Evicting a lodger in California is far simpler than evicting a tenant, but only if your situation fits a narrow legal definition. When you rent one room inside the home you live in to a single person, Civil Code 1946.5 lets you end the arrangement with a written notice, and Penal Code 602.3 makes the lodger a trespasser once that notice expires, so police can remove them without any court filing.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 602.32California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946.5 Miss one of the qualifying conditions and you’re back in the full unlawful detainer process like any other landlord.
Who Actually Counts as a Lodger
Civil Code 1946.5 defines a lodger as someone who rents a room, or room and board, inside a dwelling the owner occupies, where the owner keeps the right to enter all areas and maintains overall control of the property.2California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946.5 The California Courts self-help site distills that into two conditions: you rent to one person, and the home is your primary residence.3California Courts. If You Rent a Room Out (Lodgers)
The single-lodger requirement is the piece homeowners most often miss. Both Civil Code 1946.5 and Penal Code 602.3 apply only when one lodger lives in the home. Rent rooms to two or more people, even under separate agreements, and none of them qualifies for the streamlined removal process. The California Attorney General’s office has said room renters in an owner’s home generally get full tenant protections against self-help evictions, and the single-lodger arrangement is the only exception.4California Department of Justice. Protecting Tenants Against Unlawful Lockouts and Utility Shutoffs
Access matters too. If your agreement gives the lodger exclusive possession of the room and you need permission to enter, a court can treat that person as a tenant no matter what your written arrangement calls them. Keeping the right to enter for cleaning, maintenance, or other reasonable purposes is what preserves lodger status.
The Written Termination Notice
Everything starts with a written notice ending the arrangement. Get the length, the delivery, and the contents right, because law enforcement won’t act on a defective notice.
How Much Notice You Have to Give
Civil Code 1946.5 borrows its notice period from Civil Code 1946: notice must match the length of the rental period, up to a maximum of 30 days.5California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946 A lodger who pays monthly gets 30 days. A lodger who pays weekly gets a week, with a floor of seven days when the payment period is shorter.3California Courts. If You Rent a Room Out (Lodgers)
The termination date has to land at the end of a rental period. If rent runs from the first of the month and you serve notice on May 10, the earliest termination date is June 30, not June 10.
How to Deliver It
Civil Code 1946.5 gives you two delivery paths: serve the notice using one of the methods in Code of Civil Procedure 1162, or send it by certified or registered mail with restricted delivery and a return receipt.2California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946.5 Under CCP 1162, the preferred method is hand delivery to the lodger. If the lodger isn’t available, you can leave the notice with another adult at the residence and mail a copy. If nobody is available, you can post the notice in a visible spot on the property and mail a copy.
Hand delivery is the strongest option because it’s hardest to dispute later.6California Courts. Deliver the Notice Whatever method you use, write down the date and how you delivered it. If the lodger later denies receiving the notice, that record is what saves you.
What the Notice Should Say
No specific form is required. The notice should clearly state you’re terminating the lodging arrangement and give the date the lodger has to be out. Citing Civil Code 1946.5 puts the lodger on notice of the legal authority behind it. Civil Code 1946 also requires a statement about the lodger’s right to reclaim any abandoned personal property.5California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946 You don’t have to state a reason for ending the arrangement, but documenting a legitimate reason helps if retaliation is ever alleged.
Removal After the Notice Expires
This is where lodger eviction stops looking like tenant eviction. Once the notice period ends, the lodger’s right to stay terminates by operation of law.2California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946.5 A lodger who stays past that date commits an infraction under Penal Code 602.3, and you can ask law enforcement to remove them.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 602.3
Penal Code 602.3 states that removing a lodger this way is not a forcible entry and cannot support civil liability against you.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 602.3 The Attorney General’s office has confirmed that lodger removal under this statute is the sole exception to California’s ban on self-help evictions.4California Department of Justice. Protecting Tenants Against Unlawful Lockouts and Utility Shutoffs
In practice, expect friction. Many officers and deputies aren’t familiar with these statutes and will tell you to go to court. Come ready. Bring printed copies of Civil Code 1946.5 and Penal Code 602.3, your notice, and proof of how and when you served it. Organized paperwork is the difference between officers acting on the spot and being sent home to file a case.
When the Shortcut Doesn’t Work
Sometimes law enforcement refuses to get involved, usually because the lodger disputes their status, claims to be a tenant, or challenges the notice. When that happens, you file an unlawful detainer lawsuit in the superior court for the county where the property sits.
The complaint needs to lay out the facts establishing lodger status, describe the notice you gave, and state that the lodger stayed past the notice period. Filing fees for unlawful detainer cases in California run from $240 to $435 depending on the damages claimed.7California Courts. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule After filing, the court issues a summons that must be served on the lodger with the complaint. Personal service by someone other than you is preferred; substituted service is possible, and posting requires a judge’s permission after other methods fail.8California Courts. Serve the Summons and Complaint Forms
The lodger has 10 days to respond, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1167 No response means you can request a default judgment. If a response comes in, the court sets a hearing. Bring the notice, proof of service, any written lodging agreement, and communications showing the timeline. A ruling in your favor produces a writ of possession, which you take to the sheriff for enforcement.
Returning the Security Deposit
Civil Code 1950.5 governs security deposits for residential rentals, and while the statute doesn’t call out lodgers specifically, collecting a deposit creates the obligation.10California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1950.5 The maximum is one month’s rent, with a narrow two-month cap available if you’re an individual owner (not a corporation) with no more than two rental properties totaling four or fewer units.
You have 21 calendar days after the lodger leaves to either return the full deposit or send an itemized statement of deductions with any remaining balance. Legitimate deductions cover unpaid rent, cleaning beyond normal wear, and repairs for actual damage. Ordinary cosmetic wear is not deductible. Miss the 21-day deadline or skip the itemization and you can be on the hook for the entire deposit.
What to Do About Belongings Left Behind
Penal Code 602.3 points to Civil Code Chapter 5, starting at Section 1980, for anything the lodger leaves behind.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 602.3 You can’t just throw the property out or keep it.
Send the former lodger a written notice describing the property, saying where it can be picked up, and setting a claim deadline. That deadline has to be at least 15 days out if you deliver the notice personally, or at least 18 days if you mail it.11California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1983 The notice can mention that you’ll charge reasonable storage costs.
What you can do after the deadline turns on value. If you reasonably believe the total resale value of the unclaimed property is under $700, you can keep it or dispose of it however you want.12California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1988 At $700 or more, you have to hold a public auction, with proceeds covering your storage and sale costs and any surplus going to the county.
Retaliation Is Still a Risk
Civil Code 1942.5 bars landlords from evicting, raising rent, or cutting services in response to a tenant’s complaints about conditions or code violations.13California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1942.5 The statute uses the words “lessor” and “lessee,” and its application to lodgers is not fully settled, but the safer assumption is that a court can extend those principles.
The statute creates a 180-day window after a complaint or inspection during which any eviction action is presumed retaliatory. A finding of retaliation can wipe out the eviction and stick you with the lodger’s attorney’s fees. If your lodger has recently complained about the condition of the home, document the independent reason for ending the arrangement before you serve notice. Timing alone can create an inference that’s hard to shake.
Just Cause and Rent Caps Don’t Apply
The California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) puts rent caps and just cause requirements on most residential tenancies, but it exempts owner-occupied properties where the tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen with the owner.14California City of Berkeley Rent Board. AB 1482 The California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 A qualifying lodger sits inside that exemption. You don’t need just cause to end the arrangement, and the statewide rent cap doesn’t limit what you charge. Add another occupant or hand over exclusive possession of part of the home, and that exemption can fall away with lodger status itself.