Just cause to make you leave

After you have lived in your home for 12 months, your landlord needs a just cause (a legal reason) to end your rental. The notice must state the reason. This is the Tenant Protection Act, Civil Code § 1946.2. The timing changes if an adult tenant was added to the lease before you had lived there 24 months. Then the rule applies only once all tenants have lived there 12 months, or one tenant has lived there 24 months.

Two main kinds of homes are left out of the just cause rule. First, housing that got its certificate of occupancy (the government's approval to live there) in the last 15 years. The rule still covers a mobilehome (a manufactured home), even a new one. Second, a duplex (a building with 2 homes in it), where the owner lived in the other unit when your rental began. The owner must still live there. The rule still covers it if either unit is an ADU (a smaller added unit).

The just cause rule also does not cover a single-family home or condo, if both of these are true. First, the owner is not a corporation, a real estate investment trust, or an LLC with a corporate member. The owner is also not the management of a mobilehome (a manufactured home) park. Second, your landlord gave you a written notice saying the home is not covered. Some other homes are left out too, like dorms run by a school or college.

Colorado law says your landlord needs a legal reason (cause) to evict you. Your landlord must have cause before telling you to move out or filing an eviction case. This rule leaves out a short-term rental, employer-provided housing, and some mobile home lots. It also leaves out a renter who has lived there less than 12 months. It leaves out a renter the landlord does not know is a renter.

Cause protection leaves out a single-family home, a duplex (2 homes in one building), or a triplex (3 homes in one building). This applies if the owner or main tenant lives there, or if the owner lives right next door instead. But cause protection still applies in a building of 4 or more homes.

Some Connecticut renters have extra eviction protection. First, you must live in a building with 5 or more homes, or in a mobile home park. Second, you must be 62 or older, or have a disability expected to last at least 12 months or to cause death. It also counts if certain close family members who live with you are 62 or older or have such a disability. If this protection applies, your landlord can evict you only for a reason the law lists. Examples include not paying rent, seriously breaking the lease, or the landlord's honest plan to live there.

Los Angeles has a Just Cause Ordinance, a city law that bans evictions without a legal reason. It protects you once you have lived in the unit 6 months, or once your first lease ends, whichever comes first.

The city law covers most Los Angeles rentals that are not already under the city Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Units already covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance have their own list of legal eviction reasons.

At fault reasons include not paying rent, breaking the lease, damaging the unit, or blocking legally required access. If the eviction is your fault, the landlord does not owe you moving money.

New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act protects most renters from eviction. A court can only order you removed from your home for one of the specific reasons the law lists, called good cause. Your landlord cannot evict you for any other reason.

New Jersey's good cause rule does not cover every renter. It does not apply if your landlord lives in the building and rents out no more than 2 units. This includes a 2-family home, or a 3-family home where the landlord lives in one unit. A different eviction law covers those renters.

New York's Good Cause Eviction law applies in New York City and in any village, town, or city that adopts it by local law. Where it applies, your landlord needs a court order and a good reason to evict you. Good reasons include unpaid rent, unless it came from an unreasonable rent increase. They also include a nuisance, or a lease violation you did not fix within 10 days after written notice.

The Good Cause Eviction law lists 15 kinds of homes it leaves out. One is a home owned by a small landlord. To claim this in an eviction case, the landlord must give you each owner's name and how many units each owns. The landlord must also give the addresses of those units. Outside New York City, towns and cities that opt in to the law can set the small landlord limit. If they do not, it is 10 or fewer units in the state.

The Good Cause Eviction law does not cover every home. It does not apply to a building of 10 or fewer units where the owner lives. It also does not apply to rent stabilized (a status that limits how much rent can go up) units. It does not apply to other units with rent rules under another law. It does not apply to units that must stay affordable at a set income level. It does not apply to condos or co-ops.

Many market rate tenants in NYC are covered by the Good Cause Eviction law. A covered landlord needs a good reason to end your rental. You can raise this law as a defense in housing court. It covers cases filed on or after April 20, 2024.

After your first year renting on a month-to-month agreement, your landlord can only end it for a legal cause. Your landlord can also end it for one of several landlord reasons Oregon law allows, with at least 90 days written notice.

One landlord reason is planning to tear down the home or change what it is used for. The landlord must plan to do this within a reasonable time. Another reason is needing to make repairs that would leave the home unsafe or unfit to live in while the work is done. The landlord must plan to make these repairs within a reasonable time. Both reasons require at least 90 days written notice.

A landlord can end the agreement after accepting an offer to buy the home. The offer must be made in good faith by someone who plans to live in the home. The landlord must give written proof of the offer with the notice. This reason requires at least 90 days written notice.

If you have a month-to-month rental during your first year, your landlord can end it early without giving a reason, using a 30-day notice. Your landlord cannot then charge the next renter more than they could have charged you.

If your fixed-term lease's end date falls within your first year, your landlord can end your rental without giving a reason. Your landlord must give written notice at least 30 days ahead. Count back from the lease end date or the end date in the notice, whichever is later. Your landlord cannot then charge the next renter more than they could have charged you.

When a Philadelphia lease under 1 year ends, your landlord needs good cause (a reason the law allows) to end or not renew it. Good cause includes repeated late or unpaid rent, breaking an important lease term, or the owner or close family moving in. The landlord must give at least 30 days' written notice with the reasons. Without it, the lease renews monthly unless you choose otherwise. Challenge the notice in court or with the Fair Housing Commission within 15 business days of getting it, and tell your landlord.

When a Philadelphia lease of less than 1 year ends, your landlord needs good cause to end or not renew it. Good cause is a reason the law allows. The landlord must also give proper notice. One good cause is refusing your landlord access for lawful purposes after written notice to stop refusing. Lawful purposes include repairs, checking what repairs are needed, inspecting for damage, showing the home to insurance or mortgage companies, or an emergency.

Your landlord can not evict you without a reason. A no-reason eviction is illegal.

Seattle's Just Cause Eviction Ordinance sets rules for ending a rental. A landlord must state one of the city's approved just-cause reasons to end your rental or not renew it. The landlord cannot end your rental for no reason.

Your landlord can usually end your rental only for reasons listed in state law. These are called 'just cause.' In 2 cases a lease can end without a reason when its term ends. One is a first lease of 6 to 12 months that then goes month to month. The other is a lease of 12 months or more, or back-to-back leases of 6 months or more, that has never been month to month. Either way, you must get at least 60 days' written notice before the lease ends.

A DC tenant who keeps paying the rent the landlord is entitled to cannot be evicted just because the lease ran out. A reason the law lists can change that. Not paying a late fee is not a reason to evict.