Does a landlord need a reason to evict a tenant?

Under general California law, a landlord does NOT need a reason to evict a tenant; a landlord can evict a tenant for any reason or for no reason. However, landlord cannot evict a tenant for a discriminatory reason, such as because of a tenant’s race, color, sex, sexual orientation, or disability. In addition, a landlord cannot evict a tenant to retaliate against the tenant for reporting problems in the unit to a government agency. Finally, IF a unit is covered by a local rent control, a landlord can only evict a tenant for a reason listed in the rent control law, such as the landlord wants to live in the unit. ... more