San Diego eviction notices, relocation, buyouts, and the notice registry

Start with coverage

The ordinance applies broadly to residential tenancies lasting more than 30 days. A fixed term of three months or less, including a qualifying short fixed-term renewal, is excluded from the ordinance’s definition of tenancy.

Other exemptions can include:

• Transient hotel occupancy.
• Licensed short-term residential occupancy.
• Specified deed-restricted and subsidized affordable housing.
• Mobilehomes covered by the Mobilehome Residency Law, though other mobilehome circumstances may remain covered.
• Certain institutional and nonprofit transitional housing.
• Dormitories.
• Owner-shared kitchen or bathroom housing.
• A qualifying owner-occupied residence with limited bedroom, ADU, or JADU rental.
• A qualifying owner-occupied duplex.
• Housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years.
• Certain separately alienable property with qualifying ownership and written notice.

The Section 8 program is not excluded by the ordinance’s affordable-housing exemption.

The separately alienable-property notice

For a qualifying home, condominium, mobilehome, or other property that can be sold separately (a “separately alienable” property), Municipal Code section 98.0703(l) requires specific ownership conditions and exact written exemption language.

For a tenancy commencing or renewing on or after January 1, 2024, the statement must be in the lease.

Use the current statutory wording. Do not paraphrase it.

Give the general Tenant Protection notice

For covered property, Municipal Code section 98.0705 requires a written notice in at least 12-point type stating that:

• California law limits rent increases.
• A termination notice must state cause.
• Seniors and persons with disabilities may have additional rights.

The owner must include the San Diego Housing Commission’s Tenant Protection Guide.

For a new or renewed tenancy, include the notice and Guide in the lease or in a separate signed notice delivered when the lease is signed.

Maintain proof of the version, language, delivery, and tenant acknowledgment.

Choose the correct path

At-fault just cause

Current grounds can include:

• Nonpayment.
• Material lease breach.
• Nuisance.
• Waste.
• Unapproved subletting.
• Refusal to renew a similar lease.
• Criminal activity.
• Unlawful use.
• Refusal of lawful entry.
• Termination of qualifying employment, agency, or license.
• Failure to surrender after the tenant’s written commitment.

No-fault just cause

Current grounds include:

• Owner or qualifying-family occupancy.
• Withdrawal from the rental market.
• Compliance with a government or court order.
• Demolition or qualifying substantial remodel.

Voluntary buyout

Under the City definition, a buyout is a voluntary agreement in which the tenant accepts payment or another agreed benefit to move out. It is not an eviction notice or a settlement of an eviction lawsuit that has already been filed.

Select the pathway before making an offer or serving a document.

At-fault notices

For a curable lease violation, section 98.0706 requires:

1. A written notice describing the violation.
2. An opportunity to cure under state law.
3. If not cured, the applicable termination notice without another cure opportunity.

The owner should preserve:

• Lease and addenda.
• Rent ledger.
• Tenant and occupant history.
• Written warnings and notices.
• Access requests.
• Photographs, recordings, reports, invoices, and witness statements.
• Repair and habitability records.
• Accommodation and retaliation analysis.
• Proof of service.

The exact ground, cure, facts, timing, and service must satisfy City and California law.

No-fault notices

Section 98.0706 requires a 30- or 60-day written notice under state law, in at least 12-point type.

The notice must state:

• The basis for termination.
• The tenant’s relocation right.
• Whether the owner will use direct payment or rent waiver.
• The amount and timing.
• Applicable five-year offer-back rights.
• How the tenant preserves the right to receive an offer.

Ground-specific provisions can require additional names, relationships, permits, work descriptions, documents, and statements.

Relocation is two or three months of actual rent

For a covered no-fault termination, the City requires:

• Two months of the actual rent in effect on the notice date; or
• Three months of actual rent when the tenant is a senior or a person with a disability.

The owner may choose:

• Direct payment; or
• Waiver of currently due or future rent through the end of the tenancy in the corresponding amount.

For direct payment, the notice must state the amount and that payment will be provided within 15 days of the notice.

Additional points:

• Relocation applies regardless of income or tenancy length.
• A single payment may be made to all lease-named tenants.
• Security-deposit return remains separate.
• City relocation may be credited against other relocation owed by law.
• If the tenant does not surrender after the notice expires, amounts actually paid may be recoverable as damages in the possession action.

Do not assume the state one-month rule controls.

Owner and family occupancy

The current ordinance requires good faith and a detailed plan.

Review:

• Whether the owner meets the City’s ownership definition.
• Qualifying relationship.
• Lease language.
• Whether the intended occupant already occupies a unit at the property.
• Whether a similar vacant unit is available.
• Notice identification and proof.
• Move-in within 90 days.
• At least 12 continuous months as the primary residence.
• Relocation.
• Offer-back and moving-expense consequences if the plan fails.

For post-June 24, 2023 leases, the ground generally requires either the tenant’s written agreement or an express lease provision.

Substantial remodel and demolition

The current ordinance incorporates California’s permit and hazardous-material framework and adds City-specific notice duties.

Before service, confirm:

• Permitted structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical work, or lawful hazardous-material abatement.
• That the tenant cannot remain safely.
• Required vacancy duration.
• Approved permits.
• Detailed work description and schedule.
• The required statement about re-rental.
• Tenant contact and return-interest process.
• Relocation.
• California SB 567 requirements.

Cosmetic work does not qualify by itself.

Five-year offer-back rights

When property recovered under specified no-fault grounds is offered again for residential rent within five years, the owner may be required to offer it first to the displaced tenant.

The termination notice must explain that the tenant should:

• Notify the owner in writing within 30 days after the termination notice that the tenant wants an offer.
• Provide a mailing or email address.
• Keep that address current.

If the right applies, the written offer may state neutral industry-accepted screening criteria, and the tenant has 30 days after receipt to accept.

Create a five-year calendar and preserve contact updates.

San Diego buyout disclosures

Before making a buyout offer, section 98.0707 requires a written disclosure for every tenant.

The disclosure must address:

• The right to refuse.
• The right to consult counsel.
• Protection against retaliation.
• The right to refuse future offers for six months in writing and later rescind that refusal.
• The relocation amount available under the ordinance.
• Every person authorized to negotiate for the owner.
• Signature and date spaces for each tenant and the owner.

The owner must:

• Give each tenant a fully executed disclosure within three days.
• Retain the signed disclosure and delivery record for five years.
• Stop offers during an effective six-month refusal period.

San Diego buyout agreement requirements

The agreement must:

• Be in writing.
• Be given to each tenant when signed.
• Include the exact required statements in bold, at least 14-point type, near the tenant signature.
• State that the tenant need not agree.
• State that the tenant may consult counsel.
• State that an agreement below the legally required relocation amount is void.
• Be provided in English and a translated version when negotiations or the lease were primarily in another language.
• Provide consideration greater than the City relocation assistance available to the tenant.

The ordinance makes noncompliant agreements void and prohibits waiver.

In addition, a complete agreement should address parties and occupants, payment, possession, rent, deposit, condition, keys, personal property, releases, default, and communication.

The Tenant Termination Notice Registry is not active yet

The Municipal Code contemplates notice to the San Diego Housing Commission within three business days after an at-fault or no-fault termination notice.

However, the filing requirement does not begin until 30 days after SDHC creates the online portal and publicly announces it.

As of July 26, 2026, SDHC’s official page states:

• The Tenant Termination Notice Registry has not yet been created.
• Landlords are not currently required to file termination notices with SDHC under this provision.
• Implementation awaits further City action concerning funding and the TRUST ordinance.

This status can change quickly. Check SDHC on the day of service and calendar a post-service filing if activation has occurred.

Do not confuse the future termination registry with SDHC’s Section 8 Landlord Portal, rent-change system, or program notice duties.

Section 8 adds a separate workflow

For an SDHC-assisted tenancy, review:

• HAP contract and tenancy addendum.
• Notice to SDHC.
• Program cause and lease rules.
• Housing-quality inspections.
• Rent reasonableness.
• Rent-change submission.
• Source-of-income protection.
• City and state just cause.

The general SDHC landlord page should not be read to override the newer City ordinance or a contract-specific requirement.

Owner pre-service checklist

• City boundary confirmed.
• Coverage and exemption notice verified.
• Tenant Protection notice and Guide delivered.
• Exact at-fault, no-fault, or buyout path selected.
• Evidence and lease reviewed.
• Fair-housing, retaliation, and habitability risks reviewed.
• Ground-specific conditions met.
• Current notice wording, font, attachments, and service checked.
• Relocation classification and method documented.
• Payment or waiver completed on time.
• Offer-back calendar and tenant contact process created.
• SDHC registry activation checked.
• Section 8 or other program requirements completed.
• Litigation handoff file prepared.

How Law Laguna can help you move forward

Depending on scope, Law Laguna can:

• Determine City and California coverage.
• Review exemption and Tenant Protection notices.
• Analyze an at-fault or no-fault ground.
• Review or prepare pre-litigation notices and communications.
• Calculate and document City relocation.
• Review owner-occupancy or remodel plans.
• Structure or review a tenant buyout.
• Create an offer-back and compliance calendar.
• Check registry activation and filing duties.
• Coordinate a Section 8 matter.
• Organize the record for litigation counsel if a filed case is required.

Related guidance

• City of San Diego landlord law for property owners
• California Tenant Protection Act and AB 1482
• Pre-Litigation Eviction and Possession Assessment

Review the process before communicating with the tenant

Bring the address, title, entity documents, lease, exemption notice, Tenant Protection notice and Guide, tenancy history, rent ledger, evidence, tenant-status information, permits, project plan, proposed ground, buyout communications, subsidy documents, and timeline.

Review the San Diego Termination or Buyout Before Action