Rent regulation & tenants
Relocation assistance
Payments owed to tenants displaced by no-fault terminations: one month's rent under state law, up to five-figure per-unit schedules under local ordinances.
Definition
Relocation assistance is the payment owed to tenants displaced by no-fault terminations. The state floor under Civil Code § 1946.2 is one month's rent, paid directly within 15 calendar days of serving the notice or credited by waiving the final month, with the election stated in the notice itself — miss the mechanics and the termination fails on procedure.
Local ordinances go far beyond the floor: rent-control cities tier payments by household size, tenure, income, age, and disability, and Ellis Act withdrawals in Los Angeles and San Francisco carry per-unit obligations that reach well into five figures, with protected categories (elderly, disabled, families with minors) drawing the top of the schedule.
Why it matters in an underwrite
Relocation is the hard cash line in any plan that needs vacant possession — renovation, demolition, Ellis exit, or owner occupancy. Model it at the local schedule, not the state floor: full-building displacement of a modest rent-controlled property in LA or SF is routinely a six-figure budget item. And because a defective payment voids the notice, the cost of getting it wrong is the timeline, not just the check.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.