California Lease Renewal Notice Template: Renewal Offer with Rent Increase Notice (Civ. Code §§ 827, 1947.12)

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Lease Renewal Notice (California)

Landlord’s Offer to Renew, with Notice of Change in Terms under Civil Code §§ 827 and 1947.12

Date of notice: [Date]

To: [Full name of each tenant]
Premises: [Street address, unit], [City], California [ZIP]
Current lease: dated [date], ☐ ends on [date] ☐ month to month

1. Offer to Renew

We offer to renew your lease for ☐ a fixed term of [number] months, from [date] to [date] ☐ a month-to-month tenancy beginning [date], on the same terms as your current lease except for the changes listed in Section 2. This offer stays open until [date].

2. Changes to the Terms

TermCurrentProposed
Monthly rent (gross rental rate)$[Amount]$[Amount]
Rent discount, incentive, concession or credit (listed separately)$[Amount or “none”]$[Amount or “none”]
Security deposit$[Amount]$[Amount]
Utilities and services paid by tenant[List][List]
Other changes[Describe][Describe]

3. Rent Increase (Civil Code §§ 827, 1947.12)

The new rent of $[amount] takes effect on [date]. It is an increase of [percentage]% over the lowest gross rental rate charged for the unit during the past 12 months, $[amount].

Rent cap (check one):
☐ The unit is subject to Civil Code § 1947.12. The increase is not more than 5% plus the change in the cost of living for [region] ([percentage]%), or 10%, whichever is lower, and it is not a third increase within 12 months.
☐ The unit is exempt from § 1947.12 because [state the exemption, for example a certificate of occupancy issued within the past 15 years].
☐ The unit is subject to the local rent ordinance of [city or county], which allows an increase of up to [percentage]%.

Notice period (check one):
☐ The increase is 10% or less over 12 months: this notice is given at least 30 days before the new rent takes effect.
☐ The increase is more than 10% over 12 months: this notice is given at least 90 days before the new rent takes effect.

If you do not sign a renewal and remain as a month-to-month tenant, this notice is also the written notice of the change in rent under Civil Code § 827.

4. Statement for Exempt Single-Family Homes and Condominiums (Civil Code § 1947.12(d)(5))

[Include only if the owner claims this exemption; the statement must also appear in the renewed rental agreement.]

“This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code and is not subject to the just cause requirements of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code. This property meets the requirements of Sections 1947.12 (d)(5) and 1946.2 (e)(8) of the Civil Code and the owner is not any of the following: (1) a real estate investment trust, as defined by Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code; (2) a corporation; or (3) a limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation.”

5. Your Response

Please return this section by [date].

☐ I/We accept the renewal on the terms above and will sign the renewal agreement.
☐ I/We would like to discuss the terms. Best way to reach me/us: [phone or e-mail].
☐ I/We will not renew and will move out on or before [date], giving the notice my/our lease requires.

Tenant: ____________________ Date: __________ Tenant: ____________________ Date: __________

6. Owner or Agent

Name: [Name] · Address: [Address] · Phone: [Phone] · E-mail: [E-mail]

Signed: ___________________________ (owner or authorized agent) Date: __________

7. Proof of Service (Civil Code § 827(b)(1))

I served this notice on [Date] by (check one):

☐ delivering a copy to the tenant personally: [name]
☐ mailing a copy to the tenant at [address] under Code of Civil Procedure § 1013

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Served by: ___________________________ (name and signature) Date: __________

Before You Send (Delete This Section)

  • Measure the increase from the lowest rent charged in the past 12 months, excluding discounts and concessions, and count every increase in that period.

  • Count the notice days from delivery, and add the extra days for mail under CCP § 1013.

  • List discounts and concessions separately from the gross rent in the renewal (Civil Code § 1947.12(a)(1)).

  • Check local rules. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and other cities have rent ordinances that can set lower caps and add notice requirements.

  • Keep the renewal similar if you may later rely on a refusal to renew as just cause: similar duration, similar provisions, lawful terms (§ 1946.2(b)(1)(E)).

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California Lease Renewal Notice Template: Renewal Offer with Rent Increase Notice (Civ. Code §§ 827, 1947.12)

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Frequently asked · California lease renewal notice

Lease Renewal Notice (California) · 30 or 90-day rent notices, the 5% plus CPI cap, exemptions, holdover, just cause

Eight questions to settle before a California landlord offers a tenant a renewal. The renewal letter itself is simple; the rent increase inside it is not. State law sets both the notice period and, for most rentals, the maximum increase, and a few statements have to appear word for word.

01 Notice

How much notice does a California rent increase need?

For a month-to-month or other periodic residential tenancy, at least 30 days' written notice if the increase, alone or combined with other increases in the 12 months before it takes effect, is 10% or less of the rent charged during that period, and at least 90 days if it is more than 10% (Civil Code § 827(b)).

A mailed notice gets the additional time provided by Code of Civil Procedure § 1013. A fixed-term lease cannot be changed mid-term by notice: the new rent in a signed renewal applies from the start date the tenant agrees to, and if the tenant instead stays on month to month, it applies once the § 827 notice period has run.

02 Rent cap

How much can the rent go up at renewal?

For covered units, no more than 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower, over any 12-month period, measured from the lowest gross rent charged during the 12 months before the increase, and in no more than two increments (Civil Code § 1947.12(a)).

The cost-of-living figure is the regional CPI-U for Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego or San Francisco, or the California CPI elsewhere, using the April figures. The cap does not apply to the first rent for a brand-new tenancy with no prior tenant remaining, and the owner must give notice of an increase under § 827.

03 Exemptions

Which California rentals are exempt from the rent cap?

Among others: housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years; a separately alienable single-family home or condominium whose owner is not a REIT, corporation or LLC with a corporate member, if the tenants received the statutory notice; an owner-occupied duplex; deed-restricted affordable housing; dormitories; and units under stricter local rent control (Civil Code § 1947.12(d)).

Where a local ordinance restricts increases below the state cap, the local rule applies instead. Section 3 of the template records which rule governs the unit.

04 Statement

Does the renewal need the exemption statement?

If the owner relies on the single-family home and condominium exemption, yes. Tenants must receive the statement set out in Civil Code § 1947.12(d)(5)(B)(i), and for a tenancy begun or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, it must be in the rental agreement itself.

Section 4 of the template reproduces the statement word for word. Adding it to a new or renewed rental agreement counts as a similar provision, so a tenant cannot treat it as a reason the renewal is not "similar" (§ 1947.12(d)(5)(B)(iv)).

05 Discounts

How should discounts and concessions be shown?

Separately. The gross monthly rent and any owner-offered discounts, incentives, concessions or credits must be listed and identified separately in the lease or any amendment, and accepted discounts are excluded when the lowest rent of the past 12 months is determined (Civil Code § 1947.12(a)(1)).

That is why the table in Section 2 has its own line for discounts. A "free month" folded into a lower headline rent can otherwise shrink the base from which the next lawful increase is measured.

06 Holdover

What if the tenant does not answer and stays on?

If the tenant remains after the lease expires and the landlord accepts rent, the parties are presumed to have renewed the lease on the same terms for the same time, but not more than one month when rent is paid monthly (Civil Code § 1945).

In practice the tenancy becomes month to month at the old rent. A rent change then needs its own § 827 notice period, which is why Section 3 of the template doubles as that notice.

07 Just cause

Can a landlord end the tenancy if the tenant refuses to renew?

Where the just-cause rules apply, it is an at-fault just cause if the tenant had a written lease that ended on or after January 1, 2020 and, after a written request, refused to sign an extension or renewal for an additional term of similar duration with similar provisions that are lawful (Civil Code § 1946.2(b)(1)(E)).

The renewal letter is that written request, so keep the offer similar in length and terms and keep a copy. The landlord still has to end the tenancy with a proper written notice stating the cause.

08 Delivery

How must a rent increase notice be delivered?

By delivering a copy to the tenant personally or by serving it by mail under Code of Civil Procedure § 1013 (Civil Code § 827(b)(1)).

Deliver to every adult tenant named on the lease and keep a signed proof of service; the template includes one. If you mail the notice, allow the extra days CCP § 1013 adds before the new rent takes effect.

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