California Residential Lease Agreement
California caps most security deposits at one month's rent, requires the deposit back within 21 calendar days and, since 2025, requires photographs to support deductions. Many units are also covered by a statewide rent cap and just-cause rule that must be disclosed in the lease. Cities with their own rent ordinances can be stricter.
What California law does to this document
Deposit cap
A landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit of more than one month's rent, in addition to the first month's rent. The cap applies to deposits collected on or after July 1, 2024. A small landlord may take up to two months' rent if the landlord is a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural persons, and owns no more than two rental properties with no more than four units in total. The two-month exception does not apply when the tenant is a service member.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c)Return within 21 days, with photographs
The landlord must give the tenant an itemized statement and return the balance no later than 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates. For tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025, the landlord must photograph the unit at the start of the tenancy. Since April 1, 2025 the landlord must also photograph it after move-out, before and after any repair or cleaning that will be deducted. Bad faith retention can cost up to twice the deposit in statutory damages, plus actual damages.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(g), (h), (m)Statewide rent cap and just cause
For covered units, rent may not rise in any 12-month period by more than 5 percent plus the change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, and after 12 months of lawful occupancy the owner needs just cause to end the tenancy. The lease must carry the statutory notice of these rules in at least 12-point type. Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years is exempt, as is a separately saleable home whose owner is not a corporation or real estate investment trust if the lease includes the statutory exemption statement. A unit under a stricter local rent ordinance follows that ordinance instead, and both state sections are set to be repealed on January 1, 2030.
Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1946.2, 1947.12Late fees and returned checks
California sets no fixed dollar cap on a residential late fee. A liquidated damages clause in a residential lease is void unless the amount is one the parties agreed to because actual damages would be impracticable or extremely difficult to fix. If the late fee is left blank, the generator's lease refers to the maximum charge permitted by state law, and California fixes none, so a specific modest amount should be entered. The service charge for a bounced check is limited to $25 for the first check and $35 for each later one, and a landlord may not charge a fee for paying rent by check.
Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1671(c)-(d), 1719(a)(1), 1947.3(b)Entry requires written notice
A landlord may enter only for the purposes the statute lists and, outside an emergency and a few other listed cases, must give reasonable written notice. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable, and so is mailing the notice at least six days before entry. A lease term that waives the tenant's rights on entry or on the security deposit is void.
Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1954, 1953(a)(1)Required disclosures
Leases for single-family rentals and for buildings with more than four units must contain the statutory notice about the state's registered sex offender database in at least 8-point type. A landlord with actual knowledge that the property is in a flood hazard area must say so in the lease. A written bed bug notice must be given before a new tenancy, and known mold that exceeds exposure limits or poses a health threat must be disclosed in writing. The generator's lease has a field for these disclosures but does not insert the California text.
Cal. Civ. Code §§ 2079.10a, 1954.603; Cal. Gov. Code § 8589.45; Cal. Health & Saf. Code § 26147Where people go wrong in California
- Carrying over a 30-day deposit return period or a two-month deposit from another state's form when Civil Code section 1950.5 sets 21 calendar days and, for most landlords, one month's rent.
- Signing the generator's lease without adding the rent cap and just-cause notice, or the exemption statement, that Civil Code sections 1946.2 and 1947.12 require, since the draft does not insert that text or the other California disclosure wording.
- Renting a unit without a working stove and refrigerator under a lease signed, amended or extended on or after January 1, 2026, when Civil Code section 1941.1 now lists both among the standards for a tenantable dwelling, with limited exceptions.
How the generator works
A current residential lease, fixed-term or month-to-month, covering rent, deposit, maintenance, and the disclosures landlords now have to make. Answer a short interview and the draft assembles as you go, with California already set as the governing state. Download it as PDF or Word. No fee. No account.