Journal ·
Selling a Tenant-Occupied House in Burbank: What the Tenant Protection Ordinance Requires
If the rental is covered by Burbank's Tenant Protection Ordinance, a no-fault termination costs the owner at least three months of the tenant's rent, and a notice served without that payment is void. The one exception is an owner or family move-in, which stays at one month. Selling the house is not a just cause at all, so a tenant-occupied Burbank listing is sold with the tenant in place, or a buyer who plans to live there serves a move-in notice after closing and pays the one-month amount.
Does the Burbank Tenant Protection Ordinance apply to my house?
Chapter 4 of Title 5 of the Burbank Municipal Code, sections 5-4-100 to 5-4-105, applies to every rental already subject to the just cause rules of Civil Code section 1946.2, the state Tenant Protection Act. Section 5-4-102 says so in one sentence. The city adds money and remedies on top of state law, nothing more.
So the state exemptions come first. Section 1946.2(e) leaves out a single-family house or condo owned by a person or family trust, but only if the owner is not a corporation, a REIT or an LLC with a corporate member, and only if the tenant received the exemption notice in the statutory wording. For any tenancy that began or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, that notice must sit inside the rental agreement itself. A house whose lease never carried the paragraph is covered. Also exempt: a home with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years, an owner-occupied duplex where the owner has lived in one unit since the tenancy began, and an owner-occupied house renting out no more than two rooms or units, which includes a detached ADU under the Burbank ADU rules.
The city's June 2026 FAQ repeats this list. One part of the ordinance reaches further: the anti-harassment section, 5-4-105, applies to all tenants in the city, exempt house or not.
Can I evict a tenant to sell the house in Burbank?
Not for the sale itself. Section 1946.2(b) lists every just cause, at fault and no fault, and a change of ownership is not among them. Once a tenant has lawfully occupied the unit for 12 months, the owner needs one of the listed reasons, stated in the written notice. A buyer who closes on a covered rental inherits the lease, the rent and the tenant's protections.
A buyer who intends to live in the house can serve an owner move-in notice after closing under section 1946.2(b)(2)(A). The buyer, or a spouse, domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent or grandparent, must move in within 90 days of the tenant leaving and stay at least 12 consecutive months as a primary residence. For a lease signed on or after July 1, 2020, the clause works only if the lease allows owner move-in terminations or the tenant agrees in writing, so sellers should pull the lease and look for that clause before a buyer builds an offer around it. If the occupant fails to move in on time or leaves early, the owner must offer the unit back at the old rent.
State law also has a sale-related notice rule that confuses sellers. Section 1946.1(d) lets the owner of a separately alienable dwelling give 30 days' notice instead of 60 when the home is in escrow to a natural-person buyer who intends to live there for at least a year. That section only sets the length of notice for a tenancy that can be ended without cause. It adds no just cause to section 1946.2, so on a covered Burbank rental past the 12-month mark it changes nothing.
How much relocation assistance does Burbank require?
Section 5-4-104 sets the floor at three months of the rent in effect when the notice was served, for every no-fault just cause, with one carve-out added by Ordinance No. 25-4,025, effective April 11, 2025: an owner or relative move-in that strictly follows section 1946.2(b)(2)(A) pays no less than one month. State law alone requires one month for any no-fault reason, or a written waiver of the final month's rent, payable within 15 calendar days of serving the notice.
| No-fault reason | State floor, Civ. Code 1946.2(d) | Burbank floor, BMC 5-4-104 |
|---|---|---|
| Owner or listed relative moves in | 1 month of rent, or final month waived | 1 month of rent |
| Unit withdrawn from the rental market | 1 month of rent, or final month waived | 3 months of rent |
| Government or court order to vacate | 1 month, none if tenant caused the order | 3 months, same tenant-fault exception |
| Demolition or substantial remodel | 1 month of rent, or final month waived | 3 months of rent |
| Notice served without the payment | Notice void | Notice void, defense to eviction |
The month is measured on the rent in force on the day of the notice, so a raise served in the same envelope does not lift the figure. The ordinance has been in force since the end of August 2024 and the move-in exception since April 2025, so older posts quoting three months for every reason describe the 2024 version.
What must a substantial remodel notice include in Burbank?
Investors who buy a Burbank duplex to gut it meet the tightest part of the law. Under section 1946.2(b)(2)(D) the work must be a permitted replacement of structural, electrical, plumbing or mechanical systems, or hazardous material abatement, that cannot be done safely with the tenant at home and that forces a move-out of at least 30 consecutive days. Paint, flooring and cabinets do not qualify.
The notice must carry a statement of intent, a verbatim paragraph promising the right to re-rent at the old rate if the remodel never starts, a description of the work and its duration, a copy of the permits already issued, and an invitation for the tenant to leave contact details for a return. Burbank layers the three-month payment on top, and the city's tenant protections page adds plan check with the Building Division where the project needs it. The permits come before the notice, not after.
Can I offer the tenant cash for keys before listing?
Yes, within limits that Burbank wrote into section 5-4-105 for every tenant in the city. A buyout offer is legal. Offering again more often than once every six months, after the tenant has said in writing that they want no further offers, is defined as harassment. So is any offer that arrives with threats or intimidation. The remedy is a civil action for actual and punitive damages plus an injunction, and a violation is a defense to an eviction case. For a seller the safe pattern is one written offer, a signed agreement drafted by counsel, and payment on move-out.
What can a buyer do with the rent after closing?
A covered unit keeps the state rent cap in Civil Code section 1947.12: no more than 5 percent plus the change in CPI, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, over any 12 months. The CPI figure is the April-to-April change for the Los Angeles area, and the city links the current index on its landlord-tenant resources page. When a tenant leaves and nobody from the prior tenancy stays, section 1947.12(b) lets the owner set a new starting rent without the cap.
Burbank has no local rent cap of its own. The city ran a rent cap study with community meetings in 2024, and as of the June 2026 FAQ the code still contains only the relocation and anti-harassment chapter. On the Los Angeles side of Toluca Lake the city of Los Angeles runs its own just cause and rent stabilization rules; the Toluca Lake city line article shows how to tell which side a parcel is on.
What to check before listing a tenant-occupied Burbank home
- Ownership entity. An LLC with a corporate member, a corporation or a REIT cannot use the single-family exemption, whatever the lease says.
- The exemption paragraph. For leases from July 2020 onward it must sit in the rental agreement itself.
- The owner move-in clause. Without it, a post-2020 lease blocks a buyer's move-in notice unless the tenant consents in writing.
- Certificate of occupancy date. Homes under 15 years old are exempt from both just cause and the rent cap.
- Rent history. Confirm the last increase stayed within section 1947.12; a buyer inherits any overage claim.
- The disclosure package. A tenant-occupied sale still needs the usual seller disclosures, and the lease, deposit and any notice already served go to the buyer in escrow.
Q: Does the three-month payment apply if the tenant moved in eight months ago?
Just cause under section 1946.2(a) attaches after 12 months of continuous lawful occupancy, and the Burbank chapter applies only to tenancies subject to that section. Before that mark a month-to-month tenancy ends on the notice periods in section 1946.1, 30 days for a tenant of under one year, with no relocation pay under either law. A fixed-term lease still runs to its end date. The harassment rules apply from day one.
This article is general information drawn from the Burbank Municipal Code and the California Civil Code, not legal advice. Ordinances change and the facts of a lease decide which rule applies. Confirm your situation with a landlord-tenant attorney or the Burbank Housing Division before serving any notice. If you are weighing a purchase or a sale of a tenant-occupied property, call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
Thinking about a Burbank property with tenants in place? Start with the Burbank area guide.