Someone Is Living in Your Rental Who Isn't on the Lease. Here Is the Notice to Serve

Published July 25, 2026

Once you've confirmed an unauthorized occupant needs to be addressed, California law points to a specific 3 day notice. Here is exactly what it must say and how to serve it.

You found out someone is living in your rental who was never on the lease. Before you do anything else, know that California law does not let you go straight to eviction. You start with a written notice, generally a 3 day notice to perform covenant or quit under Code of Civil Procedure section 1161(3), served on your actual tenant, giving them a chance to fix the violation. Here is what that notice needs to say and how to serve it correctly.

First, make sure this is the right notice

This post assumes you have already worked through the harder question, whether the unauthorized occupant has been there long enough, paying rent or otherwise acting like a tenant, that they may have become a tenant themselves under California's implied tenancy rules. That is a separate legal question with its own answer, and if you have not already sorted through it, read that first. What follows here is the next step once you have concluded this is a true unauthorized occupancy: someone living in the unit without your consent and without a lease, and your actual tenant is the one who let it happen.

If that is where you are, the occupant having someone stay without permission is a breach of the lease's occupancy terms, not a criminal matter and not something you handle by changing locks or confronting the occupant directly. It is a lease violation, and California treats lease violations through a specific notice and cure process.

Why a 3 day notice, not something else

Code of Civil Procedure section 1161 lays out the different notices landlords can serve depending on what went wrong. Nonpayment of rent gets a 3 day pay or quit notice. A lease violation, other than nonpayment, gets the notice under subdivision (3): three days' written notice requiring either that the tenant perform the violated condition or covenant, or surrender the property. An unauthorized occupant living in the unit without permission is a breach of the lease's occupancy clause (nearly every lease specifies who is allowed to live there), which puts it squarely under this subdivision, not the pay or quit track and not an unconditional quit notice, which is reserved for violations the tenant cannot fix.

The statute gives the tenant a real opportunity to correct the problem. That is the "cure" part of "cure or quit." If your tenant removes the unauthorized occupant, or gets them approved as an authorized occupant, within the notice period, the lease violation is resolved and there is no basis to proceed further. Skipping straight to a demand that the tenant vacate, without offering the chance to cure, is the kind of mistake that gets a later unlawful detainer case thrown out.

What the notice has to say

The notice needs to be in writing and needs to clearly identify the violation and what will resolve it. In practice, a notice under this section should include:

• The property address and the tenant's name, matching the lease exactly.
• A statement of the specific lease provision being violated, for example the occupancy or "no unauthorized occupants" clause, and the fact pattern (an individual not listed on the lease is residing at the unit).
• What curing the violation requires: the unauthorized occupant must vacate, or the tenant must submit an application to add them to the lease and receive your written approval, within the notice period.
• The consequence if the tenant does neither: surrender of the premises, and that legal proceedings to recover possession may follow.
• The date of service and the three day count, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays. That exclusion is written into the statute itself and it changes the actual deadline more often than owners expect, a notice served on a Thursday does not expire on Sunday.

Be specific rather than vague. "You have an unauthorized guest" invites a dispute over what that means. Naming the person, if you know who they are, and citing the exact lease clause gives your tenant no ambiguity about what needs to happen and gives you a cleaner record if this ends up in front of a judge later.

Who and how to serve it

The notice goes to your tenant, the person on the lease, not the unauthorized occupant, because your legal relationship and your lease terms run to the tenant. California allows service by personal delivery, or if the tenant cannot be found at home or work, by substituted service (leaving it with someone of suitable age at the residence and mailing a copy), or by posting and mailing as a last resort if the first two are not reasonably possible. Keep a dated record of however you served it, and consider having someone other than yourself do the serving and sign a proof of service. If this later becomes a court matter, defects in service are one of the most common reasons a case gets delayed or dismissed, and you want that piece to be unquestionable.

If the tenant cures, or doesn't

If your tenant removes the occupant or gets them properly added to the lease within the three days, the matter is closed. Document that the cure happened, ideally in writing from the tenant, and move on. There is no requirement to take further action once a covenant violation has been cured.

If the three days pass with no cure and no response, you are in the same position as any other uncured lease violation: the next formal step is an unlawful detainer filing, the same court process used for other evictions. That is a bigger undertaking with its own forms, fees, and service rules, worth reading up on separately before you file.

Common questions

Do I serve the notice on the unauthorized occupant or on my tenant?

Your tenant. They are the party to the lease and the one who violated its occupancy terms by allowing someone else to move in without your consent. The occupant is not a party to your lease and generally has no independent standing in this process.

What if my tenant says the person is "just visiting"?

There is no fixed day count in California law that automatically converts a guest into an unauthorized occupant, it depends on the pattern of facts, covered in the separate question of when a guest becomes a tenant. If you have already made that determination and concluded this is unauthorized occupancy rather than a legitimate long guest stay, the notice process here applies.

Can I just change the locks or tell the occupant to leave myself?

No. Self help measures, changing locks, removing belongings, shutting off utilities, are illegal in California regardless of how clearly a tenant has violated the lease. The notice and court process is the only lawful path to regaining possession if your tenant does not cure voluntarily.

Last verified: July 25, 2026. This is general information for property owners, not legal advice. Confirm your specific situation with a licensed attorney.

Kellie

Schofield Properties

323 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245

Topics: self-management, tenant-issues, landlord-guide

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