CIV § 1941.2

Substantial Tenant Breach Cancels Repairs: CIV § 1941.2

Under CIV § 1941.2, a landlord has no duty to repair a dilapidation if the tenant is in substantial violation of affirmative duties that contributed to it.

Official text CIV § 1941.2 — California

(a) No duty on the part of the landlord to repair a dilapidation shall arise under Section 1941 or 1942 if the tenant is in substantial violation of any of the following affirmative obligations, provided the tenant’s violation contributes substantially to the existence of the dilapidation or interferes substantially with the landlord’s obligation under Section 1941 to effect the necessary repairs:

(1) To keep that part of the premises which he occupies and uses clean and sanitary as the condition of the premises permits.

(2) To dispose from his dwelling unit of all rubbish, garbage and other waste, in a clean and sanitary manner.

(3) To properly use and operate all electrical, gas and plumbing fixtures and keep them as clean and sanitary as their condition permits.

(4) Not to permit any person on the premises, with his permission, to willfully or wantonly destroy, deface, damage, impair or remove any part of the structure or dwelling unit or the facilities, equipment, or appurtenances thereto, nor himself do any such thing.

(5) To occupy the premises as his abode, utilizing portions thereof for living, sleeping, cooking or dining purposes only which were respectively designed or intended to be used for such occupancies.

(b) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) shall not apply if the landlord has expressly agreed in writing to perform the act or acts mentioned therein.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

Section 1941.2 is the counterweight to §§ 1941 and 1942, and it is drafted as a condition rather than as a list of tenant duties for their own sake. Subdivision (a) says no duty to repair arises under § 1941 or § 1942 if the tenant is in substantial violation of any of the listed obligations — but only provided that violation contributes substantially to the existence of the dilapidation, or interferes substantially with the landlord's ability to do the repairs. Both halves have to be true. A tenant who keeps a messy flat has not thereby released the landlord from fixing an unrelated roof leak.

The obligations themselves are five: to keep the occupied part of the premises clean and sanitary as its condition permits; to dispose of rubbish, garbage and waste in a clean and sanitary manner; to use and operate the electrical, gas and plumbing fixtures properly and keep them clean and sanitary as their condition permits; not to destroy, deface, damage, impair or remove any part of the structure, dwelling unit, facilities, equipment or appurtenances, and not to permit anyone on the premises with permission to do so; and to use the premises as a home, using each part only for the sleeping, cooking, dining or living purpose it was designed for.

Subdivision (b) removes the first two obligations where the landlord has expressly agreed in writing to perform them — the cleaning-service case. The section is the provision landlords cite most often when a habitability complaint is made, and the words that decide those arguments are "substantial violation" and "contributes substantially": both are questions of degree and causation about a particular defect, and both are worth putting to a lawyer with the facts rather than settling from the text.

When it applies

The landlord blames a blocked drain on what you put down it
A repair request refused because the room is too full of belongings to work in
Damage caused by a guest or a subtenant that the landlord charges to you
Mould that the landlord says comes from how you dry laundry indoors
A garage or a spare room used as a bedroom, and a dispute about damp
A cleaning service is written into the lease and the landlord now blames you for the state of the flat

What this section does not say

It does not suspend the landlord's duty across the board. The violation must contribute substantially to the specific dilapidation or block the specific repair; an unrelated breach does not switch off § 1941.
It is not a list of everything a lease may require. These five obligations are the ones that condition the landlord's repair duty, not the whole content of a tenant's responsibilities.
It does not make the tenant liable for damage. Liability for deterioration caused by the tenant's want of ordinary care comes from § 1929 and from the deposit rules in § 1950.5, not from this section.
It does not apply where the landlord agreed in writing to do the cleaning. Subdivision (b) disapplies the first two obligations in that case.
It is not a ground to end the tenancy. Whether a breach supports termination is a question under § 1946.2 and the lease, not under this section.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

A kitchen drain backs up repeatedly. The landlord's plumber reports fat and food waste in the trap, and the landlord refuses to pay, saying the tenant caused it.

How the wording applies

Section 1941.2 removes the landlord's repair duty only where the tenant's substantial violation of a listed obligation substantially contributes to that specific dilapidation. It hinges on cause: fat in the trap points at the tenant's use, while a shared stack blocked further down the building is the landlord's, and a report describing both is where the argument actually sits.

How the parties settled it

The tenant pays the call-out for clearing the trap, the landlord pays for a survey of the stack and any work it identifies, and the parties agree in writing what may go down the sink.

Illustrative example

Black mould appears along an outside wall of a bedroom. The landlord says it comes from drying washing indoors with the windows shut, and the tenant says the wall was damp on the day they moved in.

How the wording applies

The section conditions the landlord's duty on the tenant's own obligations, including keeping the premises as clean and sanitary as their condition permits. The fact the outcome turns on is the state of the wall at the start of the tenancy: pre-existing damp is a section 1941 defect that the tenant's habits did not cause, whatever they may have added to it.

How the parties settled it

The landlord obtains a damp survey and carries out the work it recommends, and the tenant runs a dehumidifier supplied by the landlord and dries laundry outside or in a vented space.

Related sections

CIV § 1941 Landlords Must Keep Dwellings Fit to Live In: CIV § 1941 CIV § 1941.1 Untenantable Rental Standards: CIV § 1941.1 CIV § 1942 Deduct Up to One Month's Rent or Vacate: CIV § 1942 CIV § 1929 Repair damage from own lack of ordinary care (CIV § 1929)

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of CIV § 1941.2 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in California.

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