California eviction notices: 3-day, 30-day and 60-day notices explained

A California eviction notice is the first step, not the eviction itself: if you do not leave, the landlord must file an unlawful detainer case in court, and you then have 10 days, not counting weekends and court holidays, to respond.¹ Which notice you can be given depends on the reason. Unpaid rent or a fixable lease violation calls for a 3-day notice, counted without weekends and court holidays.²³ Ending a month-to-month tenancy takes 30 or 60 days.⁴⁵ After 12 months in most rentals, the landlord also needs a just cause stated in the notice.⁶ A notice that does not follow these rules is void.⁷ Below: each notice, what it must say, and how to check yours.

Which notice, for which reason

A 30-day notice is also allowed after a year if the unit is being sold to a buyer who will live in it, under conditions the statute lists, including that escrow was opened no more than 120 days earlier.⁹

What a 3-day notice to pay rent must say

The notice must be in writing and state:²

• the amount that is due;²
• the name, telephone number and address of the person to pay, and, if you may pay in person, the usual days and hours that person is available;²
• or instead a bank account and the institution's name and address within five miles of the rental, or the electronic payment method you already use.²

It must be served within one year after the rent became due.² The landlord may not charge you a fee for serving, posting or delivering the notice.¹⁰

How a notice must be delivered

A notice is served by handing it to you personally.¹¹ If you are away from home and work, the landlord may leave it with a person of suitable age at either place and also mail it to you.¹¹ If neither works, the landlord may post it in a conspicuous place on the property, give a copy to a person living there if one can be found, and mail it to you.¹¹ A 30- or 60-day notice may also be sent by certified or registered mail.¹²

After 12 months: the landlord needs a just cause

Once a tenant has lawfully lived in the unit for 12 months, the owner may not end the tenancy without just cause, and the cause must be stated in the written notice.⁶ Where an adult tenant was added before anyone reached 24 months, the protection applies once all tenants have reached 12 months or one tenant has reached 24 months.⁶

At-fault causes include unpaid rent, breach of a material lease term, nuisance, waste, criminal activity, and refusing to sign a similar lease renewal.¹³

No-fault causes are limited:¹⁴

• the owner or a close relative moving in for at least 12 months;¹⁴
• withdrawing the unit from the rental market;¹⁴
• a government or court order;¹⁴
• demolition or a substantial remodel.¹⁴

For a no-fault cause, the owner must pay relocation assistance equal to one month's rent, or waive the last month's rent in writing, and must tell you about this right in the notice.¹⁵ A notice that does not strictly comply with this is void.¹⁶

A fixable violation needs a warning first. Before ending the tenancy for a lease violation that can be cured, the owner must give you a notice and a chance to fix it.¹⁷

Not every rental is covered. Exempt rentals include:¹⁸

• housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the last 15 years;¹⁸
• a room in the owner's home with a shared kitchen or bathroom;¹⁸
• a house or condominium that can be sold separately from any other unit, if the owner is not a REIT, a corporation or an LLC with a corporate member, and only if the tenant was given the exemption notice in the statutory words.¹⁸

Where a local just-cause ordinance applies, that ordinance governs instead.¹⁹

If the owner breaks these rules. The owner is liable for your actual damages, may have to pay your attorney's fees, and in cases of willfulness, oppression, fraud or malice, up to three times your actual damages.²⁰ You cannot waive these rights in your lease.²¹

After the notice: the court case

If you stay after the notice expires, the landlord's next step is an unlawful detainer lawsuit. Once you are served with the summons and complaint, your response is due within 10 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays.¹ Put that date in your calendar the day you are served. A landlord who tries to recover the unit in material violation of the just-cause rules is liable to you in damages.²⁰

Check your notice

Before you decide anything, check five points against the statute:

1. Does the reason fit the notice? A 3-day notice for rent, a 3-day cure notice for a fixable breach, a 30/60-day notice for ending a periodic tenancy.²³⁴
2. Is the period counted correctly? Three days excludes weekends and judicial holidays;² 30 or 60 days depends on whether you have lived there a year.⁴⁵
3. Does a rent notice state the amount and how and where to pay?²
4. After 12 months, does it state a just cause, and for a no-fault cause, the relocation assistance?⁶¹⁵
5. Was it delivered in a way the statute allows?¹¹

A "no" on any of these is worth raising. A notice that fails the just-cause rules is void.⁷

Before you pay for a lawyer, check your case

Tell Savion what the notice says and when you received it. It reads the California sections above against your notice and tells you:

• whether the notice type and period are right for the stated reason;
• whether just cause and relocation assistance apply to your rental;
• the date your response would be due if the landlord files.

If your case does need a lawyer, Savion writes a one-page summary of the facts and the law, so that a free consultation is spent on your case rather than on retelling it.

Savion gives legal information, not legal advice. The statements above are based on the statutory text listed under References, as retrieved on 25 October 2026. Some California cities have their own just-cause eviction ordinances, which then apply instead of section 1946.2.¹⁹ For your specific situation, read those sections or speak to a California-licensed attorney.

References

1. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1167(a) (in an unlawful detainer action the defendant's response is due within 10 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other judicial holidays, after service of the complaint). As amended by Stats. 2024, ch. 512 (AB 2347), effective January 1, 2025. Official text: California Legislative Information, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²

2. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2) (unlawful detainer after default in rent and a three-day written notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays; required contents: amount due, name, telephone number and address of the payee, days and hours for personal payment, or account details; service within one year after the rent became due). Operative February 1, 2025. Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

3. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(3) (three-day notice to perform conditions or covenants or quit; performance within three days saves the lease). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(b) (owner terminating a periodic residential tenancy must give at least 60 days' notice). Effective January 1, 2025. Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(c) (30 days' notice where the tenant has resided in the dwelling for less than one year). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(a) (after 12 months of continuous and lawful occupancy, no termination without just cause stated in the written notice; rule where adult tenants are added before 24 months). Version effective January 1, 2026. Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(g) (failure to comply with any provision of the section renders the written termination notice void). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²

8. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(4) (assigning or subletting in breach of the lease, waste, nuisance or unlawful use terminates the lease; three days' notice to quit). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

9. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(d) (30 days' notice on a sale to a natural-person buyer who intends to reside for at least a year, notice given no more than 120 days after escrow was established, and other conditions). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

10. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(6) (no fee may be charged to a tenant for serving, posting or delivering a notice). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

11. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1162(a) (service of notices under § 1161 by personal delivery; substituted service with mailing; posting, delivery to a resident and mailing). Effective January 1, 2011. Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

12. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(f) (notices served as provided in Code Civ. Proc. § 1162 or by certified or registered mail). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

13. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(b)(1) (at-fault just cause, including default in rent, breach of a material term, nuisance, waste, refusal to execute a similar lease extension, criminal activity). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

14. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(b)(2) (no-fault just cause: owner or relative move-in for at least 12 months, withdrawal from the rental market, compliance with a government or court order, demolition or substantial remodel). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

15. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(d)(1)–(3) (no-fault termination: relocation assistance or written waiver of the final month's rent, equal to one month's rent; notice of the right in the termination notice). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²

16. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(d)(4) (failure to strictly comply with subdivision (d) renders the notice of termination void). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

17. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(c) (curable lease violation: notice and opportunity to cure under Code Civ. Proc. § 1161(3) before a notice to terminate). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩

18. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(e) (exempt properties and circumstances, including shared kitchen or bathroom with a resident owner, certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years, and separately alienable units not owned by a REIT, corporation or LLC with a corporate member, with the statutory notice). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

19. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(i) (section does not apply where a qualifying local just-cause ordinance applies). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²

20. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(h)(1) (owner attempting to recover possession in material violation: actual damages, attorney's fees and costs in the court's discretion, up to three times actual damages for willfulness, oppression, fraud or malice, and punitive damages). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²

21. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(j) (waiver of rights under the section is void). Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Accessed October 25, 2026. ↩