California Civil Code Section 1987 gives you three ways to get your belongings back after moving out of a rental. If you retrieve items still sitting inside the unit within two days of vacating, the landlord cannot charge storage. If you claim the property by the deadline in the landlord’s written notice and pay reasonable storage costs, the landlord must release it to you or to someone they reasonably believe owns it. And if you miss that deadline, you still have a last chance as the former tenant to reclaim the items any time before they are actually sold at public auction, though you will owe advertising and sale prep costs on top of storage.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987
The Two-Day Free Window
Section 1987(c) is the cheapest option, and it is easy to miss. If your belongings are still inside the dwelling unit and you (or someone the landlord reasonably believes owns the items) come to get them within two days of vacating, the landlord cannot charge any storage fee at all.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987 The reasoning is practical: nothing has really been “stored” if the property is still sitting where you left it a day earlier.
The window closes the moment the landlord moves the property elsewhere. Once items are relocated to a storage facility, a garage, or any other holding spot, reasonable storage costs can be charged from day one. If you just moved out and realize you left something behind, act inside 48 hours.
Claiming by the Deadline in the Notice
The standard path under Section 1987(a) requires two things: you pay the reasonable cost of storage, and you take possession by the deadline stated in the landlord’s written notice.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987 That deadline is set by Section 1983 and must be at least 15 days after personal delivery of the notice, or at least 18 days after it was mailed.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1983 – Disposition of Personal Property Remaining on Premises at Termination of Tenancy
If you are the former tenant, the right to reclaim is automatic. You don’t need to prove ownership through any formal process. If you are someone else claiming property left behind by a former tenant, the landlord has to “reasonably believe” you own it before releasing anything to you. Under Section 1980, that means what a prudent person would conclude without conducting an investigation, unless the landlord has specific information suggesting a reasonable-cost investigation would turn up relevant facts.3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1980 The statute doesn’t require any particular type of proof. Receipts, photos, or a plausible account of how the items ended up in the rental usually do the work.
The Last Chance Before a Public Sale
Miss the deadline in the notice and you still have one more window, but only if you were the tenant. Section 1987(b) requires the landlord to release the property to the former tenant any time before it is actually sold, even after the auction has been scheduled and advertised.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987 The cost is higher at this stage. You pay storage plus any advertising and sale preparation costs the landlord has already incurred.
This second chance is tenant-only. A non-tenant owner who misses the original notice deadline has no equivalent right to step in before the sale. If someone else’s property was left in your former unit, they need to act inside the notice period.
What the Landlord Can Charge for Storage
“Reasonable” is not open-ended. Section 1990 sets specific limits on what a landlord can collect.4Justia Law. California Code CIV 1980-1991 – Premises at Termination of Tenancy
If you are the former tenant, you can be required to pay storage costs for everything left behind, not just the items you want back. If you are a non-tenant owner, you only pay storage for the specific items you claim. The landlord is not allowed to bill two different people for the same storage.
When the property stays on the rental premises rather than moving to an outside facility, the storage charge is capped at the fair rental value of the space the items actually occupy for the length of storage.4Justia Law. California Code CIV 1980-1991 – Premises at Termination of Tenancy A landlord who charges the full daily rent for the whole apartment when your belongings fit in one closet is overcharging. Costs also have to reflect amounts actually spent, including reasonable labor for moving the items and any disassembly needed to transport them.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1965
The Notice That Starts Everything
None of the Section 1987 deadlines run until the landlord sends proper written notice under Section 1983. The notice has to go to the former tenant and to any other person the landlord reasonably believes owns property left behind.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1983 – Disposition of Personal Property Remaining on Premises at Termination of Tenancy It has to describe the property well enough for you to identify it, say where you can claim it, warn that reasonable storage costs may apply, and set the claim deadline.
Delivery can be by first-class mail to your last known address. If the landlord has reason to think the mail won’t reach you there, a copy has to go to any other address where they think you might receive it, and for former tenants, a copy also goes to the vacated premises. If the landlord has your email address, they may send the notice by email too.
California publishes model notice forms in Sections 1984 and 1985. The version for former tenants tells you whether the property will go to public auction or, if the landlord believes it’s worth less than $700, may instead be kept, sold, or destroyed without further notice.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1984 The version for non-tenant owners follows a similar structure without the public sale language.7California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1985 If the notice you received is missing any of these required elements, the clock on your claim deadline may not have properly started.
If You Miss Every Deadline
Once every window in Section 1987 has closed, what happens next depends on value. If the landlord reasonably believes the total resale value is $700 or more, the property must go to a public auction with competitive bidding, and the sale must be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, with the last publication at least five days before the sale.8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1988 Both you and the landlord can bid.
If the landlord believes the value is under $700, they can keep the items, sell them privately, or throw them away without any further procedure. If a public sale does happen, the landlord deducts storage, advertising, and sale costs from the proceeds. Any leftover money that isn’t claimed goes to the county treasury within 30 days, and you have one year from the date the county receives the funds to apply to the county treasurer for the balance.8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1988