My family of 5 received a 3 day notice on the 2nd after telling the manager we could not pay until th 7th. Is this legal in California or is there a mandatory grace period for people with financial hardships?

What does your lease say? Most give a grace period, stating that rent is due on the first but you have X amount of days to pay.

As far as I am aware, there is no mandatory grace period. If the landlord wants to give you one, they can. If not, then you pay on the 1st or pay late fees.

Just pay your rent of the 7th. I think the LL is suspecting that you won't be paying so he is starting the eviction process if you default. There is no mandatory grace period unless spelled out in the lease. Rent grace period permissible but not legal requirement (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/17/REGBV9A5KN1.DTL)