# California — Landlord retaliation presumption period by US state

For California, presumption period is 180 days; what the presumption does is the lessor may not recover possession of a dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days; example of a protected activity is has filed a written complaint, or an oral complaint which is registered or otherwise recorded in writing, with an appropriate agency, of which the lessor has notice, for the purpose of obtaining correction of a condition relating to tenantability; statute is Civil Code 1942.5, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** California _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Presumption period:** 180 days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **What the presumption does:** the lessor may not recover possession of a dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Example of a protected activity:** has filed a written complaint, or an oral complaint which is registered or otherwise recorded in writing, with an appropriate agency, of which the lessor has notice, for the purpose of obtaining correction of a condition relating to tenantability _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute:** Civil Code 1942.5 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> the lessor may not recover possession of a dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days of any of the following:

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Example of a protected activity

> (2) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has filed a written complaint, or an oral complaint which is registered or otherwise recorded in writing, with an appropriate agency, of which the lessor has notice, for the purpose of obtaining correction of a condition relating to tenantability.

## Source

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1942.5.

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Landlord retaliation presumption period by US state](https://referencesource.org/landlord-retaliation-presumption-period-by-state/).