Q for CA landlords: Relocation Assistance when Terminating Tenancy at End of Lease

[Eric I.]

I've been renting out my home to the same tenants for the last 3-4 yrs under two different leases.  The first lease was 2yrs and the second lease was 21 months (end late and 21 month term was chosen by tenant).

As it turns out, we want to renovate the home and move back after the current lease is up.

Doing some research, it seems that CA requires that an owner provide 60-day notice to terminate tenancy, even if that corresponds to the end of a lease term, and a "just cause" reason is required, even if it's no-fault just cause.

My intent to substantially remodel the property meets the criteria for no-fault just case, so that's not a problem.

But it appears that subsection (d) of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code requires that the owner provide relocation assistance equal to one month of rent with that 60-day notice.  It can be in the form of just waiving the last month's rent.

I wanted to verify this is correct before offering it.  So even though the lease will expire and I'm not asking them to move out before the end of the lease, I'm still on the hook to waive the last month of rent as a form of relocation assistance?

Thanks.

[Bob Ritner]

If your property is "separately alienable", such as a SFR or Condo and it is not owned by a corporation or certain other entity types AND you provided the tenant with proper notice that you are exempt from AB 1482 because of the above AND is not in Los Angeles and certain other municipalities in California with Rent Control, then you do not need to provide relocation assistance or comply with "just cause" when terminating a lease. If it is in Los Angeles and other areas with rent control, then anything but a single singe family residence on a single lot must comply with rent stabilization ordinance requiring just cause and relocation assistance. There are several publications both the the state and private entities that discuss this in detail.