Real Property in California
Real property law covers buying and selling homes, how you hold title, landlord–tenant rights, and disputes over California real estate. This hub explains the essentials in plain English — including how the way you hold title affects probate, what sellers must disclose, and the current rules that protect tenants.
By Find Local Law Editorial Team · Last reviewed: May 24, 2026
Researched and drafted with AI assistance and verified against primary sources (statutes, Judicial Council forms, and official court websites). This is general information, not legal advice.
California real estate touches nearly every estate, so these guides connect closely to our probate and estate planning coverage — especially how you hold title, which can decide whether a home passes to your family automatically or goes through probate. Below: holding title, seller disclosures, security deposits, the eviction process, and selling inherited property. Landlord–tenant rules change often, so each of those guides is dated and points to the official source.
Guides
- California Evictions: The Process & Tenant Protections
A California landlord can't evict by self-help — only a court can, through an 'unlawful detainer' lawsuit that starts with a written notice. For covered units, the Tenant Protection Act requires just cause to evict after 12 months and caps annual rent increases at 5% plus regional inflation, up to 10%.
- How to Hold Title to California Real Estate
How you hold title decides what happens to California real estate when you die. Survivorship forms — joint tenancy and community property with right of survivorship — pass to the co-owner outside probate, while sole ownership and tenancy in common can send the property through probate.
- California Security Deposit Rules
As of 2026, California caps most residential security deposits at one month's rent (under AB 12, effective July 1, 2024), and the landlord must return the deposit with an itemized statement within 21 days after move-out. A qualifying small landlord may charge up to two months.
- Selling a House in California: Required Disclosures
When you sell a California home you must give the buyer a Transfer Disclosure Statement and, where applicable, a Natural Hazard Disclosure, and disclose any known condition that materially affects the property's value. Sales by an executor or trustee of an estate are generally exempt from the TDS.
- Selling Inherited or Probate Property in California
How you sell inherited California real estate depends on how it was held. Property in a trust or held with right of survivorship can be sold without probate; property in a probate estate is sold by the court-appointed personal representative, sometimes with court confirmation. Inherited property generally receives a stepped-up tax basis.
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