What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in California?

In California, a landlord must give written notice describing personal property left after a tenant vacates and stating where and by what date it may be claimed, a date at least 15 days after personal delivery or 18 days after mailing, must store it with reasonable care until then, and must sell unclaimed property at a public sale after newspaper notice unless it reasonably believes the property is worth less than $700, in which case it may keep or dispose of it. The notice must tell the person that reasonable storage costs may be charged before the property is returned, and a copy mailed to the former tenant must also go to the vacated premises; it may also be emailed if the tenant gave the landlord an email address. A former tenant who reclaims property left in the dwelling within two days of vacating pays no storage. After the costs of storage, advertising and sale are deducted, any unclaimed balance of the sale proceeds is paid into the county treasury within 30 days, and the former tenant or other owner may claim it within one year. After an eviction, the landlord stores property remaining on the premises, releases it if the tenant pays the storage costs and claims it by the date in the writ of possession, and disposes of unclaimed property under the same public-sale rule. This is Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1174.

WhatCalifornia
Belongings left behindNotify, hold 15 days (18 if mailed), then sell
What the statute requires firstNotice, a waiting period or storage before disposal

What the statute says

“The date specified in the notice shall be a date not less than 15 days after the notice is personally delivered or, if mailed, not less than 18 days after the notice is deposited in the mail.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1174

Read the statute in the California Codes (California Legislative Information): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.

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