20
Years of Service
$100M
Recovered
99%
Success Rate
1000+
Five-star Reviews
In California, landlords often tell tenants they must move out because the property is being sold. This is almost always unlawful. Under both state and local rent control laws, sale is not a legal reason to terminate a tenancy. If a tenant vacates because they are told the home is being sold, they may have been wrongfully evicted and could be entitled to significant damages.
The sale of a rental property does not eliminate tenant protections. A buyer can take ownership subject to the existing tenancy. Any effort to pressure a tenant into leaving based solely on a sale is a violation of law.
If you have been told to vacate because your landlord is selling—or if you already moved out under pressure—you may have a strong case. The tenant lawyers at Tobener Ravenscroft LLP have successfully represented thousands of tenants in sale-based wrongful eviction cases. Contact our office for a consultation.
The California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 at Civil Code section 1946.2 requires landlords to state a just cause when evicting tenants who have occupied their home for twelve months or more. Just cause reasons are strictly limited. P ermissible no-fault grounds include:
Nowhere in the statute is “sale” listed as a valid reason to evict. Even if a buyer claims they intend to move in, the parties must comply with owner-move-in rules, which require good-faith occupancy for at least twelve months and a sworn declaration.
Issuing a notice to vacate simply because a unit is for sale—or is in escrow—is not just cause and is a violation of state law.
California cities with rent control and just-cause ordinances provide even stronger protections. All of them—including San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Richmond, and others—do not list “sale” as a permissible reason to terminate a tenancy. For example, the San Francisco Rent Ordinance (Administrative Code section 37.9) prohibits removing a tenant unless one of the specific just causes is met. Similarly, Oakland Municipal Code section 8.22.360 limits evictions to listed causes only. Sale is not among them. In both cities, attempts to terminate a tenancy for sale, or to pressure tenants to leave based on future plans, may be considered a “wrongful endeavor to recover possession” under the law. This means the landlord may be liable for damages even if they did not serve a formal eviction notice. These local protections reflect the principle that tenants should not be displaced to maximize a landlord’s resale value.
When a tenant is forced to leave due to a landlord’s unlawful conduct, such as misrepresenting that sale requires vacancy, the courts treat it as a wrongful eviction or constructive eviction. In Spinks v. Equity Residential, 171 Cal. App. 4th 1004 (2009), the court confirmed that tenants who move under pressure or misstatements may sue for damages even if they leave “voluntarily.”
Damages in a wrongful eviction case may include:
In Chacon v. Litke (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 1234, the court affirmed that rent-differential damages may be awarded for the projected length of time the tenant would have remained in the rent-controlled unit but for the unlawful eviction. In that case, the court upheld an award based on a twenty-year rent loss. This means that a tenant paying significantly below-market rent who is forced out for a sale may be able to recover significant sums.
Landlords and agents often tell tenants they must move out before escrow closes, or that the buyer wants a “vacant building.” Some offer cash for keys. Others send informal notices or harass tenants into leaving. These are all red flags. Tenants are often not told that the law protects their right to stay, that their lease survives the sale, and that rent control continues under a new owner. These omissions and tactics may amount to a wrongful endeavor to recover possession, even if no formal notice is issued.
In most local rent-control jurisdictions, real estate agents can be held legally responsible when they assist landlords in violating tenant protection laws. A r real estate agents may be liable for wrongful eviction or for participating in a wrongful endeavor to recover possession if they help a landlord pressure, mislead, or unlawfully attempt to remove a tenant during a sale. This includes delivering informal notices falsely claiming that the tenant must vacate, offering unlawful cash-for-keys deals without disclosure of tenant rights, threatening eviction without just cause, or advising the landlord to list the property as “vacant” while the tenant still lawfully occupies the unit. In many cases, real estate agents falsely tell tenants that they must leave before escrow closes or imply that a tenancy cannot survive a sale—both of which are legally untrue. Aiding or abetting an illegal eviction can expose the real estate agent to civil liability, including actual and punitive damages. Realtors have a legal duty not to engage in or encourage conduct that would result in a violation of tenant protections.
Under both California law and local rent ordinances, sale is never just cause to evict a tenant. Any attempt to remove a tenant based on a sale, even informally, may qualify as a wrongful endeavor to recover possession and support a claim for wrongful eviction. The financial and emotional harm caused by losing a long-term, rent-controlled home is compensable under state and local law. In many cases, tenants may recover moving costs, rent differentials, emotional distress, and long-term lost housing value, as upheld in Chacon v. Litke.
If you have been told to vacate because your landlord is selling—or if you already moved out under pressure—you may have a strong case. The tenant lawyers at Tobener Ravenscroft LLP have successfully represented thousands of tenants in sale-based wrongful eviction cases. Contact our office for a consultation.
