California residential lease agreement

What the California form covers

• The home, the people, the rent, the deposit, and the house rules.
• A question for which rent rules cover the home. A qualifying single-family or condominium exemption prints the Civil Code notice. The form does not guess this year's cost-of-living change.
• A security deposit of one month's rent. A small landlord who qualifies can record up to two months, except when a tenant is a service member.
• At least one way to pay that is a check or a money order, and entry notice of at least 24 hours.
• The federal lead warning when the home was built before 1978.

What this form will not prepare

• San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, East Palo Alto, Richmond, San Jose, Mountain View, Hayward, and Alameda stop here. Those cities keep their own rent rules, and this statewide form does not replace them.
• Subsidized housing, a stay under 30 days, rent-to-own, a stay tied to a home sale, a mobile-home park, a room in the owner's home, commercial space, and submetered utilities are outside this form.

This is a residential lease template. It is not legal advice, and it is not a law firm.

Download the PDF or sign it here

When the answers are complete, download the lease or send it to the landlord and each tenant. The lease is marked signed only after every one of them has signed.