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.
There are a few rental units that are exempt from state rent control laws, including:
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.
Landlords in California can raise the rent at any time, as long as they comply with the following:
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.
Landlords in California may not raise the rent if:
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.
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:
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.
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…or subject to an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing…
Dormitories owned and operated by an institution of higher education or a kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, school.
Housing that has been issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years, unless the housing is a mobile home.
Residential real property that is alienable separate from the title…The owner is not any of the following…real estate investment trust…corporation…limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation…tenants have been provided written notice…
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…
…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…
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)…
All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal and no matter what their…medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status…
…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…
If the proposed rent increase for that tenant is 10 percent or less of the rental amount …the notice shall be delivered at least 30 days before the effective date of the increase.
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…the notice shall be delivered at least 90 days before the effective date of the increase…
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…
…an Owner may increase the rent on a covered unit occupied continuously by the same tenant only once in a 12-month period.
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.