Month-to-month lease. 30 days or 60 days notice to vacate?
landlord tenant attorney California Jul 24, 2026
I signed a year long lease that reverts to a month-to-month if you don’t renew after its expiration. That’s what happened to me. It expired in March ish. It’s says on the lease I must give “60 days notice or as otherwise specified by law” if I want to leave. This included month-to-month arrangements. I found California Civil Code 1946(a) says “that as to tenancies from month to month either of the parties may terminate the same by giving at least 30 days' written notice”. And California Civil Code 1946.1(b) says “A tenant giving notice pursuant to this section shall give notice for a period at least as long as the term of the periodic tenancy prior to the proposed date of termination.” Periodic tenancy for a month to month I’m assuming is 30 days, and that’s how often I pay rent. The lease specifically says ‘or as otherwise specified by law’. When I asked them to explain this, they just ignored me or dodged the question. I’d rather not be on the hook for 60 more days because I unexpectedly am moving in 2 weeks. Am I stuck with the 60 days? Location: Los Angeles
