Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Does a 30 Day Notice cancel out the first month of a rolled over lease before it expires? And do mandatory evacuations constitute a hold over?

I live in CA. Previous landlord sold the house my husband and I were leasing and had property management company serve us with a 30 day notice to vacate during the last month of our lease (before it expired on July 4). Landlord kept our deposit as a "hold over" claiming multiple reasons. One reason was we were served with the 30 day notice on June 27, which would have put our last day at the property as July 27. However, our lease didn't expire until July 4, which automatically rolled over to a month to month lease on that day. Weren't we permitted the whole month from that date, which would have moved back our last day at the rental to Aug 4? Or were we required to exit earlier than that according to the 30 day notice that was served while our lease was still active? Lastly, a portion of the hold over period fell during mandatory evacuations due to a natural disaster. Can we be charged for that time?


Asked on 4/11/23, 3:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

What your landlord did was illegal on many levels, starting with the fact that it was illegal not to renew your lease or let it roll over to month to month. California has had a state-wide "just cause eviction" law on the books for several years now. Unless the new owner completed a full owner-occupy conversion it was illegal to remove you. Also, giving a 30-day notice during a one-year lease is breach of contract. Lastly, once you were there a year or more they had to give you a 60 day notice once the owner-occupy process was cone.

Read more
Answered on 4/12/23, 11:47 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in California