount demanded or vacate the property. Mail service adds 5 days under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1013. The notice is the statutory cure opportunity; if the tenant pays in full within the period, the default is cured and the tenancy continues unless the lease provides otherwise.

Third, it provides the Eshagian-required statements. Following the June 2025 California Court of Appeal decision in Eshagian v. Cepeda, the notice must explicitly state when the 3-day period begins, when it ends, that weekends and judicial holidays are excluded from the count, and the consequences of nonpayment – loss of possession and filing of an unlawful detainer. A notice missing any of these elements may be deemed defective. The form on this page handles all four statements and the demand mechanics correctly.

The 3-day pay-or-quit notice is governed by a layered statutory framework. The core statute is Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2), which authorizes a landlord to terminate a tenancy for nonpayment of rent through service of a 3-day notice demanding payment or possession.

Service rules are at Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1162, which authorizes three statutory methods: personal delivery to the tenant, substituted service on a person of suitable age at the rental with a copy mailed, or post-and-mail (posting in a conspicuous place at the rental and mailing a copy). Email, text message, and social media are not statutory service methods.

The mail extension at Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1013 adds 5 days to any notice served by mail. A 3-day notice mailed to a California tenant effectively gives the tenant 8 calendar days (3 plus 5), with the weekend and holiday exclusion still applied to the 3-day portion.

Notice of default in lieu of forfeiture at Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161.1 governs the precise demand language and clarifies that the demand must be for past-due rent only. The just-cause overlay at Civil Code § 1946.2 (AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019) applies to most California rentals after the first 12 months of tenancy and requires just cause for any termination. Nonpayment of rent qualifies as just cause, but AB 1482 covered notices must include a specific just-cause notice provision.

Local rent control ordinances may layer additional requirements. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, and Santa Monica all have local rent boards with their own notice requirements, just-cause categories, and procedural overlays. Verify with the local rent board before relying solely on state law. One operational rule binds all of this together: the notice must precisely match the statute. Defects that might be excused in other contexts – minor mistakes in dates, slight overstatements in amounts, ambiguous service method – void the notice and restart the clock.

Eshagian v. Cepeda (Case No. B340941, Cal. Ct. App. June 2025) sent a clear message to the California landlord community: a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit must contain four explicit statements, and a notice missing any of them may be deemed defective.

The case background. The landlord served a 3-day notice demanding past-due rent. On its face the notice looked like a standard form – the amount was stated, the parties were identified, the property was identified. But the notice did not expressly state when the 3-day period started, when it ended, that weekends and judicial holidays were excluded from the count, or what would happen if the tenant did not pay. The Court of Appeal held that this lack of clarity rendered the notice defective: an ordinary tenant could not read the notice and know exactly what the deadline was.

The four Eshagian elements. A compliant California 3-day notice must expressly state:

1. The date the 3-day period begins. This is the day after service for personal service, or the date determined by the mail-extension rule for mailed notices.
2. The date the 3-day period ends. This is the date by which the tenant must have paid in full or vacated. Computing it requires excluding weekends and judicial holidays from the count.
3. That weekends and judicial holidays are excluded from the 3-day count. The tenant must be expressly told that the 3 days are business days, not calendar days.
4. The consequences of nonpayment. The notice must state that failure to pay or vacate by the deadline will result in loss of possession and the filing of an unlawful detainer action.

What this means in practice. Pre-Eshagian boilerplate notices that say “you have 3 days to pay or quit” without computing the actual dates and stating the holiday exclusion are now defective. Every California 3-day notice should be drafted as of the date of service with the actual dates computed and the exclusion language included. The form on this page does this automatically – enter the date of service, and the form computes the start date, end date, and includes the required Eshagian statements. Any pending or recently-served notice that does not contain the four required statements should be reissued; the cost of reserving is minor compared to a dismissed unlawful detainer.

The 3-day period under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2) is computed in business days, not calendar days. Saturdays, Sundays, and California judicial holidays are excluded from the count, and the period starts the day after service.

California judicial holidays for 2026 (per California Rules of Court, rule 1.10) include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Presidents’ Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. When a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the observation date determines the exclusion.

Worked example. A 3-day notice served by personal delivery on a Tuesday of a normal week (no holiday) starts the 3-day period on Wednesday and ends on Friday. The tenant must pay or vacate by end of Friday.

Worked example with weekend. A 3-day notice served by personal delivery on a Friday starts the 3-day period on Monday (Saturday and Sunday excluded) and ends on Wednesday. The tenant must pay or vacate by end of Wednesday.

Worked example with mail service. A 3-day notice served by mail adds 5 days under CCP § 1013. The notice is deemed served 5 days later, and the 3-day period then runs from the next day, excluding any weekends and holidays in between. Many California landlord-tenant attorneys recommend giving a few extra days of cushion beyond the statutory minimum – a 5-day notice served personally with the deadline computed correctly is enforceable as a 3-day notice (the extra days work in the tenant’s favor and create no procedural defect). The cushion also protects against any miscount or holiday-list error, which is the single most common reason a correctly-drafted notice is later thrown out.

Why the holiday list matters. When a California judicial holiday falls on a weekend, the observed date – typically the adjacent Friday or Monday – is the day excluded from the count, not the calendar date. A notice that counts an observed holiday as a business day is short, and a notice that excludes a non-holiday is merely conservative. Because the list shifts year to year, the generator on this page carries the 2026 and 2027 California court holidays so the computed start and end dates always reflect the current calendar. If you serve near a holiday cluster – the Thanksgiving Thursday-Friday pair, or the New Year window – recount by hand against the rule 1.10 list before you file.

Complete the form below to generate an Eshagian-compliant California 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. The form computes the start date, end date, and includes the required holiday-exclusion and consequences language. Serve in accordance with CCP § 1162. If served by mail, the 5-day extension under CCP § 1013 applies.

Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1162 authorizes three methods of service for a 3-day pay-or-quit notice. Email, text message, social media, and verbal notification are not statutory methods and do not satisfy the rule.

Proof of service

A Proof of Service of Notice must be completed by the person who served the notice (not the landlord, if the landlord did not personally serve). The proof states the date, time, location, method, and recipient (or substituted recipient) of service. The original signed proof is filed with the unlawful detainer complaint as an exhibit. Form POS-040 or any equivalent California-compliant form is acceptable.

Documentation retention

Retain the signed original notice, the proof of service, and any photographs of posting for at least four years – the California civil statute of limitations. If the unlawful detainer is filed, the notice and proof become court exhibits. If the tenant pays before the deadline, the documentation supports the cure record.

The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482), codified at Civil Code § 1946.2, requires just cause for any termination of a covered residential tenancy after the first 12 months. Nonpayment of rent qualifies as just cause, so the 3-day pay-or-quit notice remains the operative procedural mechanism for nonpayment-based terminations even in covered tenancies.

Coverage scope. AB 1482 applies to most California residential rentals, with key exemptions:

• Single-family homes and condos owned by an individual (not a corporation, REIT, or LLC with a corporate member), provided the lease contains a specific exemption notice.
• New construction certified for occupancy within the last 15 years (rolling cutoff).
• Owner-occupied duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes.
• Deed-restricted affordable housing and certain government-subsidized housing.
• Hotels, motels, dormitories, and short-term rentals (under 30 days).

Just-cause categories. AB 1482 distinguishes at-fault just causes (nonpayment, lease violation, criminal activity, refusal to renew with reasonable terms) from no-fault just causes (owner move-in, withdrawal from rental market, government order, substantial rehabilitation). Nonpayment is at-fault.

Notice content for covered units. A 3-day pay-or-quit for a covered tenancy must include the AB 1482 just-cause notice provision – specific language identifying the just-cause basis (here, nonpayment of rent under Civ Code § 1946.2(b)(1)(A)) and informing the tenant of any rights under the law. The form on this page includes this provision when the AB 1482 status field is set to covered. For an exempt unit relying on the single-family exemption, the lease itself should already contain the AB 1482 exemption notice; absence of that notice may strip the exemption. Cities with local rent control layer additional just-cause categories on top of AB 1482, so always verify with the local rent board for covered units.

• Overstating the amount demanded. Including late fees, utilities, or repair charges in the demand voids the notice. The demand must be for past-due rent only, precise to the cent.
• Missing the Eshagian elements. Post-June-2025, the notice must state the start date, end date, weekend/holiday exclusion, and consequences. Boilerplate “you have 3 days to pay or quit” language may be deemed defective.
• Miscounting the 3-day period. The 3 days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays. Treating them as calendar days produces a defective notice.
• Forgetting the mail-service extension. Mail and substituted service add 5 days under CCP § 1013. Filing without the add-on gets the unlawful detainer dismissed for filing too early.
• Accepting partial payment after service. Accepting any portion of the demanded rent may waive the notice and force a fresh 3-day notice for the balance.
• Using a non-statutory service method. Email, text, and social media do not satisfy CCP § 1162. Only personal delivery, substituted service, or post-and-mail qualify.
• Filing the unlawful detainer one day early. Filing before the deadline expires defeats the action. Wait until the day after the deadline to file.
• Inconsistent landlord/tenant identification. Name all tenants on the lease, and identify the landlord or agent consistently with the lease and the eviction caption.

California tenants served with a 3-day pay-or-quit notice have significant statutory and common-law rights. Understanding these helps landlords appreciate why procedural precision matters.

Right to cure by paying in full. If the tenant pays the full amount demanded within the period (plus mail extension if applicable), the default is cured and the tenancy continues; the landlord cannot refuse a timely full payment. Right to challenge an overstated demand. If the demand includes late fees, utilities, or non-rent charges, the tenant can refuse to pay the unlawful portion and defend the eviction on the basis that the notice was defective.

Right to challenge a notice missing the Eshagian statements. Under Eshagian v. Cepeda, a notice missing the explicit start date, end date, holiday exclusion, or consequences language may be deemed defective, and the tenant can raise this as an affirmative defense. Right to respond to the lawsuit. Under AB 2347, effective January 1, 2025, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1167 gives the tenant 10 court days (excluding weekends and judicial holidays) to file a response to the unlawful detainer summons and complaint – double the prior 5-day deadline.

Right to request a stay of execution. After judgment, the tenant may apply for a stay of execution under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1176; courts have discretion to grant up to 40 days to vacate, particularly where children, elderly tenants, or hardship are involved. Right to redeem before judgment. The tenant retains the right to pay the full amount due (including accrued attorney’s fees if the lease provides) any time before judgment is entered.

Right to anti-retaliation protection. Cal. Civ. Code § 1942.5 prohibits retaliatory eviction. A 3-day notice issued in response to a habitability complaint, code-enforcement contact, tenant union activity, or complaint to the local rent board is presumptively retaliatory and gives the tenant a defense plus a private right of action. Right to fair housing protection. The federal Fair Housing Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibit eviction decisions based on protected characteristics, including source of income in California. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, and several other cities, right-to-counsel ordinances provide low-income tenants free legal representation – and those attorneys routinely identify procedural defects in pay-or-quit notices.

Local rent control ordinances (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Monica, and others) layer additional notice and procedural requirements on top of state law. Always verify with the local rent board before relying solely on state-level requirements, and see our guide to California eviction procedure for the full process.

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