My previous tenant broke his lease 2.5 months B4 end of lease. Reason-he got a new job in another state.

You have a lot of questions, so I will split this up. 1. The statute of limitations for breach of a written contract is 4 years, and 2 years if the contract was oral. The statute begins running when the contract is breached. 2. Small Claims courts do not have jurisdiction over nonresident defendants unless the claim relates to real property located here in California or an auto accident located here in California. You would most likely have to file a limited civil suit in California, but not a small claims case. 3. You cannot place a lien on his home in Oregon until you get a proper judgment, and domesticate it in Oregon in compliance with their sister state judgment provisions.

Mr. Roach has provided an excellent summary of the law for you. All I can add is a little leasing perspective. First, do some cost-benefit analysis - is the time, expense and aggravation required to pursue the claim, worth the rent you lost? If your property is an estate leasing for tens of thousands of dollars a month, maybe so. It is also difficult to rent such properties, so the short notice you received may help you get a judgment. On the other hand, if your property rents for say, less than $3500/month, you likely could have found a replacement tenant quickly. Properties like that are only available a few days in your area. The law requires you to "mitigate your damages" when a tenant leaves. If the tenant gave you advance notice of his departure, you should have immediately put the property up for lease. If you did not do that, you may not be able to get a judgment against tenant anyway. Invest in a consultation about the facts, or in a polite attorney letter to tenant trying to recover the rent. BTW, what happened to the security deposit, which should have covered at least one month's rent? Did you send the security deposit refund notice required by the CA statute? If not, you may owe the tenant money!