Selling with tenants in place: which notices are legal and which aren't
Putting a rental on the market does not give you a reason to end the tenancy. Under California's Tenant Protection Act and under Sacramento's own ordinance, a tenant who has been there more than a year stays through the sale unless you have one of the specific causes the law lists, and "I'm selling" is not one of them.
That still leaves you real options. You can sell the place occupied, you can make a voluntary move-out deal, or, if one actually fits your situation, you can use a no-fault reason. Here is how each of those works and what the notice has to say.
Selling is not on either list
The state list of just causes is in Civil Code section 1946.2. It kicks in once a tenant has lived in the unit for 12 months. If another adult joins the lease before the first tenant reaches 24 months, it applies once everyone has 12 months in, or once anyone has 24. The city list is in section 5.156.090 of the city code and protects tenants who have lived there more than 12 months.
I have read both lists more times than I'd like to admit. Neither one mentions a sale. The California Attorney General's landlord-tenant page puts it bluntly: a landlord can only evict for one of the listed reasons.
Which list applies depends on the building. Duplexes and other multi-unit buildings in city limits built on or before February 1, 1995 are generally under the city chapter. Houses, condos and newer buildings fall under the state law unless they qualify for an exemption. The state statute says a property under a local just-cause ordinance adopted on or before September 1, 2019 follows the local ordinance, and the city's own procedures say an owner answers to one law or the other, not both. Those procedures also note that the state law was passed after the city adopted its ordinance.
At-fault reasons, briefly
These are about what the tenant did, so a sale doesn't create one. Under the state law they include unpaid rent, a breach of a material lease term, nuisance, waste, criminal activity, unauthorized subletting, refusing lawful entry, and refusing to sign a renewal of similar length on similar terms. If the violation can be fixed, you must give a notice to cure first. Only after that can you serve a three-day notice to quit.
The city's version is shorter and a little stricter. A breach counts only after a written notice to cease and a reasonable time to cure. Refusing access counts only after the tenant has been offered three dates. Keep that last one in mind if you plan showings.
No-fault reasons and the 2024 rules
No-fault causes don't depend on the tenant's behavior: you or listed family moving in, taking the unit off the rental market, a government order to vacate, or a demolition or substantial remodel.
SB 567, signed in September 2023 and in force since April 1, 2024, tightened owner move-in under state law:
- The person moving in has to be the owner, a spouse, domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent or grandparent, and must live there at least 12 continuous months as a primary residence.
- They have to move in within 90 days after the tenant leaves.
- The notice must name the person moving in and their relationship to you, and tell the tenant they can ask for proof.
- If the move-in doesn't happen or doesn't last, you must offer the unit back at the old rent and terms and pay the tenant's reasonable moving costs.
- An owner who breaks these rules willfully can owe up to three times actual damages, plus punitive damages.
"Owner" here means a real person with at least a 25% recorded interest, or certain family and LLC arrangements. A remodel counts only if it needs permits for structural, electrical, plumbing or mechanical work, or hazardous-material cleanup, and forces the tenant out for at least 30 straight days. New paint doesn't qualify.
For any no-fault notice on a state-covered unit you owe relocation help equal to one month's rent. You either pay it within 15 calendar days of serving the notice or waive the last month's rent in writing before it comes due. The notice also has to tell the tenant about that right. Get any of this wrong and the statute makes the notice void.
The city rules differ in ways that bite. Owner move-in requires 120 days' written notice, and the owner must be a natural person with at least 51% ownership. The city's family list adds brothers and sisters, which the state's leaves out. The city's landlord page has the required forms. The administrative procedures say you file a notice of intent with the city within 30 calendar days of serving the tenant and a declaration of occupancy within 120 days of moving in. Withdrawal means every unit on the parcel comes off the market for at least 12 months, with a recorded memorandum that binds whoever owns the property next. That makes "withdraw it, then sell it" a bad plan, because the buyer inherits the restriction.
A tenant who disputes a city-covered eviction notice can petition for a free pre-eviction hearing within seven calendar days of getting it.
How much notice, and for what
Notice length under state law comes from Civil Code 1946.1: 60 days once the tenant has lived there a year, 30 days if less. There is a 30-day carve-out for a sale, but it is narrow. The home has to have its own title, escrow must be open, the buyer must be a natural person who in good faith plans to live there a full year, and the notice must go out within 120 days of opening escrow. Even then it only helps where just cause doesn't block you, such as a tenant who hasn't reached 12 months or an exempt house with the proper notice in the lease.
| Reason, tenant past 12 months | State-covered unit | City-covered unit |
|---|---|---|
| You are selling | Not a just cause | Not a just cause |
| Unpaid rent | 3-day notice, weekends and court holidays excluded | Notice, then 3 days to pay |
| Fixable lease violation | Notice to cure, then 3-day notice to quit | Notice to cease and a reasonable time to cure |
| Owner or family move-in | 60 days' notice, one month's rent, move in within 90 days, stay 12 months | 120 days' notice, owner 51% or more, stay 12 months, file with the city |
| Taking the unit off the market | 60 days' notice and one month's rent | 120 days' notice, all units on the parcel, 12 months, recorded memorandum |
| Remodel or major repairs | 60 days' notice, one month's rent, permits, out 30 days or more | 120 days' notice, permits, code-required repairs, right to return |
State figures from Civil Code 1946.1 and 1946.2 and CCP 1161; city figures from Sacramento City Code 5.156.090 and the city's administrative procedures.
| Deadline | Days |
|---|---|
| Pay-rent-or-quit notice | 3 days |
| Tenant petition to the city | 7 days |
| Relocation payment after notice | 15 days |
| Notice, tenant under a year | 30 days |
| Notice, tenant a year or more | 60 days |
| State owner move-in window | 90 days |
| City no-fault notice | 120 days |
Source: California Legislative Information and the City of Sacramento Tenant Protection Program.
Cash for keys, done properly
A voluntary move-out agreement is the honest middle road. The tenant gets money and a date they agreed to. You get the unit back empty. I've seen these go smoothly when the owner treats them like a business deal between equals, and badly when the owner treats them like an ultimatum.
What I'd insist on:
- Make the offer once, in writing, and accept a no as a real answer.
- Put the amount, the move-out date, how the deposit gets handled and the condition expected at handover in one signed document.
- Pay part on signing and the rest when the keys come back, so nobody is guessing.
- Give the tenant time to read it and to get advice. Rushing is how these end up in front of a judge.
- Have a landlord-tenant attorney write it. Both the state law and the city chapter void any waiver of tenant rights, so the paper has to read as a genuine move-out deal. A rights waiver with a check stapled to it won't hold up.
What you can't do is lean on people. Civil Code 1940.2 makes it unlawful to use threats or menacing conduct, or a significant and intentional entry violation, to push a tenant out. Each violation can cost up to $2,000. Weekly "inspections" with no proper notice while you're trying to sell can count.
What the sale doesn't change
The lease carries over. So does the deposit, the rent history under the cap, and the tenant's months of occupancy toward just-cause protection. A tenant with a housing voucher keeps the voucher contract, which passes to the buyer. The buyer has to give the tenant its own contact and rent-payment details within 15 days of taking over.
If the tenants won't move and you don't want to wait, selling occupied is the clean answer. One local buyer that pays cash for rentals is Lorris Home Buyers, at sellmyhousefast-sacramento.com. You can get an offer with the tenants still in place and set it next to an agent's estimate. For anything past a plain occupied sale, an hour with a landlord-tenant attorney costs far less than a voided notice and the months you'd spend starting over.