Just Cause Eviction Laws by State 2026: At-Fault & No-Fault Grounds, Notice Requirements, and Relocation Assistance — Complete Landlord Guide

What Is Just Cause Eviction?

Just cause eviction means a landlord must have a legally recognized reason — a "ground" enumerated in statute or ordinance — to terminate a tenancy or decline to renew a lease. Without a qualifying ground, the landlord cannot end the tenancy, even when the lease has expired. A court will dismiss an eviction action if the landlord cannot prove the stated ground.

This is the opposite of the default rule in approximately 45 U.S. states: at-will termination. Under at-will rules, a landlord may terminate a month-to-month tenancy simply by giving the required advance notice (typically 30 days) with no reason stated. At the natural expiration of a fixed-term lease, the landlord may decline to renew with no explanation whatsoever. The landlord exercises a property right; the tenant has an obligation to vacate.

Just cause requirements were originally designed to prevent two abuses in rent-controlled markets: (1) landlords evicting long-term tenants to circumvent below-market rents, and (2) landlords retaliating against tenants who organized, filed complaints, or exercised other legal rights. This is why just cause protections and rent control laws so consistently appear together. California’s AB 1482 (2020) packages both a 5% + CPI annual rent cap and a just cause requirement into a single statute. Oregon’s HB 4401/SB 608 (2019) does the same. New York’s Good Cause Eviction Act (2024) ties just cause to a “reasonable rent” increase threshold.

At-Fault vs. No-Fault Just Cause

All just cause frameworks divide grounds into two categories:

• At-fault just cause: the tenant is responsible for the condition triggering the termination. Examples: nonpayment of rent, material lease violation, nuisance, criminal activity, unauthorized subletting. No relocation assistance is required — the tenant is at fault. The landlord may still be required to serve a notice with a cure opportunity (e.g., a “pay or quit” or “perform or quit” notice).
• No-fault just cause: the tenant has done nothing wrong, but the landlord has a legitimate property interest in recovering the unit. Examples: owner move-in, demolition, substantial rehabilitation, withdrawal from the rental market. Because the tenant is not at fault, these terminations typically require (a) longer advance notice and (b) relocation assistance paid by the landlord.

The at-fault/no-fault distinction matters enormously for landlord compliance: serve the wrong category of notice, skip the required relocation assistance payment, or cite a ground not listed in the applicable statute, and the eviction proceeding will be dismissed or the landlord will face wrongful-eviction liability.

The Big Picture: Statewide vs. Local Just Cause Laws

As of July 2026, the just cause landscape in the United States breaks into four tiers:

An important nuance: even in states with explicit rent control preemption statutes (Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, and others), just cause eviction is not preempted by those laws. Rent control preemption bars only rent caps — it does not bar local just cause ordinances, anti-retaliation protections, or relocation assistance requirements. (Boulder, Colorado is currently litigating this distinction under Colorado’s preemption statute.)

50-State Comparison Table: Just Cause Eviction Requirements 2026

California AB 1482 — 15 Just Cause Grounds (Cal. Civ. Code §1946.2)

California’s Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482, codified at Cal. Civ. Code §1946.2, effective January 1, 2020) is the most consequential statewide just cause law in the United States, covering an estimated 2.4 million housing units across the state. It operates as a package with the 5% + CPI annual rent cap: both requirements apply simultaneously to buildings that are 15 or more years old.

Which Units Are Covered?

AB 1482 applies to residential rental units where the building is 15 or more years old as of January 1 of the relevant year — meaning buildings built before 2010 were covered from the law’s 2020 effective date, with the rolling 15-year window continuously expanding coverage to newer construction. Units that are not covered include:

• Units covered by a stronger local rent stabilization ordinance (SF RSO, LA RSO, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and others); those units are governed by the local ordinance, not AB 1482
• Single-family homes and condominiums, if the owner has provided written notice of the AB 1482 exemption at lease signing (the exemption is not automatic; it requires affirmative written notice to the tenant)
• Owner-occupied properties with 2 or fewer units
• Units in dormitories, hospitals, care facilities, government-subsidized housing with equivalent protections, and short-term transient occupancies

At-Fault Just Cause Grounds (12 Grounds; No Relocation Assistance Required)

No-Fault Just Cause Grounds (4 Grounds; One Month’s Rent Relocation Assistance Required)

Critical compliance rules for California AB 1482 no-fault evictions:

• The relocation assistance payment must be delivered simultaneously with the termination notice, not after. A notice served without the payment is procedurally defective.
• For owner move-in evictions: the owner or qualifying family member must actually move in and occupy the unit as a primary residence within 90 days of the tenant’s vacation. If the owner instead re-rents to a new tenant, the displaced tenant may sue for wrongful eviction, reinstatement, and three times the actual damages suffered.
• For rent-controlled cities (LA RSO, SF RSO, Oakland, Berkeley): the local ordinance’s just cause grounds and relocation assistance requirements govern, not AB 1482. Many local ordinances have stricter requirements and larger relocation assistance obligations — Los Angeles, for example, requires relocation assistance of 2 to 4 months’ rent for RSO-covered units, depending on the tenant’s income and length of tenancy.

New Jersey Anti-Eviction Act — 18 Grounds (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1)

New Jersey’s Anti-Eviction Act, enacted in 1974, is the oldest statewide just cause eviction law in the United States. It applies to virtually all residential tenancies in New Jersey — there is no minimum building-age requirement, no minimum tenancy period, and no exemption for single-family homes (unlike California’s AB 1482). Any New Jersey landlord seeking to evict a residential tenant for any reason must cite one of the 18 enumerated grounds.

The Anti-Eviction Act covers all residential rental units in New Jersey that are not:

• Owner-occupied buildings with 3 or fewer residential units (the most significant exemption in practice)
• Seasonal rentals of less than 125 days to seasonal guests
• Units rented to employees as part of an employment agreement where the right to occupy terminates with employment

The 18 Grounds for Eviction Under the New Jersey Anti-Eviction Act

New Jersey’s 18-ground framework differs from California’s in three key ways: (1) it has no formal at-fault/no-fault categorical distinction, though courts recognize the conceptual difference; (2) it does not impose a statutory relocation assistance obligation for no-fault grounds at the state level (though local rent control ordinances in Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark, and many other NJ municipalities impose their own relocation requirements); (3) Ground 18 (refusal to accept a rent increase after 3+ years) has no equivalent in California, Oregon, or New York — it is unique to New Jersey and reflects the law’s age (1974) and original context of tenant protections designed to coexist with market-rate rents.

Oregon ORS §90.427 — The 1-Year Threshold Model

Oregon became the first state in the United States to enact a statewide rent cap (SB 608, February 28, 2019), and did so as part of a package that simultaneously enacted statewide just cause eviction requirements under ORS §90.427 (HB 4401). The two provisions are part of a single legislative package: Oregon landlords cannot raise rents by more than 7% + CPI per year (currently a 9.5% cap for 2026 under SB 611’s updated formula), and they cannot terminate tenancies except for just cause after the first year.

Oregon’s 1-Year Threshold: Year 1 vs. Year 2+

Oregon At-Fault Just Cause Grounds (No Relocation Assistance Required)

• Nonpayment of rent: 72-hour (3-day) written notice; tenant has 72 hours to pay in full.
• Material violation of the rental agreement: 30-day notice with opportunity to cure; if the same violation repeats within 6 months, landlord may issue 30-day unconditional quit without a new cure period.
• Nuisance, criminal activity, or material and irreparable damage: 24-hour unconditional notice; no cure right. Applies when tenant or household member commits criminal activity that materially affects the health or safety of others on the property.
• Victim of domestic violence or sexual assault: tenant-initiated protected termination right (not a landlord ground).

Oregon No-Fault Just Cause Grounds (90 Days’ Notice + 1 Month’s Relocation Assistance)

• Owner or qualified family member move-in: landlord or landlord’s immediate family member intends to occupy the unit as a primary residence. Landlord must actually move in within 60 days after the tenant vacates and occupy for a minimum of 12 consecutive months.
• Sale to a buyer who intends to occupy: the property is being sold and the buyer intends to occupy the unit as a primary residence. The sale must be an arms-length transaction.
• Demolition or substantial renovation requiring vacancy: landlord must have all required permits in hand. Cosmetic renovations that can be done with the tenant in place do not qualify.
• Withdrawal from the rental market: landlord intends to remove the property from residential rental use entirely.

The 90-day notice and one month’s rent relocation assistance must be delivered simultaneously. Failure to include the relocation assistance payment with the notice renders the notice void. A landlord who accepts rent after serving the 90-day no-fault notice does not automatically waive the notice (unlike California), but doing so may create ambiguity that Oregon courts have occasionally used to find waiver.

Portland, Bend, Eugene, Salem, and all other Oregon cities fall under ORS §90.427. Portland has a separate Relocation Assistance Ordinance (RROA) that imposes additional relocation assistance obligations for covered Portland units — but the statewide just cause framework governs the grounds for termination throughout Oregon. No Oregon city has authority to expand or contract ORS §90.427’s grounds.

New York Good Cause Eviction Act 2024 (RPL §214)

New York’s Good Cause Eviction Act (Real Property Law §214), enacted April 20, 2024 as Part GG of New York State S8306C, marks the most significant expansion of tenant eviction protections in New York in a generation. It extends just cause requirements to the approximately 2.3 million non-rent-stabilized rental units in New York City and to non-stabilized units statewide in municipalities that opt in.

What the Good Cause Law Requires

Unlike California’s AB 1482 (which applies automatically to all qualifying buildings), New York’s Good Cause law applies automatically only to New York City. All other municipalities in New York State must affirmatively opt in by local legislative action. As of July 2026, approximately 50 municipalities — including Albany, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, Kingston, and numerous Long Island communities — have adopted opt-in resolutions.

The Good Cause law’s core requirements:

1. No eviction without good cause: For covered units, a landlord may not obtain a judgment of possession unless the landlord can demonstrate that the eviction is based on one of the enumerated good cause grounds.
2. Good cause grounds: Nonpayment of rent; material violation of lease terms; nuisance or criminal activity; owner or immediate family member occupancy; demolition, substantial renovation, or withdrawal from residential use; government order requiring vacancy.
3. Reasonable rent standard: If a landlord seeks to evict a tenant who refuses to renew a lease that includes a rent increase exceeding the “reasonable rent” threshold — 5% or the local CPI, whichever is lower — the tenant may raise the unreasonableness of the rent increase as a defense in the eviction proceeding. This does not cap rent; it gives tenants a procedural defense.
4. Notice obligation: Landlords in covered jurisdictions must serve a notice stating the good cause ground before commencing eviction proceedings (other than summary nonpayment proceedings, which have their own notice requirements under RPAPL).

Good Cause Exemptions

The following units are not covered by the Good Cause law:

• Owner-occupied buildings where the owner resides in the building and the building has 10 or fewer units total
• Buildings completed after 2009, for the first 30 years after the certificate of occupancy is issued (intended to preserve construction incentives for new development)
• Buildings of 4 or fewer units where the owner owns 10 or fewer total residential units in New York State
• Federally subsidized housing with existing equivalent just cause protections (Section 8, LIHTC, Mitchell-Lama units under HUD HAP contracts)
• Seasonal rentals (fewer than 120 days per year)
• Transient hotel occupancy

Good Cause and NYC Rent Stabilization: Two Parallel Regimes

New York City’s existing Rent Stabilization Law (RSL, NYC Admin. Code §26-512 et seq.) already provides comprehensive just cause protections for approximately 1 million rent-stabilized units in NYC. Under RSL §26-516, a landlord may refuse to renew a stabilized lease only on specific grounds enumerated in the Rent Stabilization Code (9 NYCRR §2524.3): nuisance, illegal activity, non-primary residence, owner/family move-in, condo conversion, or demolition. The Good Cause Eviction Act covers the approximately 2.3 million non-stabilized NYC units that previously had no just cause protections — those units were previously terminable at will at lease expiration with proper notice under RPAPL §232-a.

Major Local Just Cause Ordinances

Even in states without statewide just cause laws, several major cities have enacted local just cause eviction ordinances. These vary significantly in coverage, grounds, and enforcement mechanisms.

San Francisco — Admin Code §37.9 (1979)

San Francisco’s Rent Ordinance (enacted 1979) requires just cause for all evictions of tenants in covered units — roughly 75% of San Francisco’s rental housing. The 12 just cause grounds under Admin Code §37.9 are: (1) non-payment of rent; (2) breach of lease; (3) nuisance; (4) illegal use of the unit; (5) failure to sign a written extension with substantially similar terms; (6) unauthorized subletting; (7) unauthorized alterations; (8) refusal to allow access; (9) owner move-in (OMI) — the most litigated SF just cause ground; (10) demolition or removal from housing use; (11) capital improvement work requiring vacant occupancy; (12) Good Samaritan (disaster victim tenancy ending). Wrongful eviction in San Francisco triggers damages of 3× monthly rent plus attorney fees plus actual damages. OMI evictions require a 60-day notice and subject the unit to a 5-year re-rental restriction at the same (or lower) rent if re-rented.

Oakland — Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance (1996, amended 2022)

Oakland’s Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance (O.M.C. Chapter 8.22) applies to virtually all residential rentals including single-family homes and condominiums — a broader coverage than San Francisco’s which excludes post-1979 buildings. The 2022 amendment extended the ordinance explicitly to all residential units. Oakland’s 12 grounds include non-payment, lease breach, nuisance, criminal activity, owner/family move-in (with 12-month occupancy requirement and 3-year wait before re-renting), demolition, and Ellis Act removal (triggering Oakland’s relocation assistance of up to 4 months’ rent for long-tenure tenants). Wrongful eviction: actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees.

Seattle — SMC §22.206.160 (enacted 2016)

Seattle’s just cause eviction ordinance (SMC §22.206.160) covers virtually all residential rental units in Seattle — any unit offered for rent, regardless of building age, size, or single-family status. Seattle’s 18+ qualifying grounds are among the most detailed of any US local ordinance: non-payment, lease violation, nuisance, criminal activity, owner/family move-in, demolition, substantial rehabilitation, withdrawal from rental market, housing code compliance, condominium conversion, and ten additional specific categories. Relocation assistance: $4,500 to $6,000+ for displacement due to demolition or substantial rehabilitation, scaled by tenant income. Wrongful eviction remedy: 3× actual damages (minimum 3 months’ rent) plus attorney fees plus actual damages — among the most punitive in the country. Seattle also requires landlords to register with the Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance (RRIO), and unregistered units may not benefit from certain lease enforcement mechanisms.

Washington DC — D.C. Code §42-3505.01

The DC Rental Housing Act requires just cause for all evictions in covered units — virtually all privately owned residential rentals in the District. DC’s just cause grounds under §42-3505.01 include: non-payment of rent; non-compliance with rental agreement; nuisance or criminal activity; substantial renovation (with a 180-day notice requirement in many cases and DHCD approval); demolition; landlord intent to sell to an owner-occupier; and withdrawal from residential use. DC’s just cause framework interacts with the DC Rental Housing Act’s rent control provisions (D.C. Code §42-3502 et seq.) and the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA, D.C. Code §42-3404 et seq.), which gives DC tenants a right of first refusal whenever a rental property is offered for sale. Wrongful eviction in DC: actual damages plus relocation assistance if applicable, plus treble damages for willful violation.

Los Angeles — RSO §151.09

Los Angeles’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LAMC §151.09) requires just cause for eviction of all RSO-covered units (generally buildings of 2+ units built before October 1, 1978, plus post-1978 units that received RSO protection). LA RSO just cause grounds include the standard set (non-payment, lease breach, nuisance, criminal activity) plus owner/family move-in and Ellis Act withdrawal. Relocation assistance under LA RSO is among the most generous in California: 2 months’ rent for all RSO units; 3 months’ rent if the tenant is elderly (62+), disabled, or low-income; 4 months’ rent for Ellis Act removals of elderly or disabled tenants. Effective April 1, 2023, LA also passed a Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance that creates civil liability for landlords who attempt to coerce tenants out of RSO-protected units through illegal means.

Portland, Maine — Title 11 (2020)

Portland, Maine’s just cause eviction ordinance — enacted simultaneously with the city’s rent stabilization ordinance (Question B, November 2020, effective July 1, 2021) — requires just cause for termination of all tenancies in Portland’s covered rental units (owner-occupied buildings with 3 or fewer units are excluded). The ordinance is enforced by the Portland Housing Safety Office. Just cause grounds mirror the statewide anti-retaliation and at-fault grounds in 14 M.R.S.A., supplemented by Portland’s rent stabilization-specific provisions. This makes Portland, Maine one of the few cities in a state without statewide just cause to independently enact a local just cause requirement.

Boulder, Colorado — BHMC §12-9-1 (enacted 2022)

Boulder, Colorado’s Rental Housing License and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (BHMC §12-9-1 et seq., effective January 1, 2022) applies to all residential rentals in Boulder that are subject to the city’s rental housing license requirement. At-fault grounds: non-payment, lease violation, criminal activity, nuisance. No-fault grounds (90-day notice required): owner/family move-in, redevelopment. This ordinance is notable because Colorado’s state rent control preemption statute (C.R.S. §38-12-301) bars local rent control — but Boulder argues that just cause eviction is distinct from rent control and not preempted. As of July 2026, this distinction has not been finally litigated in Colorado state court.

The Rent Control Connection: Why Just Cause and Rent Caps Co-Exist

The pairing of rent caps with just cause eviction is not accidental. It reflects a structural policy judgment: rent caps are effective only if landlords cannot circumvent them by evicting tenants to re-set the rent for a new tenant at market rates. Without just cause, a landlord subject to a 5% annual cap could simply terminate the tenancy each year and rent to a new tenant at a higher market rate — in effect, rendering the cap irrelevant. Just cause requirement closes this loophole by requiring the landlord to prove a legitimate ground before forcing out a tenant who benefits from a below-market rent under the cap.

Minneapolis represents the unusual case of a city with a rent cap but no just cause requirement — a policy combination that academic economists (including the Diamond-McQuade-Qian 2019 AER study) predict is particularly problematic because the cap incentivizes landlords to manage tenant turnover through subtle pressure rather than price. The Minneapolis City Council has considered adding just cause requirements, though no ordinance has passed as of July 2026.

At-Will States: What Landlords Can and Cannot Do

In the approximately 45 states without statewide just cause requirements, landlords may terminate tenancies with proper advance notice and no stated reason. This is a significant property right. A Texas, Florida, Ohio, or Arizona landlord who wants a tenant to vacate — for any reason or no reason — simply serves the required termination notice (typically 30 days for month-to-month tenancies).

However, at-will termination does not mean unlimited eviction authority. Every state imposes several constraints:

Prohibitions That Apply in All At-Will States

• Anti-retaliation protection: All 50 states prohibit retaliatory evictions — landlords may not terminate a tenancy in retaliation for a tenant complaining to a housing code authority, organizing with other tenants, or exercising a legal right. Courts impose this protection even without a specific anti-retaliation statute in states that recognize it at common law. Many states (California, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, and approximately 30 others) have codified anti-retaliation statutes with rebuttable presumptions that a termination within 90 to 180 days of protected tenant activity is retaliatory.
• Fair Housing Act prohibitions: Federal law (42 U.S.C. §§3601–3619) prohibits eviction or refusal to renew a lease on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status. State fair housing laws typically add additional protected classes (source of income, sexual orientation, marital status, age). A landlord who terminates a tenancy “at will” but selectively terminates only tenants of a particular protected class is exposed to federal fair housing liability regardless of the state’s no-just-cause rule.
• Prohibition on self-help eviction: In all 50 states, landlords must use the judicial eviction process. Locking out a tenant, removing their belongings, shutting off utilities, or using physical intimidation to force a tenant to vacate — without a court order — is illegal in every state and exposes the landlord to actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees. Self-help eviction is a criminal offense in many states.
• Domestic violence tenant protections: Federal VAWA (Violence Against Women Act, 34 U.S.C. §12491) and most state VAWA implementation statutes protect tenants who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking from eviction on the basis of their status as a victim. A landlord may not terminate a tenancy simply because the tenant is a documented victim of domestic violence, even in an at-will state.
• SCRA protections for military tenants: The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. §3955) gives active-duty servicemembers the right to terminate a lease upon PCS orders or deployment orders of 90+ days. It also restricts eviction proceedings against servicemembers during active duty without court approval. Even in at-will states, a landlord cannot evict an active-duty servicemember without complying with SCRA.

The practical result: even in Texas, Florida, Georgia, or Tennessee, where the landlord has full at-will termination authority with proper notice, the landlord must ensure that the termination is not retaliatory, does not violate Fair Housing protections, and complies with VAWA and SCRA where applicable. Documentation of the business reason for termination — even when not legally required — is best practice in any state.

No-Fault Evictions and Relocation Assistance

No-fault evictions — where the landlord terminates a tenancy for a legitimate business or personal reason unconnected to tenant misconduct — generate the most complex compliance obligations in just cause markets.

Owner Move-In (OMI) Evictions: The Most Litigated No-Fault Ground

Owner move-in evictions, where the landlord or a qualifying family member intends to personally occupy the unit, are the most frequently litigated just cause ground. Courts scrutinize OMI evictions carefully because they are a common vehicle for pretextual removal of long-tenure, below-market tenants. Key rules across jurisdictions:

Ellis Act Removals (California Only)

California’s Ellis Act (Gov. Code §§7060–7060.7) allows landlords to withdraw a property from the residential rental market entirely, bypassing local rent stabilization ordinances. Ellis Act removals are permitted in rent-controlled cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Monica) but are subject to strict procedural requirements: all units in a building must be withdrawn simultaneously; tenants are entitled to 120 days’ notice (or 1 year for elderly and disabled tenants); relocation assistance is required; and if the property is re-rented within 10 years, the displaced tenants must be offered the right of first refusal at the same (or lower) rent. Ellis Act abuse is a well-documented phenomenon in San Francisco and Oakland, where landlords have used building-wide removals as a mechanism to convert entire rent-controlled apartment buildings to other uses or TIC (tenancy-in-common) ownership structures.

Compliance Checklist for Landlords in Just Cause Markets

1. Determine which just cause law applies to your unit. If you own property in California, Oregon, New Jersey, or New York, begin with the statewide law. Then check whether a local ordinance (SF RSO, LA RSO, Oakland, Berkeley, Seattle, DC, Portland ME, etc.) provides stronger protections — local ordinances typically supersede the statewide law where both apply, to the extent the local law is more protective.
2. Document your just cause ground before serving any notice. In at-fault cases: compile payment records, lease violation notices, and maintenance logs that establish the ground. In no-fault cases: gather evidence of your intent (purchase agreements for OMI, demolition permits, sale documentation). Vague or undocumented grounds will be challenged in court.
3. Use the correct notice form and cite the specific statutory ground. California termination notices must state the specific Cal. Civ. Code §1946.2 ground. New Jersey notices must cite the Anti-Eviction Act. Oregon notices must cite the ORS §90.427 ground. An unlawful detainer filed without the required notice, or with the wrong notice form, will be dismissed on procedural grounds.
4. Calculate and tender relocation assistance simultaneously for no-fault grounds. Do not serve the termination notice first and tender the money later. In California and Oregon, delivering the notice without the check renders the notice void. Prepare a cashier’s check or certified check for exactly one month’s rent.
5. Comply with the required notice period. At-fault grounds typically require shorter notice periods (3–10 days for nonpayment; 30 days for material breach with cure). No-fault grounds require 60–90 days in most jurisdictions. Serving a 30-day notice for a ground that requires 60 days invalidates the notice.
6. Give cure opportunities where required. For at-fault grounds involving curable conditions (nonpayment, lease violation), the tenant must have the opportunity to cure before you proceed to unlawful detainer. Bypassing the cure period is grounds for dismissal.
7. Avoid accepting rent after serving a termination notice. Accepting rent — particularly a full month’s rent — after serving a termination notice may waive the notice in California. Keep records of what was tendered and what was accepted throughout the notice period.
8. Follow through on no-fault grounds as stated. If you evict for owner move-in and then re-rent to a new tenant within the legally restricted period, you face wrongful eviction liability: treble damages in California and San Francisco, 3× monthly rent plus attorney fees in Seattle, and substantial actual-damages exposure in New Jersey. Document your actual use of the unit after the tenant vacates.