Oakland, CA Rental Property Rules: Just Cause Eviction (2026)

22, Article II. 360(A) lists eleven grounds a landlord must prove before serving a termination notice, including nonpayment of rent after a three-day cure notice, a lease violation the tenant fails to cure within 14 days, willful property damage, illegal use of the unit, owner or qualifying relative move-in, Ellis Act withdrawal from the rental market, and substantial repairs that cannot be done with the unit occupied. Owner move-in evictions carry extra protections: the owner must occupy within three months and stay at least 36 months, cannot be used more than once per unit in that window, and cannot displace a tenant of five or more years who is 60 or older, disabled, or catastrophically ill unless the incoming relative shares that same status.

350 exempts certain units, including owner-occupied properties where the owner shares a kitchen or bath with the tenant, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, and transitional housing capped at 24 months. Every termination notice must state the specific ground relied on and be filed with the Rent Board within ten days of service; the Rent Board indexes notices by address and landlord name and makes them available for public inspection. A landlord's failure to plead and prove a qualifying ground, or to comply with the notice-filing and relocation-payment requirements of the chapter, is an affirmative defense in any unlawful detainer action.