A San Francisco rent increase notice has to be written on the Rent Board’s official form, filled in with the current rent, the dollar and percentage increase, and the effective date, and then served on the tenant at least 30 days before that date (35 days if you mail it) for an increase of 10 percent or less, or 90 days (95 if mailed) for anything larger. Miss a field, miscalculate the math, or shortchange the notice period and the tenant can have the increase thrown out at a Rent Board hearing.
What follows is what you actually need to do, in the order you need to do it.
The Allowable Percentage Right Now
For the period running March 1, 2025 through February 28, 2026, the allowable annual increase is 1.4 percent.1SF.gov. Annual Rent Increase for 3/1/25 – 2/28/26 Announced The Rent Board sets this figure each year at 60 percent of the regional Consumer Price Index. A landlord can impose one increase up to this cap per year, on or after the tenant’s anniversary date, without filing anything with the Board.
If you skipped increases in earlier years, you can bank the unused percentages and apply them in a later year. Add each year’s allowable percentage you did not use, then multiply the total by the current base rent (minus any passthroughs). Banked increases can easily push the total above 10 percent, which changes the notice period you owe the tenant.
Does Your Unit Qualify
Chapter 37 of the Administrative Code covers most residential rentals in a building that received its certificate of occupancy before June 13, 1979.2American Legal Publishing. San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 37 – Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Newer buildings are exempt as new construction. Single-family homes and condos where every current tenant moved in on or after January 1, 1996 are also outside the annual percentage cap, as are HUD projects, short-stay hotel rooms (occupied fewer than 32 consecutive days), and institutional housing like dorms and hospitals. If your unit is exempt, you still have to follow California Civil Code Section 827 on notice timing, but the 1.4 percent ceiling does not bind you. The rest of this guide assumes a covered unit.
The Form
Download the Allowable Annual Rent Increase form (historically called Form 571) from the Rent Board’s Forms Center.3Rent Board. Forms Center Pull a fresh copy each time; the Board updates its forms periodically. Before you start filling it in, have these ready:
- The tenant’s full legal name and the complete street address, including unit number.
- The current monthly base rent, not including separately billed utilities or fees.
- The dollar amount of the increase.
- The percentage that dollar amount represents against the current rent.
- The new monthly total after the increase.
- The effective date, which must fall on or after the tenant’s rent anniversary and after the full notice period has run.
- The Rent Board fee passthrough, if you’re passing half the annual fee to the tenant. The amount changes each fiscal year, so confirm the current figure through the Board’s fee portal before writing it in.4San Francisco Rent Board. San Francisco Rent Board Housing Inventory and Fee Portal
Check the arithmetic. A percentage that doesn’t match the dollar amounts, or a new total that doesn’t add up, is grounds for the tenant to challenge the notice. If the increase is based on anything other than the standard annual allowable rate, cite the legal basis on the form and attach the Rent Board approval (see the passthrough section below).
How to Serve It
California Civil Code Section 827 recognizes two delivery methods: personal service or first-class mail.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 827
Personal Service
Hand the notice to the tenant. The notice period starts the next day with no added time. If the tenant isn’t home, you can use substituted service: leave the notice with a responsible person at the unit who is at least 18, then mail a second copy to the tenant at the same address by first-class mail. Keep a log of the date, time, who received it, and their relationship to the tenant.
Service by Mail
Mail the notice first-class to the rental unit. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1013, mailing within California adds five calendar days to whatever notice period applies.6California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1013 A 30-day notice becomes 35 days; a 90-day notice becomes 95. Use certified mail or hold on to the postal receipt. If the tenant later says they never got the notice, that receipt is what you have.
How Many Days of Notice
The required notice period depends on the size of the increase:
- Increase of 10 percent or less: at least 30 days before the effective date, or 35 days if mailed within California.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 827
- Increase above 10 percent: at least 90 days before the effective date, or 95 days if mailed within California.
The 10 percent threshold counts every increase imposed on that tenant in the prior 12 months, not only the current one. A 4 percent increase six months ago plus a 7 percent increase now adds to 11 percent, which triggers the 90-day rule. Banking several years of increases at once trips this threshold routinely.
The clock starts the day after service. If the notice period expires mid-month, the increase cannot take effect until the first day of the next full rental period. Collecting the higher rent even a day early can void the increase or produce an overcharge claim.
Increases That Need Rent Board Approval First
Any increase above the annual allowable rate requires a petition to the Rent Board before you can serve a notice. The most common is a capital improvement passthrough under Section 37.7 of the Administrative Code.7American Legal Publishing. San Francisco Administrative Code SEC. 37.7 – Certification of Rent Increases for Capital Improvements The work must already be complete, the petition must be filed within five years of completion, and the Board will not certify costs covered by insurance or costs tied to code violations the landlord let sit for more than 90 days. For buildings with six or more units, the landlord must notify every tenant and the Rent Board in writing within 30 days of determining that total project costs will exceed $25,000 times the number of units.
The Board holds a hearing. If it approves the passthrough, the landlord then serves the increase notice citing the certification. Serving an above-allowable increase without that certification in hand makes the notice unenforceable.
What a Defective Notice Costs
Tenants who think a notice is improper can petition the Rent Board, which runs arbitration hearings and mediations on rent adjustment disputes.8SF.gov. Rent Board The usual grounds are math errors on the form, service that was too late, exceeding the allowable percentage without Board approval, or an improper method of delivery. When the Board finds a defect, it can void the increase or reduce it to the allowable amount, and it can order the landlord to refund amounts collected before a valid notice period ended.
The way to avoid all of that is boring and effective: use the current official form, verify every number, pick a service method you can prove, and build in a few extra days beyond the statutory minimum. A notice served a week early costs nothing. A notice served a day late can cost months.