30-days Notice On A Fixed Term Lease In California

Location: Sonoma County California

Hi there!

I need some quick advice on my position and next steps at the end of a 12 month fixed term lease in California. The property manager is saying they require 30 days notice before vacating and that CA law also requires this. Their claim is that because we did not give 30-days notice we became hold over tenants as established in section 3.4 of our lease. Which says as follows:

Any holding over after expiration of this Agreement will be :

with the consent of Owner, a month-to-month tenancy at a monthly rent equal to the rent for the month immediately preceding the expiration date, or such other amount as agreed upon by Owner and Tenant. The monthly rent shall be payable in advance and the giving the other party thirty (30) days (or longer if required by law) written notice.

My problem with this is it does not clearly define that 30 days notice is required to stop the tenancy from becoming hold over, it talks about terminating an existing month-to-month hold over tenancy. I found a civil code 1654 that I think gives me good grounds to dispute but I want some advice first. What I need to know is;

Have I misinterpreted the hold over clause?

If I have would I be able to challenge them in small claims that the wording is ambiguous and cite 1654 and win?

Should I pay the pro-rated rent they are charging for the 24 days following when the end of my fixed term lease?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!