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California month-to-month lease agreement
Written for California law, checked October 1, 2026 General information, not legal advice
A month-to-month tenancy renews each month until the landlord or the tenant gives notice. Choose month-to-month as the lease type, or set a fixed-term lease to convert to month-to-month when its term ends.
California rules that apply
- Owner ending a month-to-month tenancy
- 60 or 30 days
- 30 days if any tenant or resident has lived there less than a year; just cause may also be needed
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(b), (c)
- Rent increase notice
- 30 or 90 days
- 90 days when increases over 12 months pass 10 percent
- Cal. Civ. Code § 827(b)(2), (b)(3)
Ending a month-to-month tenancy
To end a month-to-month tenancy, an owner must give written notice at least 60 days before the termination date, or at least 30 days if any tenant or resident has lived in the unit less than one year. A tenant must give notice at least as long as the rental period, which is 30 days for a monthly tenancy.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(b), (c) Cal. Civ. Code § 1946(a)
More detail (3)
- An owner may give 30 days' notice to sell a separately alienable unit to a natural person who will live there for at least a year, if escrow was opened no more than 120 days before the notice and the other conditions of the section are met. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(d)
- An owner's notice must include the statutory statement that former tenants may reclaim abandoned personal property, and you may not charge the tenant for serving it. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.1(h), (i)
- After 12 months of occupancy, a covered tenancy can end only for a just cause stated in the notice. Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(a) See Just cause to end a tenancy on the California page
The lease gives the tenant a 30-day notice and the landlord a 60-day notice, or 30 days where the tenant has lived there less than a year, and notes the just cause rule.
Rent increase notice
For a month-to-month or shorter tenancy, give written notice of a rent increase at least 30 days before it takes effect, or at least 90 days if the increase, alone or combined with other increases in the 12 months before it takes effect, is more than 10 percent of the rent charged at any time in those 12 months. Deliver it personally or by mail; a mailed notice gets five more calendar days when mailed to an address in California.
Cal. Civ. Code § 827(b) Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1013(a)
More detail (3)
- The 90-day rule does not apply to an increase caused by a required recertification of the tenant's income or family size; that notice is 30 days. Cal. Civ. Code § 827(b)(3)(B)
- Most housing that is more than 15 years old is also subject to a statewide cap on the size of increases. Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(a)(1), (d)(4) See Rent caps and local rules on the California page
- If a tenant who is not behind on rent makes a good faith repair notice or complaint, you may not raise rent within 180 days to retaliate for it; an increase for a lawful reason, stated in good faith in the notice, is allowed. Cal. Civ. Code § 1942.5(a), (f), (g) See Retaliation on the California page
The lease prints the statewide rent cap and just cause notice, or the exemption statement, whichever the landlord's answer calls for.