No Lease? California Still Protects Your Rights as a Tenant

By: Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí

In California, almost 17 million people rent their homes. And while many sign a contract at the start of their lease, others rent without a written agreement.

It’s hard to calculate exactly how many people rent without a contract, but according to federal data, California is the state with the highest proportion of leases that are month-to-month, something usually seen when there’s no written lease.

For many tenants, renting without a contract provides a certain flexibility that works well when living with family or friends, and it’s also an option used by folks who have migrated to the United States and are adapting to a new life. But this arrangement can also lead to issues between the tenant and landlord, said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation for the San Francisco tenants’ rights group, Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC).

“If you have a written agreement that has been signed, you know exactly what the rules are in terms of how much the rent is, when it’s due, who’s going to pay the utilities. … All that’s very clear,” she said. “If it’s verbal, it’s not as clear what the agreement is.”

Tenants in these “informal” agreements can experience abuse or neglect from their landlords, who may think that, because there is no written contract, housing laws do not apply. But tenants without a written lease have the same rights as those with one, Prochovnick said.

“There is a contract — it’s just not in writing,” she said. “The contract is a verbal contract, and you could prove it because the tenant’s been paying rent.”

According to state law, leases established verbally are legally binding agreements — as long as the lease is one year or less. If, for example, you are renting a room in your cousin’s home month-to-month and coordinated the lease through a phone call, that is an agreement recognized by law.

KQED spoke to legal experts to understand what protections tenants have when there’s no written lease agreement, along with the responsibilities of landlords. For some tenants, it may be difficult to speak openly with their landlord, especially if they’re renting from a family member or someone who is threatening to evict them. Keep reading for advice on how to handle these important conversations.

The most dangerous thing a tenant without a written lease can do is pay their rent in cash, said Leah Simon-Weisberg, executive director of California Center for Movement Legal Services. “It’s really difficult to prove that you paid,” she said.

But if — for whatever reason — you do pay rent in cash, make sure to ask your landlord for a receipt, which could be an email or text message that includes confirmation you paid rent, how much you paid and for what (if the lease comes with a parking spot, for example). Having receipts will also protect you in the future, as you will have some form of documentation that proves your lease exists.

If you’re paying with a check or a money order, make sure to add your address, Simon-Weisberg said. “So when they’re cashed, it’s proof that the landlord acknowledges that you live there.”

There’s other things you can do to document your lease, including getting a driver’s license or state ID with your address or saving bills from utilities. If you have kids, make sure they are enrolled in school with your current address, as you can then ask the school in the future for official documentation that includes that information.”Or you can even mail yourself a letter,” Simon-Weisberg said.

“One of the protections tenants have, whether the lease is verbal or written, is rent control,” Prochovnick said.

If you are paying $1,000 per month for a room, your landlord cannot raise the rent to $2,000 from one month to the next — as that would exceed the limits allowed by the state’s rent cap.

That rent cap blocks landlords from raising the rent by more than 10% over a 12-month period — unless you live in a newer property that was built within the past 15 years. Other exceptions include certain single-family homes, most mobile homes and duplexes where the landlord lives in one of the units.

Some counties — including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo in the Bay Area — have additional rent control rules, which may further limit how much landlords can raise the rent each year.

Rent control also applies if you are leasing month-to-month. Any rent increase has to be done through a formal written notice at least 30 days in advance.

One situation that EDC’s Prochovnick has seen before is when tenants rent a room at a family member’s home and arguments come up when the tenant’s privacy is not respected. “Even if your landlord is your cousin or your parent, they cannot enter your bedroom without a proper reason and proper notice,” she said.

One of those reasons could be that you have invited your landlord to enter your room, or there’s an emergency. Otherwise, your landlord can only come in to:

If any of these conditions apply, your landlord still needs to let you know — in writing — at least 24 hours in advance.

“Their reason can’t just be because they want to see what’s going on and look in your drawers,” Prochovnick said. And one way to avoid misunderstandings could be for the tenant and landlord to clearly establish which spaces the tenant is renting, she suggested.

“Are they renting the whole apartment? Are they just renting one bedroom?” she said. “What is their space that they’re getting in exchange for their rent?”

Your landlord must follow the state’s health and safety code, which requires that a home have a working bathroom, functional plumbing, heating equipment that can keep the indoor temperature at a minimum of 70 degrees and be free of insects and rodents, among other rules.

“Whether the lease is written or not, the landlord has the responsibility of maintaining the property,” Simon-Weisberg said. “That’s just state law; it has nothing to do with the contract.”

If you are a subtenant and the master tenant is leasing from someone else, it’s the owner of the property who is liable.

Although California has some of the strongest protections against evictions in the country, some landlords still push out their tenants through threats, disinformation or even changing the locks on the door. These “shadow evictions” were especially seen during the COVID-19 pandemic as landlords sought to get around the state’s eviction moratorium.

“Landlords can’t just put your things out on the street and change the locks,” Prochovnick said. “They have to go through a proper court procedure to evict the tenant.”

The state’s Tenant Protection Act requires a landlord to have a “just cause” in order to evict a tenant, which can include:

A landlord then has to give you a written notice, either in person or through the mail, explaining why they are evicting you, along with a deadline for when you need to move out. How much time you get depends on the circumstances of the eviction. “Even if the lease is verbal, the notice to terminate has to be in writing,” Prochovnick said.

You have the ability to challenge the eviction order in court: After receiving the eviction notice from your landlord, you have 10 days to file a response with your county’s court. With this form, you can explain the circumstances of your lease and any issues that have come up with your landlord in the past, and a judge will then hold an eviction trial to decide whether you have to leave your home. Learn more about how to respond to an eviction notice.

If you do decide to go to court, legal experts recommend having receipts and documentation ready to prove that you have been paying rent to live in your home and for how long.

In 2017, California lawmakers approved AB 291, which makes it illegal for a landlord to threaten undocumented tenants with reporting them to immigration authorities. Immigration advocates have pointed out for years that undocumented immigrants are especially vulnerable to neglect and abuse from their landlords, who may threaten them with contacting law enforcement if they speak up about needed repairs or an unlawful eviction.

“Regardless of whether you’re documented or not, there’s no difference: We all have the same housing rights,” Simon-Weisberg said. “If a landlord is discriminating against you based on your immigration status, that’s illegal.”

A court could fine a landlord up to $2,000 for violating this law.

Yes, it could feel strange or even uncomfortable bringing up all this legal talk, especially if your landlord is a friend or family member.

But it’s important to find a balance between seeing this person as someone you know and someone you have a business relationship with, Simon-Weisberg said. “Whether you’re related to the person or not, one person owns it, and one person’s renting,” she said.

One issue she’s seen over the years is tenants disagreeing with their landlord over what’s actually included in the lease. She recommends sending your landlord an email or a text message after an important conversation that summarizes what the two of you agreed on.

“Don’t take it for granted that you are renting from somebody you know,” she said. “If you are working for a friend, you still want to do all the things that you normally would do because it doesn’t protect you that they’re a friend, necessarily.”

While you have the right to ask your landlord to stay out of your bedroom or provide necessary repairs, “it’s understandable that tenants feel nervous,” Prochovnick said. “There’s a power dynamic between landlords and tenants.”

“We all need shelter, and we don’t want to put that at risk by pushing back,” she said, but “our legal rights are only as strong as we’re willing to argue for them.”

These conversations don’t have to be arguments either, she said, pointing out that many community groups in California offer mediation services between landlords and tenants. “That might be something for people in these situations to try instead of ending up in court fighting each other, especially if they’re family members, and they want to preserve what was once a good relationship,” she said.