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California residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what California allows.

California puts a second layer over every figure on this page. Civ. Code 1946.2 and 1947.12 cap annual rent increases and require a stated cause to end a tenancy once a tenant has been there 12 months, with a list of exemptions (a single-family home separately alienable and owned by a natural person among them) that has to be checked property by property, and a notice the lease must carry to claim one. On top of that a long list of cities run their own rent control, and a local ordinance beats the state figure. Check your city before you rely on the 60 days above.

What California law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleCaliforniaWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a deposit1 month's rentA landlord who is a natural person, or an LLC whose members all are, owning no more than two residential properties with four or fewer units between them may take two months. That exception does not apply to a service member.Civ. Code 1950.5(c)(1)
Earliest a late fee may be chargedThe day after it is dueCiv. Code 1671(d)
Most a late fee may beNo statutory limit, but it has to be reasonableCalifornia names no figure and is stricter for it. A late fee in a residential lease is a liquidated damages clause, and one is void unless fixing the actual damage would be impracticable or extremely difficult and the amount is a genuine estimate of it. A round number that looks like a penalty is unenforceable.Civ. Code 1671(d)
Notice before the landlord may enter24 hoursSix days if the notice is mailed. It must state the date, the approximate time and the purpose, and entry is during normal business hours unless the tenant agrees otherwise.Civ. Code 1954(d)(1)
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy60 days from the landlord, 30 from the tenantThirty days is enough from the landlord where no tenant has lived there a year. It is 60 once one has.Civ. Code 1946.1

What California makes you disclose

Who manages, who is served, and where rent goes
The rental agreement must give the name, telephone number and street address at which personal service may be made for the person authorized to manage the premises and for the owner or their agent for service of process and notices, and must name who rent is paid to, on what days and hours, and by what methods. Civ. Code 1962
Just cause notice
Where the tenancy is covered, the lease must carry this notice in at least 12-point type: California law also provides that after all of the tenants have continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 12 months or more or at least one of the tenants has continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 24 months or more, a landlord must provide a statement of cause in any notice to terminate a tenancy. Civ. Code 1946.2(f)

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this California lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what California requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in California?

California caps every deposit taken together at 1 month's rent (Civ. Code 1950.5(c)(1)). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has. A landlord who is a natural person, or an LLC whose members all are, owning no more than two residential properties with four or fewer units between them may take two months. That exception does not apply to a service member.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in California?

Yes. California sets neither a grace period nor a ceiling (Civ. Code 1671(d)), which leaves the common-law rule: the fee has to be a reasonable estimate of what a late payment costs you, not a penalty, or a court will not enforce it. A few days' grace and a fee in the range of 5% of the rent is the shape that holds up.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in California?

24 hours for anything that is not an emergency, at a reasonable hour (Civ. Code 1954(d)(1)). A lease cannot shorten it, so the builder raises your figure if you enter a smaller one. Genuine emergencies need no notice anywhere. Six days if the notice is mailed. It must state the date, the approximate time and the purpose, and entry is during normal business hours unless the tenant agrees otherwise.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in California?

60 days of written notice from the landlord and 30 from the tenant (Civ. Code 1946.1). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. Thirty days is enough from the landlord where no tenant has lived there a year. It is 60 once one has.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in California read it before you rely on it.