California: Eviction Notice Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

California splits the rules across a few sections. The eviction notices
themselves — pay-or-quit, cure-or-quit, and quit — live in the Code of Civil
Procedure's unlawful-detainer statute, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161, with the
service rules in § 1162. The rule for ending a no-fault month-to-month tenancy
is in Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1. And the statewide "just cause" requirement is a
separate law, Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019.

Notice for unpaid rent

If you default on rent, the landlord must serve a written "three days' notice,
excluding Saturdays and Sundays and other judicial holidays," to pay or give up
possession (§ 1161(2)). Two things about that count matter: it is a
business-day count, so weekends and court holidays don't count against you, and
the notice is only valid if it states the exact amount due and tells you the
name, phone number, and address of the person to pay (or an account or
electronic-payment method). A demand for the wrong amount or missing that
payment information can get the whole eviction dismissed.

Notice for a lease violation

For a curable breach other than rent — violating a lease term you can still fix
— the landlord serves a "three days' notice, excluding Saturdays and Sundays
and other judicial holidays," to perform the covenant or give up possession
(§ 1161(3)). The statute expressly lets you "perform the conditions or covenants
of the lease or pay the stipulated rent... and thereby save the lease from
forfeiture" within that period. If the breach genuinely cannot be undone after
the fact, the statute says no cure notice is required — which pushes it into the
unconditional-quit category below.

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

Some conduct ends the lease with no second chance. Committing waste, keeping or
committing a nuisance, using the premises for an unlawful purpose, or assigning
or subletting against the lease "thereby terminates the lease," and the landlord
is entitled to possession "upon service of three days' notice to quit"
(§ 1161(4)). Here the three days is simply a deadline to move out; there is no
right to fix the problem and stay.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

To end a periodic (month-to-month) tenancy when the tenant has done nothing
wrong, the length of notice depends on how long the tenant has lived there. The
owner must give "at least 60 days" notice (§ 1946.1(b)), dropping to "at least
30 days" if the tenant "has resided in the dwelling... for less than one year"
(§ 1946.1(c)). But this no-cause route is only available if the just-cause rule
below doesn't apply — for a tenant past 12 months, a no-reason termination isn't
permitted at all.

Just cause to evict required?

Yes. Under the Tenant Protection Act, "after a tenant has continuously and
lawfully occupied a residential real property for 12 months, the owner...
shall not terminate a tenancy without just cause, which shall be stated in the
written notice" (§ 1946.2(a)). "Just cause" is a defined list — either at-fault
grounds (nonpayment, a lease breach, nuisance, criminal activity) or no-fault
grounds (the owner or a close relative moving in, taking the unit off the
market, a government order, or a substantial remodel), and a no-fault
termination requires the landlord to pay one month's rent in relocation
assistance or waive the last month's rent. Important limits: the law exempts
several housing types (most single-family homes not owned by a corporation, if
the required written notice is given; owner-occupied duplexes; housing built
within the last 15 years), and it "shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2030, and as of that date is repealed" (§ 1946.2(n)) unless the Legislature
extends it.

How the notice must be served

A notice is only good if it's delivered the way the statute allows. Under
§ 1162(a), the landlord (or their server) can hand it to you personally; if
you're not home or at work, leave it with "some person of suitable age and
discretion" there and mail a copy (substituted service); or, if that can't be
done, post it "in a conspicuous place on the property" and mail a copy
("post-and-mail," sometimes called nail-and-mail). A no-cause termination notice
under § 1946.1 may also be sent by certified or registered mail. The landlord
"shall not charge a tenant a fee for serving, posting, or otherwise delivering"
the notice (§ 1161(6)).

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

For both a rent default and a curable lease violation, paying or fixing the
problem within the three-day (weekends-excluded) window saves the tenancy —
the statute's own words are that the tenant may act "and thereby save the lease
from forfeiture" (§ 1161(3)). For a tenant protected by just cause, the landlord
has to give that cure opportunity before it can escalate: "Before an owner...
issues a notice to terminate a tenancy for just cause that is a curable lease
violation, the owner shall first give notice of the violation to the tenant with
an opportunity to cure" (§ 1946.2(c)). Only if the violation isn't cured may a
no-cure three-day notice to quit follow.

What trips people up

"Three days" is not three calendar days. For both the pay-or-quit and the
cure-or-quit notice, the statute excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial
holidays from the count, so a notice served on a Thursday before a holiday
weekend can leave you until the following week to act. Count business days, not
calendar days.

The pay-or-quit notice has to get the money and the payment details right.
Section 1161(2) requires the notice to state the exact amount of rent due and
exactly how and to whom to pay it. Landlords who demand late fees or the wrong
total in the pay-or-quit notice, or leave out where to pay, hand the tenant a
defense that can get the eviction thrown out.

No-cause and just cause pull in opposite directions depending on how long
you've lived there. Under a year, a landlord can end a month-to-month tenancy
with 30 days' notice and no reason. Past 12 months, the Tenant Protection Act
generally takes the no-reason option away — the landlord needs a listed just
cause and, for a no-fault reason, has to pay relocation money. Check your
occupancy length and whether your unit is one of the exempt types before
assuming which rule applies.

Common questions

My 3-day notice landed on a Friday — is Monday my deadline? Not
necessarily. The statute excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays, so
the weekend doesn't count; the three business days run on the days court is
open. Count only weekdays that aren't holidays.

If I pay everything the notice demands, can the landlord still evict me? For
a rent default, paying the exact amount stated in the notice within the period
"save[s] the lease from forfeiture" — the landlord can't proceed on that notice.
Pay the full amount demanded, keep proof, and pay by the method the notice
specifies.

I've lived here two years and my landlord just wants me out — can they give me
60 days and be done? Generally no. Once you've occupied the unit for 12
months, § 1946.2 bars ending the tenancy without a stated just cause (unless
your unit is one of the exempt types, such as many single-family homes or an
owner-occupied duplex). A bare 60-day no-cause notice usually isn't enough for a
covered tenancy.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2) — 3-day (weekends/holidays-excluded) notice to pay rent or quit.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=1161. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(3) — 3-day notice to cure a lease violation or quit; right to save the lease.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=1161. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(4) — 3-day unconditional notice to quit for waste, nuisance, unlawful use, or unauthorized assignment/subletting.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=1161. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(6) — no fee for serving a notice.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=1161. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1162(a) — permitted service methods (personal, substituted, post-and-mail).
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=1162. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(b) — 60 days' notice to end a periodic tenancy.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1946.1. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(c) — 30 days' notice if the tenant has resided under one year.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1946.1. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(a) — just cause required after 12 months' occupancy.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1946.2. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(c) — cure opportunity required before a just-cause termination for a curable violation.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1946.2. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(n) — Tenant Protection Act sunset (repealed Jan. 1, 2030).
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1946.2. (accessed 2026-07-10)
• CA SB 436 — pending bill that would lengthen the nonpayment notice to 14 days.
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB436 (checked 2026-07-16)