Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: How much notice?

30 days if you have lived in the property for less than one year, 60 days if you have lived in the property more than one year. However, starting in January, the 60 day notice goes back to 30 days.

Re: How much notice?

If you were renting on a month-to-month basis, Mr. Koenen's answer is correct.

However, if you had a term lease, e.g., for one year, NO notice is required. A one-year lease simply ends, and that's that. If you're still there on December 18, you're a hold-over tenant and can be evicted at once.

In practice, most landlords and tenants give each other informal notice and/or have civilized discussions about things like the move-out date, a final inspection for refund of the security deposit, whether the tenant needs a few more days (or maybe a few less!), return of the keys, turn-over or turn-off of utilities, etc.

Unless there is bad blood between the landlord and you, I suggest talking about these things. Most landlords would not want a vacancy right before Christmas; they's probably prefer you to move out 12/31 and pay another half month rent for that difficult-to-rent time period.