Automatic Lease Renewal in California

Question

I'm in a bit of a dispute with my landlord regarding an automatic renewal provision in our lease. According to my (and that of an attorney I've consulted) reading of California Civil Code 1945.5, an automatic renewal provision in a lease agreement is invalid if the provision does not appear in both the body of the contract and directly above the signature (in 8 point bold-face type). The lease agreement I signed does not contain the second recitation of the automatic renewal provision, and I believe that the automatic lease renewal cannot be enforced. However, the landlord claims that since his auto renewal is typed into a printed contract, California Civil Code 1945.5 does not apply, and the renewal is valid. Does anyone have any experience with this? Most of the advice I've seen online regarding this does not cover what happens in the event that the landlord types his auto renewal into an already printed contract...

Thanks for any assistance!

Answer 1

It would be up to a judge to decide if the renewal clause is valid or not.

Answer 2

I use the one provided by the state, just for this reason, I know it is all legal.

I am going to make an educated statement, but I have never run into this.  My educated judgment is the lease will renew to a basic month to month agreement without a new signature.   Basic CA rental laws consistently have it this way.   They do not renew to yearly without a new signature.

Answer 3

yes stay and don't pay, and instead of him trying to enforce your staying he will be glad you want to move.....if not stay until the sherriff comes to the door.