Journal ·
Selling a Tenant-Occupied House in Glendale: Who Is Covered
A Glendale seller can list an occupied house, show it, and close on it. Ending the tenancy is a separate question, and it turns on one number: how many dwelling units sit on the parcel. Below three, the city ordinance does not reach the property. At three and above, a closed list of twelve grounds governs, and sale is not one of them.
Sale is not a ground to end a tenancy
Glendale Municipal Code Chapter 9.30 lets a landlord recover possession "only upon one of the following grounds", then lists twelve, lettered A through L, at Section 9.30.030. Sale and change of ownership appear nowhere in that list.
The one place a purchaser shows up works the other way. Section 9.30.030(F) makes it an at-fault ground when a tenant refuses access "for the purpose of showing the rental unit to any prospective purchaser or mortgagee".
The three-unit line is in the definitions, not in the section called Applicability
This catches people who have read the chapter. Section 9.30.090 is titled Applicability and says nothing about property size: it applies the chapter to notices to quit "which notice(s) were served on or after August 20, 2002". Read it for coverage and you will conclude the chapter reaches everything.
The real limit sits inside the definition of "rental unit" at Section 9.30.020, as exclusion number five: "Rental units located on a parcel containing two or fewer dwelling units". A house is out. A duplex is out. A triplex is in. The City's own Rental Rights Program says the same in plainer words on its exemptions list.
| Parcel | Covered by Chapter 9.30 |
|---|---|
| Single-family house | No |
| Duplex | No |
| Duplex plus a permitted ADU | The chapter does not address it |
| Triplex or larger | Yes |
Two cautions. "Accessory dwelling unit" and "ADU" do not appear anywhere in Chapter 9.30, and the Rental Rights Program pages are silent too, so whether a permitted ADU turns a duplex into a three-unit parcel is unresolved on the face of the code. Ask the City in writing. Second, coverage is not all-or-nothing: Section 9.30.025(I)(3) carves out "rental units in a rental complex of four units or less on a parcel", so a triplex is inside the chapter for just cause and outside it for the one-year lease right.
If the parcel falls outside Chapter 9.30, state law decides
For a house or a duplex the question moves to Civil Code 1946.2, and which rulebook governs is less tidy than it looks. Subsection (i)(1)(A) hands the field to a local ordinance adopted on or before September 1, 2019. Subsection (i)(1)(B) treats an ordinance amended after that date differently and looks for a binding local finding that it is more protective. Glendale's chapter dates to 2002, and every operative section of it carries "Ord. 6019, 2/6/2024".
Three state exemptions decide most houses and duplexes, and sellers usually check only the last. Subsection (e)(6) exempts an owner-occupied duplex. Subsection (e)(7) exempts housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years. Subsection (e)(8) exempts a house "alienable separate from the title to any other dwelling unit", and only where the owner is not a real estate investment trust, a corporation, an LLC with a corporate member or mobilehome park management, and the tenant got the statutory notice beginning "This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code". For a tenancy commenced or renewed on or after July 1, 2020 that notice "must be provided in the rental agreement".
Owner move-in runs on two different clocks
Both rulebooks allow a no-fault termination so that a person can live in the unit. A defective state notice is void under Section 1946.2(g). Miss the Glendale deadlines and Section 9.30.030(H)(4) makes it evidence of bad faith, which Section 9.30.050(A) turns into a defence for the tenant.
| Glendale, Section 9.30.030(H) | State, Section 1946.2(b)(2)(A) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who qualifies | landlord who is a natural person, under (H)(2) | natural person with a 25 percent recorded interest, or one of the related definitions in (viii) |
| Occupant moves in | within two months after the tenant vacates | within 90 days after the tenant vacates |
| Occupant must stay | no less than one full year | at least 12 consecutive months |
| Lease provision needed | the chapter does not impose one | yes from July 1, 2020, unless the tenant agrees in writing |
| Exposure | treble actual damages, exemplary damages, equitable relief and fees | re-offer at the prior rent plus moving costs; treble damages if wilful |
The state notice must also name the intended occupant, give their relationship to the owner, and tell the tenant they may ask for proof.
What relocation costs
Under Section 9.30.035(A) a fee is owed on grounds H, I and J, and on ground G, demolition or substantial remodel, only if "the unit is on a parcel of five or more units". That parenthesis is what decides whether a four-unit remodel owes anything.
The fee is three times the greater of the current rent or the HUD fair market rent for a similar-size unit in Los Angeles County for the year the tenant vacates, plus $2,000, doubled for a qualified tenant under (C)(3). Half is paid within five days of serving the notice, half within five days after the tenant vacates.
| Unit size | Monthly fair market rent published by the City |
|---|---|
| Studio | $2,079 |
| One bedroom | $2,328 |
| Two bedrooms | $2,903 |
| Three bedrooms | $3,681 |
| Four bedrooms | $4,098 |
The Fair Market Rents page and the FAQ label those figures 2026-2027. The Just Cause guide publishes the identical five figures labelled 2025-2026. The numbers match, so nothing turns on the dollars, but no page carries an effective date.
None of that applies to a house or a duplex. On the state route Section 1946.2(d) requires one month of the rent in effect when the notice issued, paid directly or waived in writing, within 15 calendar days of service, and (d)(4) voids the notice if the owner does not strictly comply.
A rent increase above 7 percent can trigger relocation before you ever list
Section 9.30.020 defines a "non-relocation rent increase" as one of seven percent or less, measured against the rent in place at any time in the previous twelve months. Go above that and Section 9.30.033(A) lets the tenant elect to vacate and collect three times the rent after the increase. The window is 14 days from service, or 30 days where the increase arrives with the one-year lease renewal offer the chapter requires.
Banking softens this to a point. Increases may be banked for three years and are capped at 21 percent, but Section 9.30.033(B)(1) revives the election whenever the increase is greater than 15 percent, banked or not.
One date closes the door. Section 9.30.033(C) says the section "shall not apply, and a relocation fee shall not be required to be paid pursuant to Section 9.30.035, to any rental unit that received a certificate of occupancy after February 1, 1995". The cross-reference points at all of 9.30.035, while the City's FAQ lists that date only under rent-increase relocation. Find the certificate of occupancy date and ask which reading the City applies.
What the buyer inherits at closing
Section 1946.2(k)(1) defines the owner to include "a predecessor in interest".
Two deadlines land on the buyer at once. Civil Code 1962(c) gives a successor owner 15 days to give tenants the name, telephone number and street address for service and for rent, and until that is done the new owner cannot evict for nonpayment of rent that accrued during the gap.
The deposit is the other. Civil Code 1950.5(i) requires the seller either to transfer the remaining deposit to the buyer and notify the tenant in writing, or to return it to the tenant with an accounting. Fail to do one of those two and (k)(1) makes the buyer jointly and severally liable for repaying it, subject to the good-faith safe harbour in (k)(3). Subsection (j) separately requires a written statement to the buyer before closing, naming which option the seller took.
Before you list
- Count dwelling units on the parcel from the permit record, not mailboxes.
- Two or fewer: check 1946.2(e)(6), (e)(7) and (e)(8) against the actual lease.
- Three or more: reconstruct every increase of the last 12 months, flag above 7%.
- Three or more: the certificate of occupancy date decides the 1995 carve-out.
- Decide the route before the offer. Owner move-in runs on the buyer's clock.
- Make the deposit election under 1950.5(i) and put it in writing.
Burbank and Pasadena use different instruments: see selling a tenant-occupied house in Burbank and selling a tenant-occupied house in Pasadena. For the rest of what attaches at closing, see Pasadena vs Glendale point-of-sale requirements. Pricing an occupied listing is on our seller page.
Q: Does the tenant have to be out before closing? Neither Chapter 9.30 nor Civil Code 1946.2 requires it, and both treat the tenancy as continuing through a sale. A vacant unit is a negotiated term, and the seller carries the risk of failing to deliver it.
This is general information about a municipal ordinance and state statutes, not legal advice. Coverage, fee schedules and effective dates change, and the City's own pages currently disagree on the year of the published rent figures. Confirm current requirements with the City and with your own attorney before serving any notice. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on buying and selling in the area: the Glendale area guide.