Free California Notice of Non-Renewal

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Free California Notice of Non-Renewal — overview

A California Notice of Non-Renewal is the written notice a landlord uses to end a periodic tenancy or to communicate that a fixed-term lease will not be renewed at expiration. California Civil Code section 1946.1 sets the baseline notice periods — 30 days for tenancies under one year, 60 days for tenancies of one year or longer. AB 1482, codified at Civ Code section 1946.2, layers a just-cause requirement on top of most covered residential tenancies once the tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the unit for twelve months or more. Several California cities — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Berkeley, Glendale, and others — add additional just-cause and relocation-assistance requirements through local ordinances. Getting the notice right is high-stakes work: a defective notice cannot support an unlawful detainer action, and the landlord must start over with a corrected notice — pushing recovery of possession back by months. The form on this page handles the mechanics; the rest of this guide walks through the legal analysis.

▶ Watch: California Notice of Non-Renewal — Civ Code § 1946.1 + AB 1482 explained

What a Notice of Non-Renewal does

The California Notice of Non-Renewal is the document that ends a residential tenancy without alleging tenant fault. It is the formal communication that the tenancy will not continue past the date specified in the notice. Two distinct scenarios trigger its use: (1) ending a periodic (month-to-month or week-to-week) tenancy, and (2) declining to renew a fixed-term lease at expiration. Civil Code section 1946.1 sets the baseline notice periods, and AB 1482 (Civil Code section 1946.2) layers a just-cause requirement on top of most covered tenancies.

The notice is procedurally similar to other California eviction-related notices, but substantively different. A 3-day notice to pay rent or quit alleges nonpayment. A notice to cure or quit alleges a curable lease breach. A notice of non-renewal does not necessarily allege any wrongdoing — it simply ends the tenancy at the end of the notice period. For tenancies covered by AB 1482, the notice must also state a qualifying just-cause ground; for non-covered tenancies, no reason is required.

What the notice accomplishes practically: it establishes the date on which the tenant’s legal right to occupy the premises ends. After that date, if the tenant has not vacated, the landlord may file an unlawful detainer action to recover possession. The non-renewal notice is the precondition to the unlawful detainer — without it (or with a defective version), the landlord cannot lawfully recover possession of a tenancy that has not otherwise been forfeited.

The form on this page produces a Notice of Non-Renewal that satisfies Civil Code section 1946.1 for the standard 30-day or 60-day periods, with optional just-cause language for AB 1482 covered tenancies. The mechanical accuracy of the document is critical: a notice that gets the period wrong, omits the just-cause ground for a covered tenancy, or fails to address the relocation-assistance requirement for no-fault terminations is unenforceable, and the landlord must start over.

California legal framework

California has the most layered non-renewal framework in the country. Three sources of law operate together, and a fourth (local ordinances) overlays the state framework in many cities.

1. Civil Code section 1946.1 — the baseline. This statute sets the minimum notice period for terminating a residential periodic tenancy: thirty days written notice for tenancies of less than one year, sixty days for tenancies of one year or longer. The period runs from the date of delivery to the termination date stated in the notice. The 1946.1 framework applies regardless of whether the lease is covered by AB 1482 — it is the floor below which the notice period cannot drop.

2. Civil Code section 1946.2 — the AB 1482 just-cause overlay. Enacted as part of the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, this statute requires “just cause” to terminate or non-renew most residential tenancies once the tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the unit for twelve months or more. AB 1482 splits just causes into at-fault grounds (lease violations, criminal activity, refusal of entry, etc.) and no-fault grounds (owner move-in, withdrawal from market, substantial remodel, government order). No-fault grounds trigger a relocation-assistance payment equal to one month of rent.

3. Civil Code section 1162 — service of termination notices. This statute sets out the authorized methods for delivering a non-renewal notice: personal delivery; substituted service plus mailing; or posting plus mailing. Mailing alone is generally not sufficient. The Code of Civil Procedure section 1013 mailing extension (which adds days for notices served by mail) does not apply to termination notices under section 1946.1.

4. Implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. Independent of any specific statute, every California residential lease carries an implied covenant that the tenant will have peaceful, exclusive possession of the premises for the duration of the tenancy. A non-renewal notice that is part of a pattern of harassment, retaliation, or discrimination breaches this covenant and exposes the landlord to claims for damages, attorney’s fees, and equitable relief independent of any AB 1482 violation.

5. Anti-retaliation protections — Civil Code section 1942.5. California prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant for asserting rights under the implied warranty of habitability, complaining to a code enforcement agency, organizing or joining a tenant union, or other protected conduct. A non-renewal notice issued within 180 days of protected conduct creates a presumption of retaliation that the landlord must overcome with evidence of a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason. This presumption applies whether or not AB 1482 covers the tenancy.

6. Anti-discrimination protections — FEHA and federal Fair Housing Act. A non-renewal notice that targets a tenant based on a protected class (race, religion, national origin, familial status, disability, source of income including Section 8 vouchers, gender identity, sexual orientation, and others under FEHA) violates fair housing law regardless of whether the technical 1946.1 and 1946.2 requirements are met. Disparate-impact analysis can also reach facially neutral policies that disproportionately affect a protected class.

7. Local ordinances. Several California cities — Los Angeles (RSO/JCO), San Francisco (Rent Ordinance), Oakland (Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance), Berkeley, San Diego, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, and others — layer additional requirements on top of state law. These can include narrower just-cause grounds, higher relocation-assistance amounts, mandatory pre-notice rent registration, prior tenant-buyout filings, and more. The local ordinance always controls when it imposes a requirement stricter than state law.

Notice periods under § 1946.1

California Civil Code section 1946.1 sets a binary notice schedule based on tenancy length. The trigger is the cumulative occupancy of the same unit by the same tenant — not the lease term, not the most recent renewal date, and not the date of any change in rent or terms.

The clock starts at delivery. The 30-day or 60-day period runs from the date the tenant has actual or presumed notice — typically the date of personal delivery, or the date the substituted service / posting and mailing combination is complete. The notice must specify a termination date that falls at or after the end of the required period. A notice that calculates the date wrong (for example, counting from the date of preparation rather than the date of service) is defective and unenforceable.

Cumulative occupancy controls — not lease term. A tenant who has occupied the same unit for fourteen months under three sequential six-month leases has a tenancy of fourteen months, not six. The 60-day period applies. Resetting the lease clock by signing a new agreement does not reset the 1946.1 period. This catches landlords who assume a fresh fixed-term lease creates a fresh tenancy for notice purposes.

Fixed-term leases — non-renewal vs. termination. A fixed-term lease typically expires by its own terms on the last day of the term. No 1946.1 notice is technically required to end the tenancy at expiration, but two important caveats apply: (1) if the lease itself requires the landlord to give advance notice of non-renewal (commonly 30 or 60 days), failing to give that notice may convert the tenancy to month-to-month on the same terms; and (2) if the tenant has occupied the unit for twelve or more months and AB 1482 covers the tenancy, the just-cause requirement still applies even at expiration of a fixed term — the landlord cannot simply let the lease expire to avoid AB 1482.

The notice cannot be shortened by lease provision. A lease term that purports to authorize less than the statutory notice period is void and unenforceable as to that provision. The tenant can consent to a shorter period at the time the notice is issued (for example, agreeing to vacate within fifteen days of notice in exchange for a deposit return), but cannot prospectively waive the 1946.1 minimum in advance through a lease.

The notice can be lengthened by lease provision. A lease that requires the landlord to give 90 days notice of non-renewal is enforceable — the landlord must give the longer period the lease specifies. Longer-notice lease provisions are common in larger rental developments and corporate-owned properties.

AB 1482 just-cause overlay

The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 — referred to throughout this guide as AB 1482 and codified at Civil Code section 1946.2 — fundamentally restructured California non-renewal law. Before AB 1482, a landlord with a periodic tenancy could give a 30-day or 60-day notice without stating any reason. After AB 1482, most residential landlords need a “just cause” to terminate or non-renew once the tenant has been in occupancy for twelve months or more.

Two threshold questions determine whether AB 1482 applies:

1. Is the tenancy covered? AB 1482 covers most multi-family residential rental properties more than fifteen years old. The fifteen-year window rolls forward each year, so a building constructed in 2010 became subject to AB 1482 in 2025. Several categories are explicitly exempt — see Section 9 below for the full list. The most common exemptions are single-family homes and condominiums owned by individual investors (not corporations or REITs) that have provided the tenant with the statutory exemption notice in the lease, and duplexes where the owner lives in one of the two units.

2. Has the tenant occupied the unit for twelve or more months? AB 1482’s just-cause requirement attaches once the tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the unit for twelve months or more. For occupancies under twelve months, AB 1482 does not require just cause, although the 1946.1 notice periods still apply. Note: if any one tenant in the household has occupied for twenty-four months or more, the just-cause requirement attaches even if other tenants have been there for less time.

If both threshold questions are yes, the landlord needs a just cause. AB 1482 splits just causes into two categories with very different procedural requirements: at-fault just causes (Section 5 below) and no-fault just causes (Section 6 below). At-fault grounds typically require an opportunity to cure if the violation is curable, do not require relocation assistance, and are based on tenant conduct. No-fault grounds do not require any opportunity to cure, require relocation assistance equal to one month of rent, and are based on landlord-side circumstances.

The notice must state the just-cause ground. AB 1482 requires the non-renewal notice to specifically identify the just-cause ground being used. Generic “we are terminating your tenancy” language is insufficient for a covered tenancy. The notice should cite the specific subdivision of Civ Code section 1946.2 (e.g., “section 1946.2(b)(2)(A) — owner or family member move-in”) and provide the supporting facts. A notice that fails to identify a qualifying ground, or identifies a ground that does not exist on the facts, cannot support an unlawful detainer action.

The just cause must be the actual reason. A landlord who lists “owner move-in” as the just cause but in fact wants to flip the unit at higher rent has committed misuse of AB 1482, exposing the landlord to claims for actual damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and up to treble damages for wilful conduct or conduct with oppression, fraud or malice under section 1946.2(h) – while section 1946.2(g) separately renders the termination notice void. Several California cities require post-non-renewal accountability — for example, Los Angeles requires the unit to actually be occupied by the qualifying family member for a minimum period after the no-fault termination. Don’t cite a just-cause ground that doesn’t match the actual plan.

At-fault just-cause grounds

Civil Code section 1946.2(b)(1) lists the at-fault just causes — grounds based on tenant conduct that supports a non-renewal. The full list is exhaustive; a landlord may not invent additional at-fault grounds.

The cure requirement is the most-litigated AB 1482 issue. If the violation is curable — most lease breaches and assignment/subletting violations are — the landlord must give the tenant a notice and an opportunity to cure before the at-fault termination notice is valid. Failure to give a cure opportunity for a curable violation defeats the at-fault termination, even if the tenant’s conduct was clearly improper.

Documentation matters more for at-fault grounds. The landlord must be able to prove the underlying tenant conduct in any later unlawful detainer proceeding. Photographs, written communications, neighbor or staff statements, and police reports all support an at-fault termination. Bare allegations that the tenant committed waste or maintained a nuisance, without contemporaneous documentation, often fail in court.

Refusing a similar lease on similar terms (§ 1946.2(b)(1)(E)) is a narrow ground often misunderstood. It applies when a fixed-term lease expires and the landlord offers the tenant a new lease on substantially similar terms (rent within AB 1482 caps, similar rules, similar duration). If the tenant refuses to sign, the landlord can use this ground to non-renew. If the landlord offers a lease with materially different terms (substantial rent increase beyond the AB 1482 cap, new restrictive rules), the tenant’s refusal does not create an at-fault ground. This is a frequent source of litigation.

No-fault just-cause grounds

Civil Code section 1946.2(b)(2) lists the no-fault just causes — grounds where the landlord is ending the tenancy for reasons unrelated to tenant conduct. Each no-fault ground requires a relocation-assistance payment to the tenant equal to one month of rent.