| Rent Increase Facts | Answer |
| Reason Needed? | No |
| Max Amount | 5% + CPI or 10%, whichever is lower |
| Required Notice | 30 or 90 Days |
Does California Have Rent Control?
California does have statewide rent control laws. Several cities also have additional rent control laws and ordinances to offer additional protections to the tenants.
In Sacramento, rent can only be raised once every 12 months and applies to all tenants regardless of how long they have resided in the unit. The maximum increase cannot exceed 5% plus the change in the inflation rate.
Most major cities in California have rent control ordinances that add additional protections to tenants beyond the state laws including:
Rent Control Exceptions
There are a few rental units that are exempt from state rent control laws, including:
- Housing restricted in use for low to moderate-income individuals
- Some school housing
- Housing built within the past 15 years, excluding mobile homes
- A single-family residence not owned by an LLC in which one of the members is a corporation, REIT, or corporation, and in which the landlord has provided written notice of the exemption
- A duplex where the owner resides in one of the units as their primary residence
Occasionally, a city’s rent stabilization ordinance conflicts with the state rent control laws. If a city’s rent control law conflicts with state law, the city law will prevail if it was enacted before September 1, 2019, and the law offers greater protection to tenants.
Some cities provide resources to understand local rent control and determine if your residence is protected by rent control. For example, if you live in Los Angeles, you can check to see if your home is protected by city rent control laws. Enter your address in the city’s parcel map and look under the Housing tab.
When Can a Landlord Raise Rent in California?
Landlords in California can raise the rent at any time, as long as they comply with the following:
- Give the tenant reasonable notice
- Aren’t raising rent for retaliatory or discriminatory reasons
- Wait until the end of the lease term (unless otherwise specified in the lease)
- Don’t break any rent control laws
60 days before the end of a year-long lease, a landlord sends a notice that rent will increase by 5% if the tenants choose to renew the lease.
When Can’t a Landlord Raise Rent in California?
Landlords in California may not raise the rent if:
- The increase is applied in a way that discriminates against one of the protected classes specified in the Fair Housing Act
- It is retaliation done in response to a protected tenant action, such as filing a complaint about bed bugs
- It is during the middle of a lease’s fixed term (unless stated otherwise in the lease agreement)
- The increase is higher than what’s allowed under rent control laws
How Often Can Rent Be Increased in California?
According to California state law, landlords can increase rent twice every 12 months as long as they provide sufficient notice and don’t do so during the lease term.
However, some city rent control ordinances, like Oakland and East Palo Alto, have differing rules that permit only one rent increase per year unless the unit is exempt.
How Much Can a Landlord Raise Rent in California?
California law limits rent increases to 5% plus the annual rate of inflation or 10%, whichever is lower.
The annual rate of inflation or CPI (Consumer Price Index) is calculated by the Department of Industrial Relations each year. However, some areas use the regional CPI to calculate rent increases including:
How Much Notice is Needed To Raise Rent in California?
Typically, California landlords must give 30 days’ notice when increasing rent. If the landlord proposes to raise the rent by more than 10%, they must give 90 days’ notice.
Landlords in California cannot increase rent during a lease term unless the lease agreement specifically allows rent increases.
Sources
- 1 Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(1) - (d)(4)
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(d) This section shall not apply to the following residential real properties:
(1) Housing restricted by deed, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document as affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code, or subject to an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code or comparable federal statutes.
(2) Dormitories owned and operated by an institution of higher education or a kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, school.
(3) Housing subject to rent or price control through a public entity’s valid exercise of its police power consistent with Chapter 2.7 (commencing with Section 1954.50) that restricts annual increases in the rental rate to an amount less than that provided in subdivision (a).
(4) Housing that has been issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years, unless the housing is a mobilehome.
Source Link - 2 Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(5) & (d)(6)
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(d) This section shall not apply to the following residential real properties:
…
(5) Residential real property that is alienable separate from the title to any other dwelling unit, including a mobilehome, provided that both of the following apply:(A) The owner is not any of the following:
(i) A real estate investment trust, as defined in Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code.
(ii) A corporation.
(iii) A limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation.
(iv) Management of a mobilehome park, as defined in Section 798.2.
(B)(i) The tenants have been provided written notice that the residential real property is exempt from this section using the following statement:”This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code and is not subject to the just cause requirements of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code. This property meets the requirements of Sections 1947.12(d)(5) and 1946.2(e)(8) of the Civil Code and the owner is not any of the following:
(1) a real estate investment trust, as defined by Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code;
(2) a corporation; or
(3) a limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation.”
(ii) For a tenancy existing before July 1, 2020, or July 1, 2022, if the lease is for a tenancy in a mobilehome, the notice required under clause (i) may, but is not required to, be provided in the rental agreement.
(iii) For a tenancy commenced or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, or July 1, 2022, if the lease is for a tenancy in a mobilehome, the notice required under clause (i) must be provided in the rental agreement.(iv) Addition of a provision containing the notice required under clause (i) to any new or renewed rental agreement or fixed-term lease constitutes a similar provision for the purposes of subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 1946.2.Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12
(6) A property containing two separate dwelling units within a single structure in which the owner occupied one of the units as the owner’s principal place of residence at the beginning of the tenancy, so long as the owner continues in occupancy, and neither unit is an accessory dwelling unit or a junior accessory dwelling unit.
Source Link - 3 Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12
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For a new tenancy in which no tenant from the prior tenancy remains in lawful possession of the residential real property, the owner may establish the initial rental rate not subject to subdivision (a). Subdivision (a) is only applicable to subsequent increases after that initial rental rate has been established.
Source Link - 4 Cal. Civ. Code § 51(b)
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All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.
Source Link - 5 Cal. Civ. Code § 1942.5(a)
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If the lessor retaliates against the lessee because of the exercise by the lessee of the lessee’s rights under this chapter or because of the lessee’s complaint to an appropriate agency as to tenantability of a dwelling, and if the lessee of a dwelling is not in default as to the payment of rent, the lessor may not recover possession of a dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days of any of the following:
(1) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has given notice pursuant to Section 1942, has provided notice of a suspected bed bug infestation, or has made an oral complaint to the lessor regarding tenantability.
(2) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has filed a written complaint, or an oral complaint which is registered or otherwise recorded in writing, with an appropriate agency, of which the lessor has notice, for the purpose of obtaining correction of a condition relating to tenantability.
(3) After the date of an inspection or issuance of a citation, resulting from a complaint described in paragraph (2) of which the lessor did not have notice.
(4) After the filing of appropriate documents commencing a judicial or arbitration proceeding involving the issue of tenantability.
(5) After entry of judgment or the signing of an arbitration award, if any, when in the judicial proceeding or arbitration the issue of tenantability is determined adversely to the lessor.In each instance, the 180-day period shall run from the latest applicable date referred to in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive.
Source Link - 6 Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(a)(2)
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If the same tenant remains in occupancy of a unit of residential real property over any 12-month period, the gross rental rate for the unit of residential real property shall not be increased in more than two increments over that 12-month period, subject to the other restrictions of this subdivision governing gross rental rate increase.
Source Link - 7 Oakland Municipal Code § 8.22.070(A)(1)(a)
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Except as provided in Paragraph b below, an Owner may increase the rent on a covered unit occupied continuously by the same tenant only once in a 12-month period. If an Owner filed an Owner’s Rent Increase petition, the earliest any increase allowed in the Hearing Officer’s decision may be effective is the date that a rent increase notice consistent with this Chapter and state law is served on the Tenant after the service date of the decision. Such rent increase cannot take effect earlier than the tenant’s anniversary date if the Owner has already increased that tenant’s rent within the preceding 12-month period.
Source Link - 8 East Palo Alto Municipal Code § 14.04.100(B)
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Once each year on or after July 1, 2011 all landlords in compliance with Section 14.04.080 of this chapter as well as all other sections of it, shall be permitted to increase rents in accordance with the provisions of this section. Rents may be increased up to the amount of the maximum allowable rent, subject to the limitations of this section, including but not limited to the ten percent (10%) limit on rent increases in Subsection 14.04.100.F. No more than one rent increase per twelve-month period may be imposed on a tenancy in a specific rental unit pursuant to this section.
Source Link - 9 Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(a)(1)
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Subject to subdivision (b), an owner of residential real property shall not, over the course of any 12-month period, increase the gross rental rate for a dwelling or a unit more than 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for that dwelling or unit at any time during the 12 months prior to the effective date of the increase. In determining the lowest gross rental amount pursuant to this section, any rent discounts, incentives, concessions, or credits offered by the owner of such unit of residential real property and accepted by the tenant shall be excluded. The gross per-month rental rate and any owner-offered discounts, incentives, concessions, or credits shall be separately listed and identified in the lease or rental agreement or any amendments to an existing lease or rental agreement.
Source Link - 10 Cal. Civ. Code § 827(b)(2) & (b)(3)
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(2) If the proposed rent increase for that tenant is 10 percent or less of the rental amount charged to that tenant at any time during the 12 months before the effective date of the increase, either in and of itself or when combined with any other rent increases for the 12 months before the effective date of the increase, the notice shall be delivered at least 30 days before the effective date of the increase, and subject to Section 1013 of the Code of Civil Procedure if served by mail.
(3)(A) If the proposed rent increase for that tenant is greater than 10 percent of the rental amount charged to that tenant at any time during the 12 months before the effective date of the increase, either in and of itself or when combined with any other rent increases for the 12 months before the effective date of the increase, the notice shall be delivered at least 90 days before the effective date of the increase, and subject to Section 1013 of the Code of Civil Procedure if served by mail.
(B) If the proposed rent increase for that tenant is caused by a change in a tenant’s income or family composition as determined by a recertification required by statute or regulation, the notice shall be delivered at least 30 days before the effective date of the increase as described in paragraph (2), and subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not apply.
Source Link
