California Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

California's one-month deposit cap, the photo rules, the statewide rent cap, just cause, notice periods and the eviction timeline, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 21, 2026

California has the most detailed rental rules in the country, and they keep moving. Since mid-2024 alone the state has cut deposit limits, required photos at move-in and move-out, required electronic refunds, and doubled the time tenants get to answer an eviction.

Here's what a small California landlord has to get right, with the code section behind each rule. Many cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles among them, add stricter rules on top. Check your city too.

Security deposits

The cap is one month's rent. Since July 1, 2024, the date AB 12 set, a deposit can't exceed one month's rent on top of the first month's rent, furnished or not (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5).

The small-landlord exception allows two months. It applies if you're a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural persons, and you own no more than 2 residential rental properties with no more than 4 units total. It doesn't apply when the tenant is a service member.

You have 21 days to return it. Send an itemized statement with it. For work you or an employee did, list the hours and the hourly rate. For a contractor's work, include the invoice or receipt. If repairs and cleaning total $125 or less, you can skip receipts, but the tenant can ask for them within 14 days.

Take photos, twice.

Since April 1, 2025, the first of AB 2801's two dates, photograph the unit after the tenant returns it and before you make repairs.
For tenancies starting on or after July 1, 2025, AB 2801's second date, photograph it at move-in too.

Send the photos with the itemized statement, by mail, email or a link.

Refund the way they paid. Since January 1, 2026, under AB 414, chaptered as Stats. 2025 ch. 340, if the tenant paid the deposit or rent electronically, you refund electronically to an account they name, if you haven't agreed on another method in writing.

Bad faith costs up to twice the deposit in penalties, on top of actual damages.

Late fees

California has no fixed cap. A late fee is treated as liquidated damages, so it's enforceable only if your actual loss would be hard to pin down and the fee is a reasonable estimate of it (Civ. Code § 1671). Keep late fees modest and put them in the lease.

The statewide rent cap

The Tenant Protection Act (Civ. Code § 1947.12) limits increases on covered units to 5% plus local inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower, over any 12 months. You can raise rent at most twice in that window. The cap is set to expire January 1, 2030, a sunset written into § 1947.12 itself rather than taken from a summary.

Single-family homes and condos can be exempt if they're not owned by a corporation or REIT, and only if the tenant gets the exact written exemption notice the statute requires. Miss the notice and the exemption is gone. Buildings with a certificate of occupancy from the last 15 years are exempt too, as is a duplex where you lived in one unit when the tenancy started and still do.

Notice for an increase is 30 days for 10% or less and 90 days for more than 10% (Civ. Code § 827).

Just cause for eviction

Once a tenant has lived in a covered unit for 12 months, you need a legal reason to end the tenancy (Civ. Code § 1946.2).

At-fault causes include nonpayment and a material breach of the lease. A fixable breach needs a notice to cure first.
No-fault causes include an owner or family member moving in, taking the unit off the market, and a substantial remodel. These require relocation help equal to one month's rent. An owner move-in has to happen within 90 days and last at least 12 months.

The same exemptions from the rent cap mostly apply here.

Entering the unit

Give reasonable written notice with the date, approximate time and purpose. 24 hours is presumed reasonable, or 6 days if mailed. Entry has to be during normal business hours, except in an emergency or with the tenant's okay (Civ. Code § 1954).

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Give 60 days' notice if every tenant has lived there a year or more, and 30 days if anyone has been there less than a year (Civ. Code § 1946.1). Just cause rules still apply to covered units.

When rent isn't paid

Serve a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit. The three days skip Saturdays, Sundays and court holidays. The notice has to state the amount due and who to pay, with their name, phone, address and the ways they accept payment (Code Civ. Proc. § 1161).

The eviction (unlawful detainer) process

File an unlawful detainer case after the notice period ends.
Answer. Since January 1, 2025, the date AB 2347 set, the tenant has 10 court days to respond after being served, up from 5.
Judgment and lockout. If there's no response, you can ask for a default judgment. After judgment, the sheriff serves a 5-day notice to vacate before the lockout.

The courts' own guidance puts a typical case at 30 to 45 days or more from service to move-out.

The short version

Deposit cap of 1 month (2 for qualifying small landlords), returned in 21 days
Photos at move-in and move-out, with the itemized statement
Rent increases capped at 5% plus inflation, max 10%, on covered units
Just cause after 12 months, with relocation pay for no-fault endings
24 hours' written notice to enter
3-day notice to pay or quit, then 10 court days for the tenant to answer

Let Taz carry the compliance load

California rules punish small mistakes. Taz is an AI property manager that tracks deposit and notice deadlines, keeps move-in and move-out records together, sends rent reminders and handles maintenance requests day and night. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. California law changes often, and city ordinances can be stricter. Talk to a California attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.