California Lease Termination Notice: 30-Day vs 60-Day Rules

A California lease termination notice has to run for a minimum period that depends on who is giving it and how long the tenant has lived there: 60 days from a landlord once the tenant has been there a year, 30 days if less, and usually 30 days from a month-to-month tenant. The core rules are in Civil Code 1946.1 and Civil Code 1946. For most tenants who have been in place 12 months, a landlord’s notice must also state a just cause, which our California just cause eviction guide explains.

California lease termination notice periods at a glance

Rent increase notices follow a separate rule; see California rent increase notice requirements.

30-day vs 60-day notice from a landlord

For a periodic tenancy, meaning one with no fixed end date such as month to month, 1946.1(b) requires the landlord to give at least 60 days’ notice. Subdivision (c) allows 30 days instead if the tenant has lived in the unit less than one year.

Say you moved in on June 1, 2025, and your landlord serves a termination notice in person on Monday, November 2, 2026. You have been there more than a year, so the notice must run 60 days, to January 1, 2027. Had you moved in on March 1, 2026, a 30-day notice running to December 2, 2026 would meet the timing rule.

Timing is only one requirement. The notice must also include a statement about reclaiming abandoned property (1946.1(h)), and, where the just cause law applies, the cause.

How much notice a tenant has to give

A tenant ending a periodic tenancy gives notice at least as long as the rental period (1946.1(b)). Under Civil Code 1946, the notice for a periodic tenancy does not have to exceed 30 days, so a month-to-month tenant gives 30 days’ written notice. The parties can agree in writing to a shorter period, but it cannot be less than 7 days.

The notice should be in writing, with a clear move-out date. If you give notice and then don’t leave on the date you named, the landlord can bring an unlawful detainer case under Code of Civil Procedure 1161(5). Giving proper notice also protects your deposit, because unpaid rent for a short notice period can be deducted from it; see how to get your security deposit back.

Fixed-term leases vs month-to-month

Sections 1946 and 1946.1 cover periodic tenancies, those where the term is not specified. A fixed-term lease, such as a one-year lease, runs on its own terms and ends on its stated date.

• Leaving before the end date is a breach unless an exception applies. See breaking a lease in California.
• A landlord who wants the tenant out at the end of the term still has to comply with the just cause law if it applies. Under 1946.2(b)(1)(E), a tenant’s refusal to sign a renewal or extension of similar duration and terms, after a written request, is an at-fault cause.

The just cause overlay: the notice must state a reason

Civil Code 1946.2 applies once all tenants have continuously and lawfully occupied the unit for 12 months, or at least one tenant has for 24 months. For those tenancies, a landlord cannot terminate without just cause, and the cause must be stated in the written notice. A 30- or 60-day notice without a stated just cause does not comply.

• At-fault causes include nonpayment, breach of a material lease term, nuisance, waste and criminal activity (1946.2(b)(1)). If the violation can be cured, the landlord must first give a notice to cure (1946.2(c)).
• No-fault causes are owner or relative move-in, withdrawal from the rental market, a government or court order, and demolition or substantial remodel (1946.2(b)(2)). The landlord must provide relocation equal to one month’s rent, either paid within 15 calendar days of service of the notice or given as a waiver of the final month’s rent (1946.2(d)).

Some housing is exempt from 1946.2, including housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the past 15 years and certain single-family homes and condos owned by individuals that gave tenants the required exemption notice. Cities with their own just cause ordinances can go further; see the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland guides.

The 30-day exception when a house or condo is sold

Civil Code 1946.1(d) allows a 30-day notice for a tenant of a year or more, but only if all six conditions are met:

1. The unit can be sold separately from any other dwelling unit, such as a single-family home or condo.
2. The owner has contracted to sell it to a bona fide purchaser and opened escrow with a title insurer, underwritten title company, licensed escrow agent or licensed real estate broker.
3. The buyer is a natural person or persons.
4. The notice is given no more than 120 days after escrow opens.
5. No earlier 1946.1 notice has been given to this tenant.
6. The buyer in good faith intends to live in the unit for at least one full year.

If the just cause law covers the tenancy, a sale is not itself a just cause. The buyer would have to use the owner move-in ground, with its own requirements. See landlord selling the house you rent and owner move-in evictions.

How notices must be served, and the 5-day mailing extension

Under 1946.1(f), a landlord’s termination notice is served in the manner set out in Code of Civil Procedure 1162, which includes personal delivery, or by certified or registered mail.

Code of Civil Procedure 1013(a) extends “any period of notice” prescribed by statute when a document is served by mail: by 5 calendar days if both the mailing and the address are in California, 10 calendar days if either is elsewhere in the United States, and 12 calendar days for an address in the Secretary of State’s Safe at Home program. Adding those days to a mailed termination notice avoids a dispute over whether the notice ran long enough.

In the example above, a 60-day notice mailed within California on November 2, 2026 would run to January 6, 2027 once the 5 days are added.

No fees. A landlord may not charge a tenant for serving or delivering a termination notice (Civil Code 1946 and 1946.1(i); Code of Civil Procedure 1161(6)).

Questions people ask

Is it 30 or 60 days’ notice to move out in California?

From a landlord, 60 days if the tenant has lived there a year or more, and 30 days if less than a year. From a month-to-month tenant, 30 days.

Can a landlord end a month-to-month lease without a reason in California?

Only if the just cause law doesn’t cover the unit, for example during the first 12 months or in exempt housing. Once it applies, the notice must state a just cause.

Can a tenant give less than 30 days’ notice?

Only if you and the landlord agree in writing, and the notice period still cannot be shorter than 7 days (Civil Code 1946).

Does a notice to vacate have to be in writing?

Yes. Sections 1946 and 1946.1 require written notice, served in person under CCP 1162 or by certified or registered mail.

Related California renter guides

• California just cause eviction: at-fault and no-fault reasons
• How long an eviction takes in California
• Breaking a lease in California
• Landlord selling the house you rent: notice and rights
• California relocation assistance
• Rent increase notice: 30-day vs 90-day rules

A 30-day sale notice under 1946.1(d) must be given no more than 120 days after escrow opens.

This page explains what the cited California law says. It is not legal advice. Last verified September 28, 2026.