How Long Do You Have to Sue? California Real Estate Litigation Deadlines
In California real estate litigation, the deadline is frequently the case. Claims that would otherwise be strong get dismissed because the clock started earlier than the client believed — often at close of escrow, sometimes before it. This is a working reference to the periods that come up most, and to the accrual rules that decide when they begin.
It is a reference, not advice. Which period applies to a particular claim depends on how the claim is framed, and California courts will apply the period matching the gravamen of the action rather than the label on the cause of action. If a deadline may be close, that is a reason to talk to a lawyer now rather than after researching it.
Nondisclosure and real estate fraud
| Claim | Authority | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Fraud, concealment, mistake | CCP § 338(d) | 3 years from discovery of the facts constituting the fraud |
| Breach of written contract | CCP § 337(a) | 4 years from breach |
| Rescission of a written contract | CCP § 337(c) | 4 years |
| Breach of oral contract | CCP § 339(1) | 2 years |
| Negligence / injury to real property | CCP § 338(b) | 3 years |
| Agent’s statutory inspection duty | Civ. Code § 2079.4 | 2 years from the earliest of recordation, close of escrow, or occupancy |
Vera v. REL-BC, LLC (2021) 66 Cal.App.5th 57 contains both. First, the buyer’s own pre-closing inspection reports contradicted the sellers’ disclosures, which put the buyer on inquiry notice before escrow closed — so the three-year fraud clock had already started at closing. Second, the court applied the three-year fraud period to the buyer’s breach of contract claim, because the gravamen of the action was fraud. Pleading breach of a written contract does not reliably buy four years in a nondisclosure case. The suit, filed three years and three days after closing, was barred.
Layer the section 2079.4 cap on top and the realistic outside window in many nondisclosure matters is two years from close of escrow — not three, and not four.
More on nondisclosure claims →
Construction defect
Construction defect deadlines are the most complicated set in California real estate practice, because three different regimes can apply depending on when the property was first sold.
Homes covered by the Right to Repair Act
The Act applies to new residential units where the purchase agreement was signed by the seller on or after January 1, 2003 (Civil Code section 938). Within it:
- Civil Code section 941(a) imposes a 10-year outer limit from substantial completion, but not later than the date a valid notice of completion was recorded.
- Civil Code section 941(d) provides that Code of Civil Procedure sections 337.1 and 337.15 do not apply to actions under the Act.
- Individual standards in section 896 carry much shorter component periods.
| Component | Provision | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Irrigation systems and drainage | § 896(g)(7) | 1 year |
| Interunit noise transmission | § 896(g)(6) | 1 year from original occupancy of the adjacent unit |
| Untreated wood posts | § 896(g)(8) | 2 years |
| Landscaping systems | § 896(g)(12) | 2 years |
| Dryer ducts | § 896(g)(14) | 2 years |
| Plumbing and sewer systems | § 896(e) | 4 years |
| Electrical systems | § 896(f) | 4 years |
| Paths, driveways, hardscape, sidewalks, patios | § 896(g)(1) | 4 years |
| Untreated steel fences and adjacent components | § 896(g)(9) | 4 years |
| Paint and stains | § 896(g)(10) | 5 years |
Homes and structures outside the Act
For pre-2003 sales, condominium conversions, and commercial construction, the repose statutes apply: Code of Civil Procedure section 337.1 (four years for patent deficiencies, apparent by reasonable inspection) and section 337.15 (ten years for latent deficiencies, not apparent by reasonable inspection). Section 337.15’s ten years commences at substantial completion but not later than the earliest of final inspection by the public agency, recordation of a valid notice of completion, date of use or occupation, or one year after work ceased.
“Ten years” under section 337.15 does not mean a homeowner has ten years to sue. Repose statutes set an outer boundary measured from completion. Inside that boundary, the ordinary limitations periods still run from accrual or discovery — four years for written contract, three for injury to real property, two for personal injury. Both clocks have to be satisfied.
Tolling under the Act
The prelitigation process does not consume your deadline. Civil Code section 927 extends the filing deadline to 100 days after a repair is completed, or to 45 days after the builder’s response period expires where the builder fails to respond. Section 928 tolls limitations from the date of a mediation request. And for a homeowners association, service of a Calderon notice under Civil Code section 6000 tolls all applicable statutes of limitation and repose.
More on construction defect claims →
Boundary, easement, and encroachment
| Claim | Authority | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Trespass upon or injury to real property | CCP § 338(b) | 3 years |
| Private nuisance | CCP § 338(b) | 3 years |
| Timber trespass (injury to trees) | Civ. Code § 3346 | 5 years from the trespass |
| Adverse possession / prescriptive period | CCP §§ 318, 325 | 5 years |
| Quiet title | — | Period of the underlying theory |
Two accrual rules do most of the work here.
Quiet title and possession. Under Muktarian v. Barmby (1965) 63 Cal.2d 558, no cause of action accrues while the plaintiff remains in undisturbed possession. The clock does not begin until possession is lost or the adverse claim becomes clearly hostile.
Continuing versus permanent trespass. A permanent trespass is an intrusion under circumstances indicating an intention that it be permanent; the period runs once, and all past and future damages must be recovered in a single action. A continuing trespass is one that can be discontinued or abated at reasonable cost; successive actions may be brought, and the claim is not barred merely because the condition has stood for more than three years — though recovery is generally limited to the three years preceding filing. Whether a trespass is continuing or permanent is a question of fact.
A removable fence, shed, or driveway is typically analyzed as a continuing trespass. “It has been there twenty years, you waited too long” is among the most common things a neighbor says, and among the most frequently wrong.
More on boundary and easement disputes →
Purchase and sale disputes
| Claim | Authority | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Breach of written contract; specific performance of a written contract | CCP § 337(a) | 4 years |
| Rescission of a written contract | CCP § 337(c) | 4 years |
| Fraud or mistake | CCP § 338(d) | 3 years from discovery |
| Breach of oral contract | CCP § 339(1) | 2 years |
Here the limitations period is often the least urgent deadline. Two others usually matter more.
First, in a specific performance case, damages under Civil Code section 3306 are measured at the time of breach, not at trial. A buyer who waits and later elects damages absorbs every dollar of post-breach appreciation. Second, a seller who intends to resell will do so, and a lis pendens recorded after the property closes to a third party is worth considerably less.
More on purchase and sale disputes →
The deadline that is not a statute of limitations
One more, because it destroys value more often than any limitations period on this page.
The C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement conditions its prevailing-party attorney fee clause on first attempting mediation. Under Lange v. Schilling (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 1412, a party who files suit without requesting mediation forfeits attorney fees entirely — even after winning — and a request made after filing does not cure it. Filing to preserve a statute of limitations or to enable recording a lis pendens is carved out of the obligation, but the safe practice is to send the mediation request in writing at the same time you file.
If a deadline may be close
Three things are worth doing immediately, before any legal analysis:
- Fix your dates. Close of escrow, recordation, first occupancy, substantial completion, notice of completion. Every period on this page runs from one of them.
- Identify your earliest notice. Not when you were certain — when you first had reason to suspect. Inspection reports, contractor comments, and neighbor conversations all count.
- Preserve the file. Disclosures, inspection reports, permits, correspondence, photographs. Deadline arguments are won on documents about timing, and those documents get thrown away.
ROMO Law Group offers free consultations on California real estate matters. If a deadline is close, say so when you call.
Current as of August 2026. Limitations and repose periods are fact-specific and subject to tolling, equitable doctrines, and legislative change. This page is general information, not legal advice about your matter.
Common questions
What is the shortest deadline in California real estate litigation?
Among the most commonly encountered, Civil Code section 2079.4's two-year cap on claims against a real estate agent for breach of the statutory inspection duty is the one that catches the most people — because it runs from the earliest of recordation, close of escrow, or occupancy. Several construction defect standards in Civil Code section 896 run in one year from close of escrow, including irrigation systems and drainage.
Does the clock start when I discovered the problem?
For fraud, Code of Civil Procedure section 338(d) provides three years from discovery of the facts constituting the fraud. But California applies an inquiry-notice standard: accrual begins when you suspected or reasonably should have suspected wrongdoing, not when you achieved certainty. Inspection reports, contractor comments, and neighbor conversations can all start the clock earlier than a homeowner expects.
Is a ten-year statute of repose the same as having ten years to sue?
No. A repose statute sets an outer boundary measured from an event like substantial completion. Within that boundary, the ordinary limitations periods still run from accrual or discovery. Treating a ten-year repose period as ten years of runway is one of the more expensive misreadings in construction defect practice.