Guide · 5 min read · updated 2026-09-18

What a California landlord can do with a tenant's abandoned belongings

The 15- and 18-day notices, the $700 line between keeping and a public sale, and the 15 days after an eviction lockout, each cited to the Civil Code section.

Not legal advice. We haul junk; we are not lawyers. This page states what the code sections say and links each one in the sources below. Laws change and your notice, lease or governing documents control your situation. For a deadline that matters, read the section itself or talk to a California attorney.

The short answer

California gives landlords an optional procedure in Civil Code §§1980 to 1991 for property left behind after a tenant moves out. You send a written notice. The former tenant gets at least 15 days to claim the property if you hand them the notice, or 18 days if you mail it (§1983(b)). If nobody claims it and you reasonably believe everything left is worth less than $700, you may keep it or dispose of it. At $700 or more, it goes to a published public sale (§1988(a)).

The procedure is optional, but it is the one that protects you. §1989 says a landlord who follows it is not liable to anyone who was given notice. §1981(e) says that if you skip the requirements, the chapter does nothing for you.

Step 1: send the notice

§1983(a) requires written notice to the former tenant and to anyone else you reasonably believe owns any of the property: a roommate, or a finance company with a lien on the furniture.

The notice has to say three things (§1983(b)): that reasonable storage costs may be charged before anything is returned, where the property can be claimed, and the date by which it must be claimed.

Handed over in person: the claim date is at least 15 days after delivery.
Mailed first class: at least 18 days after it goes in the mail. One copy goes to the unit the tenant vacated (§1983(c)). If the tenant gave you an email address, you may also email it.

You do not have to write the notice yourself. The statute prints the form: §1984 for the former tenant, titled "Notice of Right to Reclaim Abandoned Property," and §1985 for other owners. Copy them word for word.

The $700 line

The form notice in §1984(b) ends with one of two statements, and you pick one based on what you reasonably believe the leftovers are worth.

Worth less than $700: the notice says the property "may be kept, sold, or destroyed without further notice" if it is not reclaimed in time. After the date passes, §1988(a) lets you keep it or dispose of it in any manner.
Worth $700 or more: the notice says it will be sold at a public sale. §1988(b) requires the sale to be advertised in a newspaper under Government Code §6066, with the last notice at least five days before the sale. After storage, advertising and sale costs come out, the rest goes to the county within 30 days of the sale. The former owner can claim it from the county for one year (§1988(c)).

The number is the total resale value of everything left, not what it cost new. A stained couch, a broken dresser and a garage of boxes usually come in well under the line. A car, tools or anything with a title often do not.

Storing it while the clock runs

Until the claim date, the property either stays in the unit or goes somewhere safe (§1986). You have to take reasonable care of it, but you are not liable for a loss you did not cause deliberately or negligently.

You can charge storage before releasing it. If it stays in the unit, the charge is the fair rental value of the space it takes up (§1990(c)). There is one exception that matters on turnover day: if the former tenant comes back within two days of moving out and the things are still in the unit, you release them with no storage charge (§1987(c), §1990(c)). Do not haul anything out on day one.

After an eviction

Property left after a sheriff's lockout follows a slightly different path. The writ of possession itself warns the tenant that belongings left behind will be disposed of under Code of Civil Procedure §1174 unless they pay reasonable storage and collect them within 15 days after you take possession (CCP §715.010(b)(3)).

§1174(g) requires you to keep the property somewhere safe until it is released or disposed of. You still send the §1983 notice to anyone other than the tenant you believe owns something (§1174(f)). Anything not claimed is then disposed of under Civil Code §1988, so the same $700 line applies (§1174(i)).

When the tenant asks for it back in writing

Civil Code §1965 runs the other direction. If a former tenant asks in writing, within 18 days of moving out, for specific belongings you are holding, and gives a mailing address, you have five days from receiving the request to send an itemized bill for reasonable removal and storage costs. They then have 72 hours after paying to collect. A landlord who ignores this in bad faith can owe up to $250 per violation plus attorney's fees (§1965(e)(2)). §1965 does not apply once the §1980 procedure has been started (§1965(c)).

When the tenant just stopped paying and vanished

That is a different notice. If rent has gone unpaid for at least 14 consecutive days and you reasonably believe the tenant has left, Civil Code §1951.3 lets you serve a notice of belief of abandonment. The lease ends on a date at least 15 days after personal service, or 18 days after mailing. The tenant defeats it by replying in writing that they have not abandoned the unit, or by paying rent. §1991 lets you combine that notice with the §1983 property notice in one document.

What hauling looks like on a turnover

By the time a cleanout crew arrives, the paperwork should already be done. What we need from a landlord or property manager:

The claim date on the notice has passed, or the two-day window in §1987(c) is over and you have decided to store rather than dispose.
A list of anything to set aside rather than haul, such as items you believe are worth enough to go to sale, papers, photos and anything titled.
Access, and any HOA or building rules on truck hours.

We photograph the unit before and after, which is also your record of what was removed. Our standard is in the trash-out photo documentation guide. Pricing for rental turnovers is on the trash-outs and property cleanouts pages, and our landlord page covers repeat work.

Sources

Every fee above is read from the operator's own published sheet and shown with its effective date. Rates change; call the gate before you load a truck around a number.

California Civil Code §1980: definitions — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1981: scope, an optional procedure — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1983: notice, 15 and 18 days — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1984: form notice to the former tenant — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1985: form notice to other owners — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1986: storage — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1987: release, the two-day rule — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1988: public sale, the $700 threshold — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1989: landlord protection from liability — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1990: storage costs — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1991: combined notices — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1965: tenant's written request for return — read 2026-09-18
California Civil Code §1951.3: notice of belief of abandonment — read 2026-09-18
California Code of Civil Procedure §1174: property after an eviction — read 2026-09-18
California Code of Civil Procedure §715.010: writ of possession, the 15-day statement — read 2026-09-18