California Civil Code Section 1987 requires a landlord to hand over personal property left behind after a tenancy if the former tenant, or anyone the landlord reasonably believes owns the items, pays the reasonable cost of storage and claims the property by the deadline stated in the landlord’s abandonment notice.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987 The statute also builds in a two-day grace period with no storage fees at all, and a second-chance right for the former tenant to reclaim items any time before a scheduled public sale actually takes place.
The 48-Hour No-Cost Window
If you’ve just moved out and realized you left things behind, act fast. Section 1987(c) says that when the property remained inside the dwelling unit and the former tenant, or someone the landlord reasonably believes owns it, comes to retrieve it within two days of vacating, the landlord cannot charge any storage fees.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987
The grace period only applies while the items are still in the dwelling. Once the landlord moves them to a storage facility or anywhere else, reasonable storage costs can be charged from the start. If you can get back within 48 hours, you avoid fees entirely.
Claiming Your Property After the Grace Period
After those first two days, the release process runs on the clock set by the landlord’s written abandonment notice. The landlord has to send that notice under Section 1983 to the former tenant and to any other person they reasonably believe owns the property. The notice has to describe the items, say where to claim them, warn that reasonable storage costs may apply, and give a deadline of at least 15 days after personal delivery or at least 18 days after mailing.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1983 – Disposition of Personal Property Remaining on Premises at Termination of Tenancy
Under Section 1987(a), the landlord must release the property if you show up by that deadline and pay the reasonable cost of storage.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987 For the former tenant, the right to reclaim is automatic. There is no formal application and no required proof-of-ownership form.
The notice form for former tenants, set out in Section 1984, will also tell you what the landlord plans to do if nobody claims the items: a public auction, or, if the landlord believes the total value is under $700, keeping, selling, or destroying them without further notice.3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1984 Read the notice carefully; the deadline and claim location come from that document.
If You’re Not the Former Tenant
Section 1987 lets third parties reclaim their own property too, but the standard is different. The landlord has to release items to anyone they “reasonably believe” owns them. Under Section 1980, “reasonable belief” is what a prudent person would conclude without an investigation, unless the landlord has specific information suggesting a reasonable-cost investigation would turn up something relevant.4California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1980
In practice, bring enough to convince a reasonable person: receipts, photos, serial numbers, or a clear explanation of how the item ended up at that address. The statute doesn’t require any particular document, but it also doesn’t force the landlord to accept a bare claim. Non-tenant owners get a separate notice form under Section 1985, which tracks the tenant form but drops the public-sale language.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1985
One important limit: the second-chance right in the next section applies only to former tenants, not to third-party owners. If you’re a non-tenant and you miss the deadline in the notice, you lose the right to reclaim.
Last Chance Before a Public Sale
Former tenants who miss the notice deadline aren’t necessarily out of options. Section 1987(b) says the landlord must still release the property to the former tenant if they claim it at any time before it is actually sold at the public auction.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Section 1987 The cost goes up, though. You now owe reasonable storage charges plus the advertising and sale-preparation costs the landlord has already incurred.
The window closes the moment the auction concludes. Once the items are sold, your right to the property is gone, though you may be able to recover leftover proceeds from the county treasury within one year after any sale balance is deposited there.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1988
What the Landlord Can Charge You
Storage costs have to be reasonable, and Section 1990 draws a few hard lines. If you’re the former tenant, you can be required to pay storage costs for everything that was left behind, not just the pieces you want back. If you’re a non-tenant owner, you only pay storage costs for the specific items you claim, and the landlord cannot double-bill by charging two different people for the same storage.7Justia Law. California Code CIV 1980-1991 – Premises at Termination of Tenancy
When the landlord keeps your things on the rental premises instead of moving them to an outside facility, the storage charge is capped at the fair rental value of the space the items reasonably occupy for the time they are stored.7Justia Law. California Code CIV 1980-1991 – Premises at Termination of Tenancy A landlord who charges full daily rent for an entire unit when your belongings fit in a closet is overcharging. The fee has to track the space actually used. Costs also have to reflect what was really incurred, which can include reasonable labor for moving and any disassembly needed to transport the items.8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1965
If you reclaim before the public-sale stage, you owe storage only. Once advertising for the sale begins, those costs get added to what you have to pay to get your property back.
If You Miss Every Deadline
When no one claims the property, what happens next depends on value. If the landlord reasonably believes the total resale value is $700 or more, the items go to a public auction with competitive bidding, advertised in a newspaper of general circulation, with the last publication at least five days before the sale.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1988 If the landlord believes the value is under $700, they can keep, sell, or discard the items without any further procedure.
After a sale, the landlord deducts storage, advertising, and sale costs from the proceeds and sends any unclaimed balance to the county treasury within 30 days. The former tenant or other owner has one year from the date the county receives the funds to apply to the county treasurer for that balance.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1988 That money claim is all that survives once the sale is complete, so the practical answer is almost always the same: get back to the property, read the notice, and claim your things before the deadline runs.