Just cause required for covered tenancies
Cal. Civil Code § 1946.2State law
After a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a covered residential property for 12 months, the owner may not terminate the tenancy without just cause. If additional adult tenants are added before an existing tenant has occupied for 24 months, the specified 12- or 24-month occupancy tests apply.
Answers the question “When can they end my tenancy?”
The source
… by Stats. 1988, Ch. 160, Sec. 14. ) PART 4. OBLIGATIONS ARISING FROM PARTICULAR TRANSACTIONS [1738 - 3273.91] ( Part 4 enacted 1872. ) TITLE 5. HIRING [1925 - 1997.270] ( Title 5 enacted 1872. ) CHAPTER 2. Hiring of Real Property [1940 - 1954.071] ( Chapter 2 enacted 1872. ) 1946.2. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, after a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a residential real property for 12 months, the owner of the residential real property shall not terminate a tenancy without just cause, which shall be stated in the written notice to terminate tenancy. If any additional adult tenants are added to the lease before an existing tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the residential real property for 24 months, then this subdivision shall only apply if either of the following are satisfied: (1)…
- Official law
- Open the official source
- Document
- D023, retrieved Oct 1, 2026
- Dates
- In force since Apr 1, 2024
- Status on Oct 1, 2026
- In force
What it depends on
- Covers
- Subject to the statutory exclusions and qualifying local-ordinance rules.
- Key value
- 12 months; if additional adult tenants are added, either all tenants have occupied for 12 months or more, or at least one tenant has occupied for 24 months or more
- Exemptions
- Specified institutional and shared-facility housing; certain owner-occupied properties; qualifying newer housing; qualifying separately alienable property; restricted or subsidised affordable housing; mobilehome homeowners; and property covered by qualifying local just-cause ordinances.
- Other levels
- Steps back where a stricter local rule covers the building.
- What you can do next
- Read the law at its official source
Audit trail
The model reads the law; code decides who it covers. The line between them stays visible.
Extracted by the model
What the model read from the source text, checked by code (the quote must appear word for word).
- Category
- Eviction protection
- Requirement
- After a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a covered residential property for 12 months, the owner may not terminate the tenancy without just cause. If additional adult tenants are added before an existing tenant has occupied for 24 months, the specified 12- or 24-month occupancy tests apply.
- Key value
- 12 months; if additional adult tenants are added, either all tenants have occupied for 12 months or more, or at least one tenant has occupied for 24 months or more
- Effect
- protection_or_duty
- Quote found in source
- yes
- Confidence
- 90%
reasoning boundary
Decided by code
Deterministic: same rules, facts and date give the same answer.
- Jurisdiction: listed only for addresses whose state or legal city is CA.
- Dates: in force from 2024-04-01 until 2030-01-01; before that, not yet in force.
- Coverage: tested against what the building is used for, the number of units, whether the building is subsidised, whether the owner lives in the building; a missing fact gives "unknown", never a guess.
- Precedence: replaced where a stricter local rule covers the building; unknown when the local rule's coverage is unknown.
Residential real property subject to a local ordinance requiring just cause for termination of a residential tenancy adopted on or before September 1, 2019, in which case the local ordinance shall apply.
As of Oct 1, 2026Engine run
Sources retrieved Oct 1, 2026.
Which buildings it reaches
All 250 sample addresses in California on Oct 1, 2026.
- 105 unknown
- 140 replaced by a stricter rule
- 5 not covered
Every dot is the rule engine’s result for that address. The larger dots are the example addresses listed below. 2 addresses have no coordinates and are counted but not drawn.
Decided by code for the example addresses
On Oct 1, 2026. Rules that don’t apply are left out.
- 3515 Fillmore St, San Francisco: Replaced by a stricter rule. Covered by Cal. Civil Code § 1946.2, but the stricter local San Francisco Rent Ordinance § 37.9(a) governs here. Governed by Just cause required for eviction.
- 145 Taylor St, San Francisco: Replaced by a stricter rule. Covered by Cal. Civil Code § 1946.2, but the stricter local San Francisco Rent Ordinance § 37.9(a) governs here. Governed by Just cause required for eviction.
- 10635 Sherman Grove Ave, Los Angeles: Unknown. Unknown whether Cal. Civil Code § 1946.2 covers this address: depends on whether the building is subsidised and whether the owner lives there (neither is in the data); and on whether the local Los Angeles Municipal Code (JCO) covers the unit, which would govern instead (built 1978 (year_built, LA County eGIS parcels), but the cutoff is on or before October 1, 1978 and the year alone can't settle it). Check the certificate-of-occupancy date (city building department or the landlord) and whether the building has a subsidy or affordability restriction (city housing department).
- 1609 Addison St, Berkeley: Replaced by a stricter rule. Covered by Cal. Civil Code § 1946.2, but the stricter local Berkeley Municipal Code, Rent Stabilization and Good Cause for Eviction Ordinance governs here. Governed by Minimum rent debt required for nonpayment eviction.