Just-cause eviction California AB 1482 §1946.2 layers just-cause eviction onto every AB 1482 unit after 12 months of tenancy. The 11 statutory categories, the relocation-payment rule, and how a defective rent notice can break just-cause posture and unwind a years-old eviction.

When the protection attaches

§1946.2 attaches once a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the unit for 12 months. For households with an additional adult occupant, the 12-month rule applies to at least one of them, with the most-recent additional occupant subject to a 24-month alternative threshold. Until the threshold attaches, the landlord can terminate with a §1946 notice of termination of tenancy on the standard 30/60-day timeline (60 days if the tenant has been in possession 12+ months, 30 days otherwise) without stating cause.

The 11 just-cause categories

§1946.2(b)(1) — at-fault categories (no relocation payment owed):

1. Default in the payment of rent.
2. Breach of a material term of the lease, after written notice and opportunity to cure under §1161(3).
3. Maintaining, committing, or permitting the maintenance or commission of a nuisance.
4. Committing waste.
5. The tenant had a written lease that terminated and the tenant refused to execute a written extension or renewal on substantially similar terms.
6. Criminal activity on the residential property, or threats of violence directed at the landlord or tenants.
7. Assigning or subletting in violation of the lease.
8. Refusing to allow lawful entry by the landlord under §1954.
9. Using the premises for an unlawful purpose under Code of Civil Procedure §1161(4).
10. Failure to deliver possession of the unit after voluntarily providing written notice of intent to vacate.
11. Failure to vacate after the tenant's employment with the landlord ends, where the unit was provided incident to that employment.

§1946.2(b)(2) — no-fault categories (relocation payment required under §1946.2(d)):

1. Intent to occupy the unit by the owner or the owner's spouse, domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent, or grandparent.
2. Withdrawal of the unit from the rental market under the Ellis Act (Gov. Code §§7060-7060.7) or local equivalent.
3. Compliance with a government or court order requiring the tenant to vacate, where the order is not the result of the landlord's habitability failure.
4. Intent to demolish or substantially remodel the unit, satisfying §1946.2(b)(2)(D).
5. Compliance with a local ordinance, court order, or other governmental directive that requires vacating.

Relocation payment for no-fault terminations

§1946.2(d) requires a payment equal to one month of rent as in effect at the time the termination notice is served, OR a waiver of one month's rent (landlord's choice). The payment must accompany the notice or be tendered within 15 days. Some local ordinances impose stricter relocation rules:

• LA RSO LAMC §151.09(G): tiered relocation schedule based on tenant tenure, age, disability, household income, and household size. Substantially more than one month of rent for most cases.
• Berkeley BMC §13.76.130: escalating relocation amounts plus per-occupant additional payments and additional payments for protected tenants (elderly, disabled, households with minors).
• San Francisco S.F. Admin. Code Ch. 37 §37.9C: per-tenant relocation schedule plus household-size and protected-status add-ons, indexed to local CPI annually.

The local amount controls if greater than the §1946.2(d) statewide minimum. The 2026 rent-increase explainer cross-references the local-ordinance jurisdictions.

The rent-notice / just-cause linkage

This is the trap most landlords miss: the AB 1482 rent-cap math and the §1946.2 just-cause posture share a single coverage analysis. If the unit is AB 1482-covered, it's also §1946.2-covered (subject to the 12-month threshold). If the unit is exempt from AB 1482, it's usually exempt from §1946.2 too — but the exemption posture must be the same on both. Three scenarios where the linkage matters:

1. Single-family exemption with no §1947.12(d)(5) notice served. The landlord cannot claim the rent-cap exemption, so AB 1482 percentage caps apply. And §1946.2(e)(8) makes the same notice a precondition for the just-cause exemption — so the landlord cannot terminate without cause either. A landlord who served the rent increase under the assumption of exemption and now wants to terminate without cause is in a defective posture on both fronts.
2. Defective rent notice + later termination for non-payment. The defective notice is void as to the increase. The tenant continues paying the prior (lawful) rent. Months later the landlord serves a §1161(2) notice for non-payment of the increased amount — but the tenant is not actually behind on the lawful rent, so the unlawful detainer fails. Worse, the §1161(2) notice itself counts as a §1946.2(b)(1)(A) "default in payment of rent" assertion that's now factually untrue, weakening the landlord's posture in any subsequent eviction action.
3. Banked-portion miscalculation in SF or Berkeley. An over-cap notice in a banking-eligible jurisdiction breaks the rent posture. A subsequent termination for non-payment of the over-banked amount fails on the same logic. See the banking provision explainer.

Local just-cause overlays

Several California cities have just-cause ordinances that pre-date §1946.2 and offer broader protection:

• SF Rent Ordinance §37.9 — broader at-fault and no-fault categories, plus protected-status protections.
• Berkeley BMC §13.76.130 — broader categories plus escalated relocation.
• LA RSO LAMC §151.09 — broader cause categories plus the LAMC §151.09(G) relocation schedule.
• Oakland OMC §8.22.300-380 — Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance with city-specific categories.

Where a local ordinance is broader than §1946.2, the local ordinance binds. §1946.2 is a statewide floor.

Practical sequence for landlords

1. Before serving any rent-increase notice, run the California calculator to confirm the unit's coverage posture (AB 1482 / local ordinance / Costa- Hawkins exempt) is the same one the property records support.
2. If you're claiming a single-family or other §1947.12(d) exemption, verify the §1947.12(d)(5) notice was served. The same notice is referenced at §1946.2(e)(8) — a missing notice breaks both the rent and the just-cause exemption.
3. Use the RentCeiling notice generator for rent increases. The generator's compliance log retains the notice along with the cap math and the operative statute, so if a tenant later challenges the just-cause posture in an unlawful detainer, the rent record is intact.
4. For terminations of tenancy, draft the §1946.2 notice with explicit reference to the just-cause category and (for no-fault terminations) the §1946.2(d) relocation payment. Local- ordinance jurisdictions also need their local-ordinance compliance language.

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