Lease renewal guide
Updated 2026-09-04 · 7 min read
90 days out
Start the renewal conversation three months before the end date and you choose the outcome; start at 30 and the statute chooses it for you.
A lease end has exactly three outcomes: a new fixed term, a conversion to month-to-month, or a vacancy. Which one you get is mostly a function of when you opened the conversation.
The three outcomes
| Outcome | How it happens | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| New fixed term | You offer, they sign, before the end date | A rent number you can defend |
| Month-to-month | Nobody acts, or you choose it | Less certainty, usually a premium |
| Vacancy | Either side gives notice | The turnover cost |
Doing nothing is a choice; it just selects the middle row by default.
The timetable that works
- 0190 days out — decide your number with the rent increase calculator and price the alternative.
- 0275 days out — ask the tenant, informally, what their plans are.
- 0360 days out — send the written offer, with the increase notice attached if there is one.
- 0445 days out — chase once, warmly.
- 0530 days out — if there is no answer, plan for a vacancy and start marketing.
Sixty days is not arbitrary: it is the notice period California requires from the landlord for a tenant of a year or more (Civ. Code § 1946.1, checked 2026-09-04), so an offer made then still leaves you a lawful route to either outcome.
What a renewal offer should contain
- The new term and its start and end dates.
- The rent, and whether it changes — with the notice period satisfied.
- Anything else that is changing, each stated once.
- A reply-by date, and what happens if they do not reply.
Offer two options
A 12-month at one number and a month-to-month at a slightly higher one converts far more renewals than a single take-it-or-leave-it figure — and it lets the tenant choose the outcome you can both live with.
Renewing and raising at the same time
It is one conversation and two documents: the renewal offer, and the increase notice with its own service record. Do not fold the increase into the renewal body and assume the notice period ran — see the rent increase letter template.
And price the raise against the risk. A vacancy usually costs more than a year of a moderate increase; the arithmetic is in turnover cost.