Homeownership and rental vacancy rates decline across California. Are rentals the future of real estate?
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Landlords, Tenants and Property Management
Discover the legal aspects of residential and commercial landlord-tenant relationships.
Stay current on the latest news, videos, forms, and updates for Landlords, Tenants and Property Management.
Recent updates to the course e-book
The amount of security deposit residential landlords may charge have changed in 2024.
Read the new restrictions on residential security deposits.
06/25: The 2025 rules for buyer representation and fee-splitting avoidance are currently being edited into this e-book.
09/25: Updated that the three-day notice to pay rent or quit excludes weekends and court holidays.
Newly published related content
Form-of-the-Week: Commercial lease agreement — percentage and month-to-month — Forms 552-4 and 552-5
A landlord, tenant, leasing agent or property manager when negotiating rent payments as a percentage of a non-residential tenant’s gross sales uses a Commercial Lease Agreement of the percentage variety to set the terms for a fixed-term tenancy or uses the month-to-month variety to prepare a Commercial Rental Agreement for a periodic tenancy.
Letter to the Editor: My tenant is late on rent. How many days need to pass before I can file an unlawful detainer action?
The answer depends on whether the property is controlled by or exempt from the Tenant Protection Act.
Form-of-the-Week: Commercial lease agreements — Gross variety — 552 and 552-1
A landlord, tenant, leasing agent or property manager uses a Commercial Lease Agreement of the gross variety for projects with a single tenant or multiple tenants when the landlord retains the obligations to manage and pay for most or all property operating expenses such as property taxes, insurance and maintenance during the tenancy.
Increased protections for small commercial tenants
A qualified commercial tenant receives tenant protections, including a longer period of time for notice of an increase in rent and termination of tenancy, more documentation in a change of building operating costs charged the tenant and translation requirements when negotiating a lease agreement.
Needed Legislative Follow-Through – Foresight Dictates Prudence
Laws for consumer representation by DRE brokers need consistency. Litigation will pull in the courts to definitively establish the conduct required of tenant brokers to earn and collect a fee. In the meantime, brokers need to do everything in their power to protect the fee they and their agents expect to earn.
The Ambidextrous User of Commercial Property
See how the use of a written tenant representation agreement by the tenant broker assures collection of a fee whether the user acquires a fee or leasehold interest in a property — the tenant representation agreement covers the broker in both circumstances.
Users of Commercial Property Need Negotiated Written Representation, Too
2025 legislation requires a buyer agent to enter into a written representation agreement with their buyer seeking to acquire a fee interest in real estate. But is a commercial tenant’s acquisition of a leasehold interest also targeted? This three-part series is engineered to fully address every facet of this question commonly asked by our readers and students.
California household formations set to decrease
While the number of households continues to grow, the rise is mostly thanks to renters.