A landlord selling a tenant-occupied rental in California can serve a single written notice under Civil Code Section 1954 that lasts 120 days and allows oral notice for each individual showing. That document, commonly called a 120-day notice to sell in California, does not end the tenancy or change the lease. It only changes how the landlord arranges access for prospective buyers during the marketing period.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit
What the Notice Does
Without the notice, every showing requires a separate written notice delivered at least 24 hours in advance, stating the date, approximate time, and reason for entry.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit With multiple buyers touring in a single week, that gets unmanageable fast.
The 120-day notice replaces the per-visit paperwork with a single upfront document. Once it is served, the landlord or the listing agent can call the tenant or speak with them in person to schedule each visit, so long as the notice is given at least 24 hours before entry.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit The 24-hour rule itself doesn’t go away. Neither does the tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment. What changes is the format of the notice, not the substance of the tenant’s protections.
What the Written Notice Must Say
Section 1954 requires two things in the notice: a statement that the property is for sale, and a statement that the landlord or an agent may contact the tenant orally to arrange showings for prospective buyers.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit Those two statements are the statutory minimum.
Well-drafted notices go further and include the property address, the tenant’s name, the start and end dates of the 120-day window, and the name and contact information for whoever will be coordinating showings. The statute doesn’t require those extras, but adding them prevents later arguments about whether the tenant understood what they had received. Pre-printed forms from real estate trade associations and legal form providers typically cover all of it.
Serving the Notice
The notice must be in writing. Section 1954 doesn’t prescribe a specific delivery method for this particular notice, so the safest options are the ones landlords use for other legal papers:
- Personal delivery. Hand the notice to the tenant. This is the cleanest method and avoids arguments about receipt.
- Substituted service. If the tenant isn’t home, leave the notice with another adult at the residence and mail a copy by first-class mail.
- Certified or registered mail. Creates a dated paper trail. Keep the receipt.
Document whatever method you use. A short proof-of-service note stating the date, method, and server’s name protects the landlord if the tenant later claims the notice never arrived. The 120-day clock starts on the date the tenant actually receives the notice, or is deemed to have received it by mail. If the property is still on the market when the window closes, the landlord must serve a fresh written notice to keep using oral scheduling.
How Showings Work Once the Notice Is Active
Each showing still needs 24 hours of advance notice, but that notice can now be spoken. A phone call or an in-person conversation is enough, provided it states the date, approximate time, and purpose of the visit.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit
Showings have to happen during normal business hours. That phrase is broader than it sounds. In Dromy v. Lukovsky, the Court of Appeal held that “normal business hours” means objectively reasonable hours given the circumstances, and because real estate agents customarily hold open houses on weekends, weekend showings aren’t automatically excluded.2FindLaw. Dromy v. Lukovsky Reasonableness controls, not a fixed weekday window.
Anyone who enters for a showing has to leave written evidence of the entry inside the unit, such as a business card or a brief note.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit That requirement applies whether or not the tenant is present. The tenant may be there during a showing but doesn’t have to be.
How Often Is Too Often
The notice is not a license to run buyers through the unit every day. There is no set weekly cap, but showings frequent enough to interfere with normal use of the home can look like harassment. Landlords who consolidate viewings, share the general marketing schedule with the tenant, and stay flexible on timing avoid most disputes before they start.
When a Tenant Refuses to Cooperate
A tenant cannot simply block showings after proper notice. Entry for prospective buyers is one of the purposes Section 1954 expressly allows.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit If a tenant refuses lawful access, the landlord can go to court for an order compelling access or for damages caused by the interference.
What the landlord cannot do is self-help. Forcing entry, changing locks, or cutting off utilities to pressure the tenant violates California’s anti-lockout rules and exposes the landlord to penalties of at least $100 per day. Most access disputes have a fixable cause: bad timing, privacy worries, too many visits in a week. Offering to limit open houses to one or two per week or working around the tenant’s schedule usually resolves the standoff without a filing.
Penalties for Improper Entry
Section 1954 doesn’t attach a specific dollar penalty to unauthorized entry, but a tenant can sue for actual damages caused by an illegal entry under general civil liability rules. Lost work time, ruined plans, damaged belongings, and emotional distress are all on the table.
The heavier exposure sits in Civil Code Section 1940.2. If a landlord commits a “significant and intentional” violation of Section 1954 for the purpose of influencing a tenant to vacate, the tenant can recover up to $2,000 per violation on top of actual damages.3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1940.2 A single scheduling mix-up won’t trigger it. A pattern of unannounced entries designed to make the tenant leave is exactly what the statute targets.
Other Entries Still Require Written Notice
The 120-day notice covers only showings for prospective buyers. Every other reason for entry, including repairs, inspections, and pest control, still requires the standard written notice at least 24 hours before entry, stating the date, approximate time, and purpose. When that written notice is mailed rather than personally delivered, mailing at least six days before the planned entry is presumed reasonable.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1954 – Entry of Dwelling Unit If you are marketing and maintaining at the same time, keep the two tracks separate: oral for showings under the active notice, written for everything else.
The Notice Does Not Affect the Lease
Selling doesn’t end the tenancy. When the property changes hands, the existing lease stays in force and the buyer inherits the landlord’s obligations: same rent, same lease terms, same maintenance duties.4California Department of Real Estate. Landlord and Tenant A buyer who doesn’t want to be a landlord should understand that before closing, and a tenant fielding showings should know that the marketing period does not, by itself, put their tenancy at risk.