AB 1482 Rent Cap: Limits, Exemptions, and Just Cause

California’s AB 1482 rent cap limits annual rent increases on most rentals to 5% plus the regional change in the Consumer Price Index, or 10% total, whichever is lower. The same law, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, also bars landlords from ending a tenancy of 12 months or longer without a legally recognized reason. It took effect January 1, 2020, and is scheduled to expire January 1, 2030.¹

How the Rent Cap Is Calculated

The maximum increase in any 12-month period is 5% plus the regional CPI change, capped at 10%. That percentage is applied to the lowest rent charged for your unit at any point in the previous 12 months.²

An example. If your rent is $2,000 and regional CPI rose 3.5%, the formula produces 8.5%, so the most your landlord can add is $170 a month. If CPI spikes to 7%, the formula would give 12%, but the 10% ceiling holds the increase to $200.

The CPI figure comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes separate indexes for 23 metro areas and broader regions. If no specific index covers your area, the law uses the California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published by the state Department of Industrial Relations. For increases taking effect on or after August 1 of any year, the applicable CPI is the April-to-April change.²

Landlords cannot bank unused increases. If your rent stayed flat for two years, your landlord cannot stack those years into a single larger jump. Each 12-month window stands on its own.

How Often Rent Can Go Up and What Notice You Get

Rent can rise no more than twice in any 12-month period, and the two increases combined must stay within the annual cap.² A 4% increase in March and a 6% increase in September would break the rule because the total exceeds what the formula allows.

Notice comes from a separate statute, Civil Code Section 827. Any increase of 10% or less requires at least 30 days’ written notice; anything higher requires 90 days.³ Because AB 1482 never permits more than 10% on a covered unit, the 30-day rule is what applies in practice.

Which Rentals Are Covered

The cap covers most apartments, multi-unit buildings, and other rental housing where the certificate of occupancy was issued more than 15 years ago.² The 15-year window rolls forward, so buildings age into coverage every year. A property finished in 2014 becomes subject to the cap in 2029.

The law also expressly reaches rental housing owned by corporations, real estate investment trusts, or LLCs with at least one corporate member. That matters because some of the exemptions below evaporate when the property is held through one of those entities.

Mobile homes are covered even inside the 15-year window, and mobile home park management cannot use the single-family exemption.

Exempt Properties

Housing that received a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years, except mobile homes.
Single-family homes, condos, and mobile homes owned by individuals, so long as the owner is not a corporation, REIT, LLC with a corporate member, or mobile home park management, and the required written notice is given.
Owner-occupied duplexes, where the owner lives in one unit and rents the other.
Deed-restricted affordable housing subject to a recorded agreement with a government agency.
Properties covered by a local rent control ordinance that limits increases to less than AB 1482 allows.
Dormitories owned and operated by a K-12 school or higher-education institution.

The Written-Notice Trap for Single-Family Homes and Condos

Owning a qualifying single-family home or condo does not automatically exempt a landlord. The owner has to give the tenant a specific written notice stating that the property is exempt from both the rent cap in Section 1947.12 and the just cause eviction rules in Section 1946.2. For any tenancy that began or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, that notice has to appear in the lease itself.⁴

A landlord who skips that disclosure loses the exemption. If your lease on a single-family rental says nothing about AB 1482, the cap and just cause rules almost certainly apply to your unit.

What Happens Between Tenants

The cap restricts increases during an ongoing tenancy. When a tenant voluntarily moves out and no one from the prior tenancy stays behind, the landlord can set the initial rent for the next tenant at any level the market supports.¹ Once that new starting rent is in place, the annual cap governs every increase after it.

A new tenant paying $3,000 for a unit the previous tenant rented at $2,200 has no claim under AB 1482 about the starting price. Any increase above $3,000 during the first year, though, is capped by the formula.

Just Cause Eviction Protections

Once you have lived in a covered unit continuously for at least 12 months, your landlord cannot end your tenancy without a legally recognized reason. The reason must be stated in the written termination notice and must fall into one of two categories.⁵

At-Fault Reasons

At-fault grounds cover tenant conduct that justifies ending the tenancy:

Failure to pay rent.
Breach of a material lease term after written notice to cure.
Creating or maintaining a nuisance.
Committing waste (damaging the property beyond normal wear).
Refusing to sign a lease renewal on similar terms after a written lease expires.
Criminal activity on the property, or criminal threats aimed at the owner or the owner’s agents.
Unauthorized subletting or assignment.
Refusing to allow lawful entry for inspections or repairs.
Using the property for an illegal purpose.

For most of these, the landlord has to give you a chance to fix the problem before moving to terminate. A single late payment does not automatically strip you of just cause protection; the landlord still has to follow the notice-and-cure process.

No-Fault Reasons

No-fault grounds apply when you have done nothing wrong but the landlord has a legitimate reason to reclaim the unit:

Owner or family move-in. The owner, their spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents intend to move in as a primary residence for at least 12 continuous months. The termination notice has to name the intended occupant and their relationship to the owner. A friend or distant relative does not qualify.
Withdrawal from the rental market. The owner plans to permanently take the unit out of rental use.
Government or court order to vacate for habitability reasons.
Demolition or substantial remodel that requires permits and cannot be done safely with the tenant in place.

Owner move-in evictions come with a safeguard. The named occupant has to actually move in within 90 days of your departure and live there for at least 12 consecutive months. If they do not, the landlord must offer the unit back to you at the old rent and reimburse any moving costs beyond the relocation assistance already paid.⁵

Relocation Assistance

Any no-fault termination triggers relocation assistance equal to one month of the rent in effect when the notice was served. The landlord must provide it within 15 calendar days of serving the notice, either as a direct payment or as a written waiver of the final month’s rent. Skipping the assistance can invalidate the eviction notice.⁵

If Your Landlord Violates the Rent Cap or Evicts Improperly

A tenant charged more than the allowable rent can sue in civil court to recover the full overcharge, get a court order stopping the illegal increase, and, at the court’s discretion, collect attorney’s fees and costs. If the landlord acted willfully or with fraud, the court can award up to three times the overcharge.⁴ You have three years from the date of the violation to file.

Bad-faith evictions carry parallel penalties. A landlord who tries to remove a tenant in material violation of the just cause rules can be liable for actual damages, attorney’s fees, and up to three times actual damages if the violation was willful or malicious.⁵

Any lease clause that tries to waive your rights under the rent cap is void. You cannot sign these protections away, whatever the paperwork says.⁴

When AB 1482 Expires

The Tenant Protection Act is set to sunset on January 1, 2030. On that date, the statewide cap and just cause protections lapse unless the legislature extends or replaces them. Local rent control ordinances stay in place regardless of what happens to the state law.¹

1
California Legislative Information. AB-1482 Tenant Protection Act of 2019
2
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12 – Rent Increases
3
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 827
4
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12
5
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2