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

The protection turns on a threshold: 12 months of continuous and lawful occupancy of the residential real property. 2 does not yet apply. Once it does, the statute operates notwithstanding any other law, and it requires both that the owner actually have a just cause and that the owner state that cause in the written notice terminating the tenancy. A termination notice that names no cause does not satisfy the statute. Adding roommates changes the math. If additional adult tenants are added to the lease before an existing tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 24 months, the just cause protection applies only if either condition is met: all of the tenants have continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 12 months or more, or one or more tenants have continuously and lawfully occupied it for 24 months or more.

In plain terms, a household with a newly added adult tenant keeps the protection if the longest-standing tenant has passed 24 months, or once every tenant on the lease has passed 12 months. The current page identifies the causes that typically qualify: non-payment of rent, lease violations, nuisance behavior, illegal activity, owner move-in, and substantial renovation requiring vacancy. The last of these are no-fault causes, meaning the tenant did nothing wrong, and no-fault evictions for owner move-in or renovation may require relocation assistance payments. Tenants have the right to contest evictions in court.