Tenant move-out planner and cash for keys calculator for Sacramento rentals

How the tenant move-out planner works

The planner answers three questions in order: can you end this tenancy at all, how much notice does it take, and what does it cost. It then turns the answer into dates you can put in a calendar.

Pick the rule set first. Most Sacramento rental houses fall under AB 1482, the state Tenant Protection Act. Older apartments and duplexes inside city limits fall under the City's Tenant Protection Program instead. A house can be exempt from both if it's under 15 years old, or if the owner isn't a REIT, corporation or LLC with a corporate member and the lease carries the statutory exemption statement. If you don't know which applies, the rent increase calculator works it out from the building and the owner. Until you know, plan as covered: that's the expensive case, and guessing wrong voids the notice.

Then choose the route: an owner or family move-in, withdrawing the house from the rental market, a plain 30 or 60-day notice, the 30-day notice after opening escrow with an owner-occupant buyer, or paying the tenant to leave. The result shows the earliest move-out for that route, or says plainly that the route won't work for this tenancy.

Move-out notice periods in California the planner uses

The planner applies one of four periods. Each is a minimum, counted from the day the notice is properly served. Mailing can add days, so the planner's date is the earliest possible, not a promise.

60-day notice under Civil Code 1946.1

A tenant who has lived in the house a year or more gets at least 60 days' written notice. Under a year, 30 days. The planner compares the move-in date with the date you'd serve to decide which. AB 1482 move-in and withdrawal notices use the same 30 or 60 days; the just cause changes whether you may serve, not how long it runs.

30-day sale notice under 1946.1(d)

An owner in escrow can shorten 60 days to 30, but only if all six conditions hold: a home sellable on its own title, escrow open with a licensed escrow holder, a buyer who is a natural person and will live there a year, notice within 120 days of opening escrow, and no earlier notice. The planner accepts this route only where no just cause is needed.

90-day notice for a Housing Choice voucher tenancy

Civil Code 1954.535 requires at least 90 days' written notice when an owner ends or doesn't renew a government rent-subsidy agreement for a qualified tenant. Answer yes to the voucher question and the planner raises any shorter notice to 90 days.

120-day notice under Sacramento's TPP

For a unit under the City program with a tenant past 12 months, owner move-in and withdrawal each take at least 120 days' written notice under City Code 5.156. For owner move-in the City's procedures also require a notice of intent filed with the program within 30 days of serving; for withdrawal, the code says the withdrawal notice is filed with the City first. The full rules and service methods are on the notice to vacate guide for sellers.

When a Sacramento move-out needs a just cause

This is the question that decides most sales. Once a tenant has lived in a covered home for 12 months, Civil Code 1946.2 lets the owner end the tenancy only for a listed just cause, stated in the notice. Selling the house isn't on the list. The City's chapter 5.156 has its own list, and a sale isn't on that one either.

So the planner blocks two routes for a covered tenant past 12 months: the plain 30 or 60-day notice and the 30-day sale notice. It shows "Not available" with the reason, and points you at what's left: owner move-in, withdrawal (with an attorney first, since the statute doesn't define it), cash for keys, or selling with the tenant in place.

AB 1482 owner move-in: the catches the planner can't see

For leases signed since July 1, 2020, owner move-in needs a lease clause allowing it or the tenant's written agreement. Since SB 567, the notice must name who is moving in, and they must move in within 90 days and stay 12 months. If you plan to sell, that route isn't yours to use. The AB 1482 guide for Sacramento owners covers coverage, exemptions and each just cause.

Exempt houses and tenants under 12 months

No just cause is needed while the tenant is under 12 months, or for an exempt house. The planner then accepts a plain notice and says so.

Relocation money on a no-fault move-out

Owner move-in and withdrawal are no-fault causes. Under AB 1482 a no-fault notice to a covered tenant must offer relocation assistance of one month's rent, paid within 15 calendar days of serving the notice, or a written waiver of the final month's rent. The notice has to say so. The planner fills in that month as the relocation owed and repeats the 15-day deadline in its verdict.

The City program has no relocation section, and the City's own procedures note that the relocation payment is a state-law requirement for units under AB 1482. So a TPP owner move-in shows $0 relocation and 120 days instead. Longer notice is the City's price. The program's registration, rent cap and filings are on the Sacramento rental rules page.

An exempt house or a tenant under 12 months also shows $0: no just cause applies, so no relocation is triggered.

The cash for keys calculator: the tenant's cost against your vacant premium

Choose "Pay the tenant to leave" and the planner turns into a cash for keys calculator. The tenant leaves on the day you agree, so it uses the days from your offer to that date (45 by default) and skips the notice rules entirely.

The tenant's side of the cash for keys math

It adds what moving costs the tenant: a one-month deposit on the next place (California's cap under Civil Code 1950.5, with an exception for some small landlords), the first month's rent there, and movers. It uses your rent as the next rent. At the default $2,040 rent and $1,500 of movers, that's $5,580. An offer near it covers the move; more than that is what you pay for the date.

Your side: the vacant premium

The second number is yours to supply: what an empty house is worth to you over an occupied one, after carrying costs. The planner subtracts the tenant's cost from it and shows the room left. At the $15,000 default that's $9,420. That premium is a guess until someone prices the house both ways, which Justin does, so the gap is a figure from comparable sales and not a hope.

The DRE's consumer alert on cash for keys says to put the deal in writing and hand over the money when the keys come back. What goes in the agreement, and why an attorney should word the release, is on the cash for keys guide for California owners.

Reading the move-out dates: deposit statement and listing day

Every route ends in the same four dates.

Notice served or offer made

The date you enter. Serve every adult on the lease and keep a signed proof of service.

Move-out date

The served date plus the notice period, or the agreed date for cash for keys. If the tenant stays past it, only a court can order them out, which adds weeks to months; the planner assumes they leave.

Security deposit statement due 21 days after move-out

Civil Code 1950.5 gives you 21 days after the tenant vacates to return the deposit or send an itemized statement. The planner dates it so it doesn't get lost in the listing rush. Deductions and photo rules are on the security deposit law guide.

Earliest listing date after move-out

Move-out plus the days you need for cleaning, repairs and photos (21 by default). Change it to match the house: a rental that needs paint and flooring takes longer than three weeks.

Sell occupied or pay for the move-out date in Sacramento

Run the planner twice for a covered tenant past 12 months: once on the route you'd actually use, once on cash for keys. Then compare it with not moving anyone.

When selling with the tenant in place wins

If you won't live there, owner move-in isn't honestly available, and withdrawal is a legal risk on a house you're about to sell. If the vacant premium is small, or the rent is close to market, sell occupied. Investors buy on the rent, and the lease and deposit pass to the buyer. Selling a rental with tenants covers showings and the deposit transfer.

When cash for keys pays for itself

If the house would sell for clearly more empty, often because the rent is well below market or an owner-occupant buyer pool is bigger, pay for the date. The planner's room-left figure is the most you can spend and still come out ahead.

When a plain notice is enough

An exempt house or a tenant under a year: serve the 30 or 60-day notice correctly, and the planner's date is the date.

Justin managed rental property in Midtown for six years before he started selling homes in 2010, and he prices a tenant-occupied house both ways before an owner picks. Every calculator on the site is on the rental owner tools page, and the whole sale starts at selling your Sacramento rental.

What the move-out planner leaves out

• Fixed-term leases. A lease with time left runs to its end date even after a sale; the planner assumes month-to-month.
• The 24-month rule. AB 1482's clock runs 24 months if an adult joined the household later; the planner uses 12.
• Mailing days and court time. It counts from the served date and assumes the tenant leaves on time.
• Other cities' rules. Only the City of Sacramento program is modeled; check any other city's own ordinance.

This is general information, not legal advice. A notice with the wrong reason, period or relocation statement is void, and the clock starts again. Have a California landlord-tenant attorney review any notice or cash for keys agreement before you serve or sign it.

Cash for keys calculator and move-out questions from Sacramento owners

Sources

• California Civil Code 1946.1 (notice to terminate; 30-day sale notice)
• California Civil Code 1946.2 (just cause and relocation, AB 1482)
• California Civil Code 1954.535 (90 days' notice ending a government rent-subsidy agreement)
• California Civil Code 1950.5 (security deposits, one-month limit, 21-day statement)
• California Department of Real Estate: "Cash for Keys" consumer alert (rev. April 2012)
• City of Sacramento: Tenant Protection Program
• Sacramento City Code chapter 5.156 (Tenant Protection)
• City of Sacramento: TPP administrative procedures