Why this matters: Unlawful detainer (UD) actions are terminal events for occupants who do not pay delinquent rent and then do not vacate when served the proper notice(s). Residential properties are grouped as either Tenant Protection Act (TPA)-controlled or TPA-exempt. Each group has different notices and expiration time periods which are precise timetables. A UD action cannot be maintained unless proper notices, correctly prepared, are served on the tenant.
Serving the three-day notice to pay rent
Rent due the property manager from a residential tenant is classified as delinquent when the tenant fails to pay rent on or before the payment grace period expires as set in the rental or lease agreement.
When rent is delinquent, the property manager serves the tenant with one of two types of notices to pay:
- a three-day notice to pay rent; or
- a three-day notice to pay rent or quit.
The type of notice to pay rent the property manager uses depends on whether the property is:
- controlled by California’s Tenant Protection Act (TPA); or
- exempt from the TPA.
Properties controlled by the TPA use a three-day notice to pay rent when the rent is delinquent.
Properties exempt from the TPA use a three-day notice to pay rent or quit when the rent is delinquent.
The TPA controls all multi-unit residential housing and single family residential (SFR) units which are not classified as properties exempt from the TPA.
TPA exemptions in residential rental units
California residential rental units exempt from using TPA notices for rent collection procedures include:
- residential units that have been issued a certificate of occupancy within the past 15 years from the current date;
- a duplex with one unit occupied by the owner as their principal residence at the beginning of the tenancy and remains in occupancy;
- units restricted as affordable housing for households of very low or moderate income, or subject to an agreement that provides subsidies for affordable housing for households of very low, low, or moderate income;
- dormitories constructed and maintained in connection with any higher education institution in California;
- units subject to rent or price control that restricts annual increases in the rental rate to an amount less than set by the TPA;
- multi-unit transient occupancy housing like hotels and motels;
- accommodations in which the tenant shares kitchen or bathroom facilities with an SFR owner-occupant;
- SFR real estate allowing sale and conveyance separate from the title to any other dwelling unit, like in an SFR or condominium subdivision, provided:
- the owner is not:
- a REIT;
- a corporation; or
- an LLC in which at least one member is a corporation; and
- the tenant received written notice stating the rental property is exempt from the rent increase caps under the TPA. [Calif. Civil Code §§1947.12(d), 1946.2(e)]
- the owner is not:
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Three-day notices to pay rent
Whether the property is TPA-controlled or exempt, the type of three-day notice the property manager serves the tenant gives the tenant three days to pay the delinquent rent. The three days before the right to pay rent expires exclude:
- weekends; and
- court holidays. [Calif. Code of Civil Procedure 1161(2)]
For TPA-controlled property, the form used is a three-day notice to pay rent — just pay with no alternative. With it, the property manager demands the tenant pay the delinquent rent on or before three days after service, excluding weekends and court holidays. [See RPI Form 575-3]
For a TPA-exempt property, the form used is a three-day notice to pay rent or quit, with the alternative. With it, the property manager demands the tenant pay the delinquent rent or vacate the premises, on or before three days after service, excluding weekends and court holidays. [CC §§1947.12, 1946.2; CCP §1161(2); See RPI Form 575-1]
Three days’ notice to quit
For TPA-controlled properties, when a three-day notice to pay served on a tenant expires and the rent was not paid, the property manager serves the tenant with a three-day notice to quit. [CC §1946.2(c); See RPI Form 577-1]
The TPA three-day notice to quit expires three calendar days after it is serviced on the tenant. The expiration period for a TPA notice to quit counts calendar days which includes weekends and court holidays, unlike a three-day notice to pay which skips them. [CCP §1161(4)]
The TPA three-day notice to quit demands the tenant vacate the premises on or before the third calendar day. When the three days expires and the tenant has not vacated, the property manager may file a UD action against the tenant to recover occupancy of the premises. [CCP §1161]
Steps to take before serving the three-day notice to pay rent or quit
The first step a property manager takes when serving a tenant with a notice to pay rent is to determine whether the property is subject to the TPA eviction procedures or exempt from TPA rules. The correct form used for the notice to pay depends on whether the property is TPA-controlled or TPA-exempt. [CC §1946.2(a)]
Next, the property manager confirms the exact amount of unpaid rent that is delinquent. The property manager confirms the rent is delinquent by a review of the due date or grace period set in the rental or lease agreement with the tenant.
The property manager on determining the rent is delinquent, prepares and serves the tenant with the appropriate three-day notice to pay rent or a three-day notice to pay rent or quit.
How to count three legal days for paying rent
Whether a residential rental property is exempt or controlled by TPA for UD evictions, the three-day count for expiration of either type of notice to pay rent skips days that fall on a:
- Saturday;
- Sunday; or
- court holiday. [CCP 1161]
Critically, the property manager does not count the day the notice is served. The counting of the three legal days begins the day after service of the notice to pay rent and excludes the skipped days — weekends and court holidays — from the count. The notice to pay rent must expire by the running of the three legal days before taking the next step, be it the notice to pay rent for TPA property or filing a UD action for notice to pay rent or quit by TPA exempt property.
Weekend example for payment of rent:
A property manager serves a tenant with either type of three-day notice to pay rent on a Friday.
The property manager accounting for the three legal days skips:
- Saturday; and
- Sunday.
The days the property manager counts when they are not a court holiday are:
- Monday;
- Tuesday; and
- Wednesday.
The payment is due no later than Wednesday. When not received on or before Wednesday, the property manager may proceed with the next steps toward eviction.
Holiday example:
A property manager serves a tenant with either type of three-day notice to pay rent on a Monday.
A court holiday falls on Thursday.
The three days in the count are:
- Tuesday;
- Wednesday; and
- Friday.
Since Thursday was a court holiday, it is skipped, and the next day, Friday, becomes the last day the delinquent rent may be received by the property manager before the property manager takes the next step toward eviction.
Holiday and weekend example:
A property manager serves a tenant a three-day notice to pay rent on a Thursday.
A court holiday falls on Monday.
The property manager skips:
- Saturday;
- Sunday; and
- Monday.
The days counted when not a court holiday are:
- Friday;
- Tuesday; and
- Wednesday.
The delinquent rent is to be received on or before Wednesday. When not, the three days have expired without payment, and the property manager may proceed to the next step in the eviction process.
California court holidays
The court holidays for California in 2025 include:
- New Year’s Day;
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day;
- Lincoln’s Birthday;
- President’s Day;
- Cesar Chavez Day;
- Memorial Day;
- Juneteenth;
- Independence Day;
- Labor Day;
- Native American Day;
- Veterans Day;
- Thanksgiving;
- Day After Thanksgiving; and
- Christmas Day.
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Steps for TPA-controlled properties after serving the three-day notice to pay rent
When a property is controlled by TPA eviction rules, the property manager, following expiration of the three-day notice to pay rent without receipt of the rent, may immediately serve the tenant with a three-day notice to quit. [See RPI Form 577-1]
In turn, when the three-day notice to quit expires without the tenant vacating the TPA property, the property manager may immediately file a UD action against the tenant. UD actions are filed in the Superior Court of the county where the property is located. [CCP §392(b)]
Steps for TPA-exempt properties after serving the three-day notice to pay rent or quit
After a property manager of a TPA-exempt property serves the three-day notice to pay rent or quit on their tenant, the tenant either pays the delinquent rent in full or vacates the premises before or on the third day.
When the tenant does not pay and remains in possession after the three days expire, the property manager may file a UD action against the tenant.
Unless the property manager complies with the notice requirements for the type of residential property the tenant occupies, a UD action cannot be maintained as the notices are invalid.
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Property management forms
Realty Publications, Inc. (RPI) publishes the:
- three-day notice to pay rent or quit — with rent-related fees [See RPI Form 575];
- three-day notice to pay rent or quit — without related fees [See RPI Form 575-1];
- three-day notice to pay rent with related fees — for properties subject to just cause eviction requirements [See RPI Form 575-2];
- three-day notice to pay rent — for properties subject to just cause eviction requirements [See RPI Form 575-3];
- three-day notice to perform or quit [See RPI Form 576];
- three-day notice to quit — residential and commercial [See RPI Form 577]; and
- three-day notice to quit — for properties subject to just cause eviction requirements. [See RPI Form 577-1]
RPI forms specify a three-day notice to pay rent excludes weekends and judicial holidays.
Editor’s note — Some trial judges declare late charges and rent-related fees are not rent in residential agreements. Thus, the delinquency of a late charge payment or rent-related fee properly demanded and unpaid is not properly included as an amount due a residential landlord to be collected by use of any three-day notice to pay rent. Further, when these supplemental charges are unpaid, they do not constitute a material breach of the rental or lease agreement needed to trigger termination of the tenancy.
Before a landlord or a property manager includes any late charge (or other amounts due besides technical rent) in a three-day notice as part of the total amount due, the wise property manager will determine if the judge presiding over UD actions in the jurisdiction will allow a demand for late charges which have accrued unpaid. [See RPI Form 575-1 and 575-2]
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