California Rent Increase Law: Caps, Notices, and 2030 Expiration

Under California rent increase law, most landlords can raise the rent by no more than 5% plus the local change in the Consumer Price Index, or 10% total, whichever is lower, in any 12-month period. The limit comes from the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482), codified at Civil Code Section 1947.12, and it runs with a companion just cause eviction rule in Section 1946.2.¹ The cap is scheduled to expire January 1, 2030 unless the legislature extends it.

How Much Your Rent Can Go Up

The formula is 5% plus the percentage change in the CPI for All Urban Consumers in your region, capped at 10% total.¹ If local inflation ran 3%, your cap is 8%. If the formula would come out above 10%, it stops at 10%. The CPI figure must be the one assigned to the region where your unit sits, not a statewide average. For August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026, San Francisco’s AB 1482 cap is 6.3%.

The percentage is applied to the lowest gross rental rate charged for your unit at any point during the 12 months before the increase takes effect. Gross rental rate includes base rent and any recurring mandatory charges, but not one-time deposits. If your landlord gave you a discount or concession, that doesn’t lower the baseline, but the lease has to list the base rent and the concession separately.¹

Only two increases are allowed in any 12 months, and together they can’t exceed the cap.² On a $2,500 unit with an 8% ceiling, that’s a maximum of $200 across the year. The landlord could add $100 in March and another $100 in September, but that’s it until the next 12-month period opens.

Whether Your Unit Is Covered

Most apartment buildings fall under AB 1482 once 15 years have passed since the certificate of occupancy was issued. The cutoff is rolling: a building completed in 2010 became covered in 2025, one completed in 2011 becomes covered in 2026.¹ Local building department records or county assessor data will show when your building was finished.

Single-family homes and condominiums are also covered, but only if they’re owned by a corporation, a real estate investment trust, or an LLC with at least one corporate member.¹ The provision was aimed at institutional landlords running portfolios of houses, not an individual owner renting out a property in their own name.

Properties That Are Exempt

If your unit is exempt, there is no statewide ceiling on how much the landlord can raise your rent, though notice rules under Civil Code Section 827 still apply. The main exemptions:

Single-family homes and condominiums owned by a natural person (not a corporation, REIT, or qualifying LLC), as long as the unit can be sold separately from other units. The landlord must give the tenant specific written notice stating the property is not subject to Section 1947.12. For tenancies that started or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, that notice has to appear in the lease itself. No notice, no exemption, and the cap applies by default.¹
Owner-occupied duplexes, where the owner occupied one unit as a primary residence at the start of the tenancy and still lives there. Neither unit can be an ADU or junior ADU.
New construction with a certificate of occupancy issued in the last 15 years. Mobilehomes can be covered regardless of age.
Deed-restricted affordable housing for very low, low, or moderate income households.
Dormitories owned and operated by colleges, universities, or K-12 schools.
Units already covered by a local rent control ordinance that caps increases below what AB 1482 would allow. The stricter local rule governs.

The written notice piece trips up many single-family rentals. The statute requires specific language identifying the property as not subject to Section 1947.12 or the just cause rule in Section 1946.2, and explaining why. A generic “this property is exempt” line is not enough.

What Happens When a Tenant Moves Out

Section 1947.12(b) lets the landlord set a new initial rent at whatever the market will bear once no tenant from the prior tenancy remains in the unit.¹ The 5%-plus-CPI cap only kicks back in once that new starting rent is established.

This is vacancy decontrol. The practical effect: the law protects you while you stay, but a unit renting at $2,000 can be re-listed at $2,800 after you leave, with future increases then calculated off the $2,800 base. The strongest protection against large increases is simply remaining in your unit.

Local Rent Control Cities

Many California cities have their own rent control laws predating AB 1482, often with lower caps. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Mountain View, and Sacramento are among them.³ Each city sets its own allowable percentage and administers its own rent board.

When a local ordinance caps increases lower than the state formula, the local law wins. If your city limits increases to 3% and AB 1482 would allow 8%, your landlord is bound by the 3%. AB 1482 functions as a floor, not a ceiling on local protection.

The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995 narrows what local ordinances can reach. Local rent control generally cannot apply to single-family homes, condominiums, or units with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995.⁴ Those units can still fall under AB 1482 once they meet its criteria. If you rent in a city with a rent board, check the board for which rules govern your specific unit; most publish annual allowable-increase schedules.

Notice Your Landlord Must Give

Even a lawfully sized increase is void without proper notice under Civil Code Section 827. The required lead time depends on the size of the hike:

30 days when the proposed increase, alone or combined with any other increases in the previous 12 months, is 10% or less of the rent charged at any time in those 12 months.⁵
90 days when the increase, alone or combined with prior increases in the preceding 12 months, exceeds 10%. For AB 1482 units this is mostly academic since anything over 10% is already illegal; the 90-day rule mainly matters for exempt properties.

The notice can be delivered in person or by first-class mail. Mailing within California adds five calendar days to the notice period under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1013,⁶ so a mailed 30-day notice really requires 35 days of lead time. The notice must state the new amount and the effective date. If the notice is late or improperly served, the increase isn’t enforceable.

Just Cause Eviction Protection

The rent cap would be easy to work around if landlords could evict any tenant who refused an illegal increase. Section 1946.2 blocks that by requiring just cause to end a tenancy once a tenant has lived in the unit continuously for 12 months.⁷

At-fault grounds include failing to pay rent, violating a material lease term, nuisance, criminal activity on the property, unauthorized subletting, and refusing lawful entry. No-fault grounds include the owner or an immediate family member moving in, withdrawing the unit from the market, or complying with a government order to vacate. For a no-fault termination, the landlord owes relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent, paid within 15 calendar days of serving the notice, or alternatively a waiver of the final month’s rent. The same properties covered by the rent cap are covered by just cause, and the same exemptions apply.

If Your Landlord Charges More Than the Cap

Section 1947.12(k) gives you a private right of action. A landlord who demands, accepts, or retains any payment above the maximum allowed rent is liable for injunctive relief and actual damages equal to the overcharge.¹ You don’t have to wait for an eviction to bring a claim.

Before suing, keep copies of your lease, every rent increase notice, and your payment records. A written letter to the landlord citing Section 1947.12 and explaining the specific miscalculation resolves many disputes on its own; a lot of overcharges are errors, not bad faith.

If your city has a rent board, file there first. Boards in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and elsewhere can investigate and order rent rollbacks without an attorney. For units covered only by AB 1482 with no local board, the California Attorney General’s office accepts complaints under the Tenant Protection Act.⁸

The 2030 Expiration

The AB 1482 rent cap and just cause rules are set to sunset on January 1, 2030.² Absent new legislation, covered properties would lose statewide rent limits and statewide just cause protection after that date, though local rent control would continue where it exists. Assembly Bill 1157, introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, would eliminate the sunset, lower the allowable increase, and expand coverage; as of early 2026 the bill is moving through committee and its final shape is unsettled.

1
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12
2
California Legislative Information. California Code – AB-1482 Tenant Protection Act of 2019
3
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Local Rent Stabilization Laws: Permissible Rent Increases
4
California Legislative Information. California Code CIV – Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act
5
California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 827
6
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1013
7
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2
8
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Landlord-Tenant Issues