When the notice required by Section 1161 states that the lessor or the landlord may elect to declare the forfeiture of the lease or rental agreement, that declaration shall be nullified and the lease or rental agreement shall remain in effect if the lessee or tenant performs within three days after service of the notice or if the breach is waived by the lessor or the landlord after service of the notice.
§ 1161.5.Declaration of Forfeiture Nullified Upon Timely Performance After Notice Or Waiver of Breach
Title 3. Of Summary Proceedings · Chapter 4. Summary Proceedings for Obtaining Possession of Real Property in Certain Cases · Enacted 1984 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1161.5 provides that if a landlord's notice under § 1161 threatens to declare the lease forfeited, that forfeiture is undone and the lease stays in effect if the tenant performs the required conditions within three days of service or if the landlord waives the breach after serving the notice.
Full Text of § 1161.5
Plain-English Summary
A forfeiture declared in a § 1161 notice is not necessarily the end of the lease. This short section gives tenants a real chance to save the tenancy: if the notice states that the landlord may elect to declare the lease forfeited, that declaration is nullified and the lease remains in force whenever the tenant performs what the notice demands within three days after service.
The same result follows if the landlord chooses to waive the breach after the notice goes out, even without the tenant curing anything. Either way — cure by the tenant or waiver by the landlord — the lease survives rather than terminating.
This section works as a direct companion to § 1161's paragraph 3, which already builds in a three-day cure period for covenant breaches other than nonpayment. It confirms that curing within that window does more than avoid an unlawful detainer judgment — it restores the lease to full effect, as though no forfeiture had ever been threatened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does curing a lease violation within three days save the lease itself?
Yes. Section 1161.5 says a forfeiture threatened in the notice is nullified and the lease remains in effect once the tenant performs within three days after service.
Can a landlord still forfeit the lease after saying they might waive the breach?
No. If the landlord waives the breach after serving the notice, the declaration of forfeiture is nullified regardless of whether the tenant cured anything.
Does this section apply to every ground for unlawful detainer under § 1161?
It applies whenever the § 1161 notice states that the landlord may elect to declare a forfeiture, which fits the curable grounds in that section rather than the automatic-termination ground in paragraph 4.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 174, Sec. 1.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: curing lease violation california evictionforfeiture of lease nullified california