HACLA Rent Increase Request: RentCafe Form, Review, and Payment Standard

To raise the rent on a Section 8 unit in Los Angeles, you submit the HACLA rent increase request form through the RentCafe landlord portal at least 60 days before the date you want the new rent to take effect. HACLA needs roughly 60 to 70 days to process the request, so the submission date and the effective date should sit at least two months apart.¹ The form itself lives inside the portal rather than as a downloadable PDF, and the fields you complete drive both the timing and the amount HACLA will approve.

When You Can Ask for an Increase

Federal regulations prohibit raising rent during the initial lease term.² The HUD Tenancy Addendum attached to every Housing Choice Voucher lease says the same thing plainly: “the owner may not raise the rent during the initial term of the lease.”³ In practice, the earliest opportunity comes after the tenant has been in the unit for 12 months.

After that, HACLA allows one increase every 12 months, measured from the effective date of the last approved increase. You must submit the request at least 60 days before the new rent would take effect.¹ Submit earlier if you can. Because processing runs 60 to 70 days on its own, a request filed at the 60-day mark will typically push the effective date past what you originally asked for.

California Tenant Notice Is Separate

California law sets its own written-notice requirement between you and the tenant, independent of HACLA. An increase of 10 percent or less requires at least 30 days’ notice to the tenant; anything above 10 percent requires 90 days.⁴ You have to satisfy both HACLA’s 60-day submission window and the state tenant-notice period. Plan around whichever is longer.

Filling Out the Form Inside RentCafe

After logging into RentCafe and selecting “Rent Increase,” you choose the unit from a drop-down. The current contract rent populates automatically.⁵ From there, you complete the following fields:

Requested rent amount. Enter the full dollar amount of the new contract rent. If you pay for gas or electricity, include those costs in the total and explain the breakdown in the notes field. HACLA uses 1 percent for gas, 1 percent for electric, and 10 percent for additional tenants.
Effective date. Pick the date the new rent should start, keeping the 60-day lead time in mind.
Comparable units. The form asks whether you have comparables to support your amount. If yes, enter up to three units rented within the past 12 months. If not, check the box and HACLA will use its own market data.
Subsidized housing programs. Indicate whether the unit participates in any other subsidized program beyond Section 8.
Assessor’s Parcel Number. Enter the APN assigned by the LA County Assessor.
Rent Stabilization Ordinance status. State whether the unit is covered by the City of Los Angeles RSO. HACLA will not approve an increase that violates local rent control.

Use the notes field at the bottom to explain anything unusual: a utility responsibility change, a request pegged to the RSO’s allowable percentage, or another circumstance that affects the number.⁵ Sparse or vague notes are a common reason a request gets sent back.

Rent Stabilization Ordinance Compliance

Many City of Los Angeles rentals are covered by the RSO, which caps the annual increase. Any rent increase through HACLA has to satisfy both HUD’s rent reasonableness rules and the RSO’s allowable percentage.¹ If you ask for more than the RSO permits on a covered unit, market comparables will not save the request. If you are unsure whether your unit is covered, confirm with the Los Angeles Housing Department before you submit. Marking a rent-controlled unit as exempt will stall the review once HACLA catches it.

Submitting Through the RentCafe Portal

As of January 1, 2026, HACLA processes rent increase requests through the RentCafe portal at publichousing-hacla.securecafe.com. To register, go to the portal, choose “Landlord” as your login type, click “Click here to register,” and enter your unique registration code (2524-L followed by your new Vendor ID, which begins with “V”).⁶ Once inside, you can submit and track requests directly.

For portal problems, HACLA provides technical support at Section8.RentCafe@hacla.org.⁷ For general Section 8 questions, the Customer Call Center is at (833) 422-5248.⁸ Save a screenshot of the submitted form and note the submission date. That timestamp is your evidence if a timing dispute comes up later.

How HACLA Reviews the Request

Every increase triggers a rent reasonableness determination. Federal rules require the housing authority to verify that the proposed rent is reasonable compared with similar unassisted units in the area before approving any change.⁹ Staff look at location, quality, size, unit type, age, and any amenities or services provided under the lease.

If you submitted comparables, HACLA weighs them against its own database. Strong comparables share your unit’s size, condition, and location and were rented within the past year. Weak or missing comparables leave HACLA relying on its own data, and the approved amount can land below your ask. HACLA may also use a previously established reasonable rent for the unit if that determination was made no more than six months before the proposed effective date.¹ No matter how the market moves, the approved contract rent will not exceed what a comparable unassisted unit would command from a private renter.

How the Payment Standard Affects the Approved Rent

The approved contract rent also interacts with HACLA’s payment standard, which is the maximum subsidy contribution toward a unit. If the approved rent exceeds the payment standard, the tenant covers the difference on top of their usual share. At initial lease-up, federal rules cap the tenant’s total share at 40 percent of adjusted monthly income.¹⁰ That 40 percent cap does not apply to increases during an ongoing tenancy, so an approved increase can push the tenant’s out-of-pocket cost past 40 percent of income. When that happens, the tenant has the option to move with the voucher to a more affordable unit.

After a Decision

When HACLA approves the increase, both you and the tenant get a written notification with the new contract rent and effective date, broken out between HACLA’s Housing Assistance Payment and the tenant’s share. HACLA then runs an interim reexamination to recalculate the tenant portion based on the new rent.¹ The next HAP will reflect the new amount. Keep the approval letter as documentation of the agreed rent.

If HACLA approves a lower amount than you asked for, or denies the request, the practical route is to resubmit with better comparables. Recent rentals from your immediate neighborhood that closely match your unit in size, age, and amenities carry the most weight in the reasonableness analysis. A denial tied to an RSO violation, however, will not turn on comparables. There, the fix is bringing the requested amount inside the allowable RSO percentage. HACLA does not publish a formal appeals process for these decisions, so resubmission with stronger documentation is the working path.

1
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Section 8 Landlord Newsletter
2
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.309 – Term of Assisted Tenancy
3
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tenancy Addendum Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance Housing Choice Voucher Program
4
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 827
5
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Understanding the Owners Portal – Rent Increase and Rent Decrease Requests
6
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Landlord Information
7
RENTCafe. HACLA Landlord Portal
8
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Contact Us
9
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.507 – Rent to Owner: Reasonable Rent
10
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.508