If you own a rental unit in the City of Los Angeles that sits outside the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the just cause eviction ordinance Los Angeles enforces still controls how and when you can end that tenancy. The ordinance is known as the JCO, and it reaches buildings constructed after October 1, 1978, along with single-family homes and condominiums. Owners who assume a newer building means an at-will tenancy lose unlawful detainer cases in Los Angeles Superior Court. Borna Houman Law represents rental property owners from our Santa Monica office on JCO compliance, notice drafting, and unlawful detainer prosecution.
Key Takeaway: The Los Angeles Just Cause Ordinance covers City of Los Angeles rental units the Rent Stabilization Ordinance does not, including post-1978 buildings and single-family homes. Protection attaches once a tenant has occupied the unit six months or the original lease expires, whichever comes first, and every termination notice must be filed with the Housing Department within three business days.
Most City of Los Angeles owners now sit under one of two eviction regimes rather than none. A 2015 fourplex in Sherman Oaks is not rent stabilized, but it is JCO covered, and the owner needs an enumerated ground before serving anything. We handle these matters for owners across the city, and most of the cases that fall apart do so because the owner read the building’s age as permission. If you are weighing a termination on a non-RSO unit, talk to a Los Angeles landlord attorney before the notice goes out.
Call (888) 42-BORNA to schedule a confidential consultation.
What is the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance in Los Angeles?
The Just Cause Ordinance is a City of Los Angeles law that bars an owner from terminating a residential tenancy without one of the enumerated grounds, and requires relocation assistance for no-fault terminations. The Los Angeles Housing Department describes the JCO as covering most residential properties in the City of Los Angeles that are not regulated by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance.
Two facts about scope catch owners off guard. The JCO can apply to buildings newer than October 1, 1978, which is the cutoff that defines rent stabilization coverage. It can also apply to a property containing only one single-family dwelling, so a rented house in Encino or a condominium in Playa Vista may carry just cause obligations even though Costa-Hawkins exempts it from rent control.
The ordinance does not regulate what you charge. It regulates whether you can make the tenant leave. Rent increases on JCO units are governed by state law under the Tenant Protection Act, not by the JCO itself, and owners who collapse the two get both halves wrong.
When does JCO protection actually attach to a tenancy?
JCO protection attaches only after the tenant has lived in the same unit for at least six months, or after the original lease term expires, whichever comes first. A tenancy that is four months old under an unexpired one-year lease is not yet JCO protected.
The two triggers are alternatives, and the earlier one governs. A month-to-month tenancy has no initial lease term to expire, so the six-month clock is the only gate. A tenant on a six-month written lease hits protection at month six either way. A tenant on a two-year lease is protected at month six, long before that lease ends.
In our experience representing Los Angeles property owners, the first six months are when a problem tenancy still has a cheap resolution. An owner who identifies a serious problem in month two has options that are gone by month seven. Waiting for a long lease to run out is usually the expensive choice.
How much must a tenant owe before you can evict for nonpayment?
Effective March 27, 2023, an owner of a City of Los Angeles RSO or JCO unit cannot evict for nonpayment of rent unless the tenant owes more than one month of HUD Fair Market Rent for a unit of that bedroom size in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metro area. This is a dollar threshold, not a month count, and it has no equivalent anywhere in state law.
The Housing Department publishes the figures as an economic threshold chart. For the fiscal year running October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, the thresholds are as follows.
| Unit Size | Threshold (Oct. 1, 2026 to Sept. 30, 2027) | Prior Year Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | $2,151 | $2,079 |
| 1 Bedroom | $2,402 | $2,328 |
| 2 Bedroom | $2,964 | $2,903 |
| 3 Bedroom | $3,760 | $3,681 |
| 4 Bedroom | $4,208 | $4,098 |
Say you own a two-bedroom unit in Van Nuys renting at $2,400, and the tenant is two months behind, owing $4,800. That exceeds the $2,964 two-bedroom threshold, so a three-day notice to pay rent or quit is available to you. Change one fact and the answer flips. If the tenant is one month behind at $2,400, the amount owed is below the threshold, and a nonpayment eviction is barred no matter how clear the default is. You wait, or you find another lawful ground.
The Housing Department’s own illustration makes the point: a tenant renting a one-bedroom at $1,500 who is one month behind cannot be evicted for nonpayment, because $1,500 is less than the one-bedroom threshold. The figures are updated when HUD revises its Fair Market Rent schedule, and the current chart is posted on the Housing Department’s renter protections page.
What is the JCO annual fee, and what happens if you do not pay it?
The Just Cause Ordinance carries an annual enforcement fee of $31.05 per unit, due by the last day of February, and the delinquent rate is $46.58 per unit. An owner who has not registered the property and paid the fee cannot lawfully raise the rent or pursue an eviction. A small annual bill buys the right to act on the property at all.
The JCO fee sits alongside the other Housing Department annual charges.
| Annual Program Fee | Regular Rate Per Unit | Delinquent Rate Per Unit | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just Cause Ordinance (JCO) | $31.05 | $46.58 | Last day of February |
| Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) | $38.75 | $58.13 | Last day of February |
| Systematic Code Enforcement (SCEP) | $67.94 | $135.88 | Last day of February |
On a twelve-unit JCO building the annual fee is $372.60. An owner who lets that lapse and then serves a termination notice has handed the tenant a defense worth far more than the fee, plus the cost of a dismissed unlawful detainer. The current schedule is published by the Housing Department in its billing fee schedule, and our guide to Los Angeles landlord registration and LAHD compliance covers the filing mechanics.
How is the JCO different from the Rent Stabilization Ordinance?
The JCO covers City of Los Angeles units that the Rent Stabilization Ordinance does not cover, so a unit is generally under one or the other, not both. The RSO regulates rent levels and evictions. The JCO regulates evictions only.
| Feature | Just Cause Ordinance (JCO) | Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings covered | City units not under the RSO, including post-Oct. 1, 1978 construction | Units with a Certificate of Occupancy on or before Oct. 1, 1978 |
| Single-family homes | Can be covered | Generally exempt under Costa-Hawkins |
| Rent increase cap | None under the ordinance; state law may cap | Yes, annual adjustment set by the City |
| Just cause required | Yes | Yes |
| Coverage trigger | 6 months occupancy or lease expiration, whichever is first | Applies from the start of tenancy |
| Annual fee per unit | $31.05 | $38.75 |
| Notice filing with LAHD | Within 3 business days | Within 3 business days |
If your building predates October 1, 1978, you are in rent stabilization territory instead, and our LARSO compliance guide for Los Angeles landlords walks through registration, the annual adjustment, and the twelve enumerated grounds.
What are the grounds for a no-fault eviction in Los Angeles?
The no-fault grounds under the JCO are owner or immediate family member occupancy, resident manager occupancy where required by law or an affordable housing covenant, demolition or permanent removal from the rental market, a government order to vacate, HUD ownership and sale of the property, conversion or demolition of a residential hotel, and conversion to affordable housing. Every no-fault ground obligates the owner to pay relocation assistance.
A no-fault termination is a two-step filing, not a one-step notice. The Housing Department requires a Declaration of Intent to Evict, filed with application fees and with relocation assistance paid to the tenant, before the termination notice itself is uploaded. Owners who serve first and file second have inverted the sequence and created a defect.
Relocation amounts turn on the tenant’s category and the unit size, and the schedule is revised annually. Our Los Angeles relocation assistance guide sets out the current tiers alongside the neighboring Westside ordinances.
What is exempt from just cause eviction in California?
Under the JCO, the listed exemptions include transient hotels, licensed care facilities, fraternity and sorority houses, an owner’s roommate, certain cooperatives, some non-profit facilities for the homeless, short-term substance abuse treatment centers, and some properties owned by the housing authority or the government. A tenancy under six months with an unexpired original lease is also outside the ordinance.
State law exemptions are a separate analysis and do not carry over. The Tenant Protection Act exempts new construction under fifteen years, deed-restricted affordable housing, owner-occupied duplexes, and qualifying single-family homes and condominiums where the owner served the statutory exemption notice. A single-family home can be exempt from the state statute and still be covered by the JCO. Our analysis of AB 1482 exemptions sets out the notice language and the ownership tests.
What are the new eviction laws in LA County and California?
For City of Los Angeles owners, the most recent operational change is the Notice of Right to Counsel. Beginning August 20, 2025, owners must post the notice in a conspicuous common area of the building, provide it at the start of the tenancy, and provide it again whenever an eviction notice is served. This is a posting and delivery obligation, and it applies on top of the JCO grounds analysis.
The other rules owners ask about are not new but are newly enforced. The nonpayment threshold tied to Fair Market Rent has applied since March 27, 2023. The three-business-day filing requirement applies to every termination notice on an RSO or JCO unit. Cities outside Los Angeles run their own regimes, and a portfolio that crosses city lines needs a separate analysis for each property, as our Long Beach just cause eviction guide illustrates.
Which California and Los Angeles laws govern a JCO eviction?
A JCO eviction runs on three layers of law at once, and a notice has to satisfy all three. Miss one and the unlawful detainer fails regardless of how strong the underlying facts are.
The first layer is the Los Angeles Municipal Code. The JCO itself sits in Article 5 of the municipal code, and the notice filing requirement comes from LAMC 151.09.C.9 and 165.05.B.5, which require every termination notice on an RSO or JCO unit to be filed with the Housing Department within three business days of service on the tenant.
The second layer is the state Tenant Protection Act. Civil Code section 1946.2 supplies the state just cause standard and the exemption notice requirements, while Civil Code section 1947.12 caps annual rent increases at five percent plus the regional cost of living change, or ten percent, whichever is lower.
The third layer is the unlawful detainer statute. Code of Civil Procedure section 1161 defines the notice periods and grounds for the underlying action, and Code of Civil Procedure section 1162 governs how that notice must be served. The California courts publish a procedural overview for owners pursuing an eviction, though it does not address city ordinances.
What should you do before serving a termination notice?
Run these checks in order. Each one can stop the case before you spend money on it.
Confirm whether the unit is RSO or JCO. The Certificate of Occupancy date and the City of Los Angeles boundary decide it, and a property with a Los Angeles mailing address may sit in West Hollywood, Culver City, or an unincorporated pocket with entirely different rules.
Confirm the tenancy has crossed the six-month or lease-expiration line. If it has not, the JCO grounds analysis does not apply yet, and your options are broader than you think.
Confirm registration and the annual fee are current. An unregistered property cannot raise rent or evict, and curing the lapse costs a fraction of what ignoring it costs.
If the ground is nonpayment, compare the amount actually owed against the Fair Market Rent threshold for that bedroom count before drafting anything. If the ground is a lease breach, the notice must specify the covenant and give the tenant the chance to cure, which our breach of lease eviction guide covers in detail.
File the notice with the Housing Department within three business days of service. Calendar it the day you serve, because the deadline runs from service, not from filing the lawsuit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the JCO apply to a house I rent out in Los Angeles?
It can. The Housing Department confirms the JCO can apply to a property that contains only one single-family dwelling. Costa-Hawkins exempts separately alienable single-family homes from rent control, and the Tenant Protection Act exempts qualifying ones from the state just cause standard with proper notice, but neither exemption removes a City of Los Angeles house from the JCO.
What happens if I forget to file the notice with LAHD?
The Housing Department states plainly that a tenant may raise an affirmative defense in an unlawful detainer when the owner fails to file the eviction notice. A defect unrelated to the tenant’s conduct can defeat an otherwise valid case, and the owner absorbs the filing fee, the service cost, and often the tenant’s attorney fees.
Can I raise the rent on a JCO unit?
The JCO does not regulate rent increases, but state law may. If the building is more than fifteen years old and no exemption applies, the Tenant Protection Act caps the increase at five percent plus the regional cost of living change, or ten percent, whichever is lower. You also cannot raise rent at all if the property is not registered and the annual fee is unpaid.
Is a tenant who has lived in my unit three months protected by the JCO?
Not if the original lease term has not expired. Protection attaches at six months of occupancy or at expiration of the initial lease, whichever comes first. A three-month tenancy under a one-year lease has reached neither trigger, though state and federal anti-discrimination law and the lease terms still apply.
Do I owe relocation assistance for every JCO eviction?
No. Relocation assistance is owed on no-fault terminations, where the owner is recovering the unit for a personal or business reason rather than because of tenant conduct. At-fault grounds such as nonpayment, an uncured lease violation, nuisance, or illegal use carry no relocation obligation.
My building was built in 2019. Am I exempt from everything?
No. New construction under fifteen years is exempt from the state Tenant Protection Act, and post-1978 construction is outside rent stabilization, but a 2019 City of Los Angeles building is squarely within the JCO. Exempt from the state statute, exempt from the RSO, covered by the JCO: that combination produces more owner mistakes than any other fact pattern we see.
Talk to a Los Angeles Landlord Attorney
Borna Houman Law advises City of Los Angeles rental property owners on Just Cause Ordinance coverage, registration and fee compliance, notice drafting, Declaration of Intent to Evict filings, and unlawful detainer strategy. We work with individual owners, family trusts, and investment groups across the San Fernando Valley, the Westside, and central Los Angeles.
Coverage and timing are cheap to check and expensive to guess at. If you are holding a problem tenancy in a non-RSO City of Los Angeles unit, get the analysis done before the notice goes out. For the litigation side of the process, see our unlawful detainer attorney page.
Call (888) 42-BORNA to schedule a confidential consultation.
Borna Houman, California Bar No. 352339, Borna Houman Law, 2530 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica.
This article is general information about Los Angeles rental housing regulation and is not legal advice. Fees, Fair Market Rent thresholds, and relocation amounts are revised periodically, and you should verify the current figures with the Los Angeles Housing Department before acting. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
