The maximum lease term in California is 99 years for most private property, including both residential and commercial leases on town or city lots. Agricultural and horticultural land is capped at 51 years. City-owned property has a default limit of 55 years, which can be stretched to 99 only through a formal public process, and several special property categories (tidelands, mineral leases, sewage-related land) carry their own shorter ceilings. These limits sit in Civil Code Sections 717, 718, and 719, and they apply to the written lease term plus any renewal options stacked on top of it.
The 99-Year Cap on Town and City Lots
Civil Code 718 is the governing statute for most urban property. It provides that no lease of a town or city lot reserving any rent or service may exceed 99 years.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 718 – Duration of Leases A lease that attempts to run longer is not valid for the excess period. The cap applies equally to residential and commercial leases, and there is no mechanism in the statute for private parties to waive it.
In practice, 99-year leases show up almost exclusively in ground leases for large commercial developments, where a landowner leases the dirt to a developer who constructs and owns the building for the life of the lease. For a tenant signing a one-year apartment lease or a five-year office lease, the 99-year number is academic. For anyone involved in a long-term ground lease or an institutional development deal, it’s the hard statutory wall.
Agricultural and Horticultural Land: 51 Years
Farmland is treated more restrictively. Civil Code 717 limits any lease of land for agricultural or horticultural purposes to 51 years when the lease reserves rent or service of any kind.2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 717 – Duration of Leases The shorter cap reflects a longstanding policy concern about locking productive farmland into multi-generational arrangements.
The 51-year ceiling applies regardless of who owns the land. A landowner leasing acreage for a vineyard, orchard, or row crop operation cannot enter a 75-year lease even if both sides want one. If the purpose of the lease is agricultural or horticultural, 51 years is the outer limit.
City-Owned and Municipal Property
Property owned or controlled by a city has a default cap of 55 years under Civil Code 718 and Government Code 37380. The limit covers any department or board of the municipality, not just the city as a corporate entity.
Cities can push a lease past 55 years and up to 99, but only by following a specific procedure. Under Civil Code 719 and the parallel Government Code provision, a city must adopt an authorizing ordinance subject to referendum, hold a public hearing with published notice, award the lease through competitive bidding to the bidder offering the greatest economic return, and build in periodic reviews tied to current market conditions.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 719 – Duration of Leases Charter cities may substitute their own procedures for the competitive bidding and public hearing steps, but they still need an authorizing ordinance.
Several categories of municipal property carry their own sublimits under Civil Code 718:
- Oil, gas, and mineral production on municipal property not acquired for park purposes: up to 35 years.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 718 – Duration of Leases
- Tidelands or submerged lands granted to a city by the state: up to 66 years, unless the state grant specifies a different term, and limited to harbor development, industrial uses, wharf construction, and other purposes consistent with commerce or navigation.
- Sewage and sewage effluent: up to 50 years.
- City agricultural land where sewage or wastewater is discharged: up to 25 years.
What Happens if a Lease Exceeds the Maximum
A lease that attempts to run longer than the statutory cap is not void in its entirety. California courts treat only the period beyond the maximum as invalid, so the lease remains enforceable for the full term the statute allows.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 718 – Duration of Leases A 120-year lease on a city lot becomes a 99-year lease; the last 21 years drop off. The same logic applies to an agricultural lease that runs past 51 years.
That outcome is more forgiving than many parties expect, but it still creates real problems. A developer who structured financing around a 120-year ground lease now holds a 99-year interest, which can change loan terms, appraisals, and project economics. Litigating the question costs money even when the answer is predictable. Getting the term right at drafting is cheaper than fixing it later.
Renewal Options Count Toward the Cap
The maximum term is not just about the base lease. Renewal and extension options stacked on top of the original term count toward the statutory ceiling. A 10-year lease with multiple five-year renewal options stays within Civil Code 718 only if the original term plus every possible renewal period adds up to 99 years or less. Options that could theoretically push the total past the cap risk having the excess declared void under the same reasoning courts apply to the base term.
Renewal provisions are also where most long-term commercial lease disputes start. California law does not impose a default notice period for exercising a commercial renewal option, so the lease has to spell out the deadline. Courts enforce clear renewal clauses as written, and a tenant who misses the notice window by a day can lose the option. If the lease language is vague about rent adjustments or exercise timing, that ambiguity usually surfaces at renewal.
Written and Recorded: Making a Long Lease Hold Up
Any lease longer than one year has to be in writing. Under Civil Code 1624, California’s Statute of Frauds makes an oral lease for more than one year invalid, and the same rule applies to any agreement authorizing an agent or broker to negotiate a lease longer than a year.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1624 – Statute of Frauds An oral agreement for 18 months is unenforceable even if both sides performed under it.
Recording matters too. Civil Code 1214 provides that any conveyance of real property or estate for years, other than a lease of one year or less, is void against a subsequent good-faith purchaser or mortgagee who records first.5California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1214 If you hold a five-year commercial lease and the landlord sells to a buyer who records the deed before you record your lease, your leasehold can be wiped out. Many commercial tenants record a memorandum of lease rather than the full document, putting future buyers on notice of the lease without exposing the business terms. The recording fee is small compared to the risk on any long-term lease.
Mobilehome Park Spaces
Mobilehome park tenancies fall under their own statute, the Mobilehome Residency Law. Park management must offer each homeowner a rental agreement of at least 12 months, though homeowners can request a shorter term or both sides can agree to a longer one.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 798.18 – Rental Agreement Term There is no separate statutory maximum for mobilehome space leases beyond the general 99-year and 51-year caps.
What makes mobilehome leases distinctive is the rent control trade-off. Under Civil Code 798.17, a rental agreement longer than 12 months that meets certain criteria is exempt from local rent control ordinances.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 798.17 – Rental Agreement Signing a long-term mobilehome lease can trade rent control protection for a locked-in term. Homeowners have at least 30 days to accept or reject a proposed long-term agreement and can void a signed agreement within 72 hours of returning it to management. Anyone weighing a mobilehome lease longer than 12 months should run the rent control numbers before signing.