Reasons a Landlord Can Evict a Renter

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"Just-Cause" Eviction Rules in California, Chula Vista, and City of San Diego.

Your landlord needs ‘Just Cause’ in order to evict you, if:

  • All tenants have lawfully and continuously lived in the property for 1 year or more.
  • At least one tenant has lawfully and continuously lived in the property for 2 years or more.
  • In the City of San Diego and in Chula Vista these protections generally apply from the day you move in.

Just Cause is characterized as "At-Fault" or "No-Fault"

Landlords have to provide relocation assistance for tenants being evicted based on "No-Fault," equal to one-month’s rent, and pay within 15 days of service of the no-fault eviction notice. The owner has the option of waiving, in writing, last month’s rent instead of making relocation payment.

  • In the city of Chula Vista the landlord must pay the following amount of relocation assistance for No-Fault eviction:

  • In the City of San Diego
    • Two (2) Months of your current monthly rent, or
    • Three (3) Months of your current monthly rent if someone in the household is disabled or 62 years or older.

The landlord must notify you in the lease if the property has Just-cause protections.

"At Fault" Reasons for Eviction

  • Nonpayment of rent
  • Breach of material lease term
  • Nuisance
  • Waste
  • Failure to execute similar new lease
  • Criminal activity
  • Subletting in violation of lease
  • Denying entry to landlord
  • Using the unit for an unlawful purpose
  • Failure to vacate after providing owner written notice of intent to terminate tenancy
  • Employee, agent, or licensee's failure to vacate after termination of the relationship

“No-Fault” Reasons for Eviction

  • Owner (or owner’s spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents) intends to occupy the unit
  • Withdrawal of unit from the rental market (Ellis Act)
  • Compliance with a government order, court order, or local ordinance that requires vacancy
  • Owner intends to demolish or substantially remodel the unit

Excluded Housing

The new law does not apply to:

  • Housing built within the past 15 years (this exclusion does not apply in the city of Chula Vista)
  • Affordable housing units
  • Housing subject to local just cause protections adopted on or before Sept. 1, 2019, or subject to local just cause protections adopted or amended after Sept. 1, 2019 that are more protective
  • Single-family homes or condos with no corporate ownership
  • Owner-occupied single family homes
  • Duplexes if owner lives in other unit
  • In Chula Vista the additional protections only apply to properties with 3 or more residential units
  • Hotels, motels, and hostels intended for short term use
  • Nonprofit hospitals, religious care facilities for the elderly, and adult residential facilities
  • Tenant’s who share bathroom or kitchen facilities with an owner at the owner’s primary residence
  • School-owned housing