Oakland Rent Control Ordinance: Increases, Just Cause & Petitions

Oakland’s rent control ordinance, codified at Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 8.22 and administered by the city’s Rent Adjustment Program (RAP), caps annual rent increases on most pre-1983 rental units, requires a valid legal reason for nearly every eviction in the city, and gives tenants a petition process to challenge increases they believe are unlawful. For the year running August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026, the allowable annual increase is 0.8 percent, one of the lowest figures in recent years.¹

Which Units Are Covered

The rent cap applies to most residential rentals in buildings that received a certificate of occupancy before January 1, 1983.² Newer buildings are outside the rent cap under state law, but many are still covered by Oakland’s just cause eviction rules, which is a separate part of the ordinance.

Even in older buildings, several categories fall outside the rent adjustment rules entirely:

Single-family homes and condominiums, which the state Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act removes from local rent caps (just cause eviction rules still apply).
Subsidized housing where rent is set by a government agency.
The unit an owner personally occupies in the building.
Hotels and motels where stays do not exceed 30 days.
Units where the tenant shares a kitchen or bathroom with the owner.
Nonprofit cooperatives where a majority of residents are also owners.

Costa-Hawkins also allows vacancy decontrol on exempt units, so a landlord can reset rent to market when a tenant voluntarily moves out.²

Just cause eviction protection has a wider footprint than the rent cap. Measure V, passed by Oakland voters in November 2022, replaced a blanket exemption for post-1995 construction with a rolling 10-year window. Only units built within the past 10 years are now exempt from the just cause requirement. The rent cap provisions did not change with Measure V; newer units remain outside annual rent limits under Costa-Hawkins.

The Current Allowable Rent Increase

Rent increases on covered units are tied to the regional Consumer Press Index. The city publishes a new CPI adjustment rate each year that takes effect August 1 and runs through July 31 of the following year. The current rate is 0.8 percent. The prior year’s rate was 2.3 percent.¹ An increase at or below the CPI rate needs no advance approval, but the landlord must still deliver proper written notice.

Banked Increases

A landlord who skips an annual increase, or takes less than the full CPI amount, can bank the unused portion for future years. Two limits keep this from producing surprise spikes. A single rent hike that includes banked amounts, together with the current year’s CPI, cannot exceed three times the current year’s CPI rate. And no single increase can exceed 10 percent, no matter how much has been banked.¹ Banked amounts also expire; anything not used within 10 years of accruing is lost.³

Going Above CPI

To raise rent above the CPI rate for any reason other than banking, the landlord has to file a petition and win approval. Capital improvements are the most common ground: significant physical upgrades that primarily benefit tenants, like a new roof, seismic retrofitting, or replumbing. Deferred maintenance and routine repairs do not qualify.⁴ A hearing officer decides whether and how much of the cost may be passed through.

Notice Rules for a Valid Increase

California Civil Code Section 827 sets the minimum notice period. Any increase totaling 10 percent or less over the past 12 months requires at least 30 days’ written notice. An increase above 10 percent, alone or combined with other hikes in the previous 12 months, requires 90 days.⁵

Oakland adds one more requirement. Under OMC 8.22.060, the landlord must include a copy of the Notice to Tenants of the Residential Rent Adjustment Program (the RAP Notice) with every rent increase, in English, Spanish, and Chinese. The same notice must be given at the start of every new tenancy.⁶ A tenant who never received a RAP Notice can contest all past rent increases with no time limit.

RAP Fee and Rent Registry

Every owner of a covered unit pays an annual RAP fee. As of July 1, 2025, the fee is $137 per unit per year, and the landlord may collect half from the tenant.⁷ A landlord behind on the fee or on business taxes cannot pursue evictions.

Owners of covered units must also file annual rent registry paperwork under OMC 8.22.510 by the delinquency deadline printed on their fee statement. Skipping the registry has real teeth. An owner who fails to register forfeits six months of any rent increase they try to impose, and can only cure the violation by completing registration at least six months before serving a rent increase notice or filing a petition. Non-compliance also gives the tenant a legal defense in any eviction case, even one grounded in an otherwise valid just cause reason.⁸

Just Cause for Eviction

Oakland does not allow a landlord to end a tenancy without a specific legal reason. The rule sits at OMC 8.22.300 and reaches most of the rental market, including many units that are exempt from the rent cap itself.⁹ The permitted grounds divide into two groups.

At-Fault Grounds

Nonpayment of rent.
Violation of a material lease term, including obligations implied by law such as not creating a nuisance or committing waste.¹⁰
Willful and substantial damage to the unit.
Disorderly conduct that substantially interferes with other tenants’ peace and quiet.¹⁰
Using the unit for illegal activity, including drug sales.

No-Fault Grounds

Owner or qualifying relative move-in, where the owner or the owner’s spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, or grandparent will use the unit as a primary residence.¹¹
Substantial repairs required by health and safety codes that make the unit uninhabitable during the work.¹⁰
Ellis Act withdrawal of the property from the rental market.

No-fault evictions carry extra procedural weight. A copy of every eviction notice must be filed with the Rent Adjustment Program within 10 days of service on the tenant; a landlord who misses that step hands the tenant a courtroom defense. Owners delinquent on business taxes cannot pursue no-fault evictions at all. And if the household includes minor children enrolled in Oakland Unified School District, the eviction notice cannot expire during the regular school year.¹¹

Relocation Payments

A no-fault eviction, owner move-in, substantial repairs, Ellis Act withdrawal, or condo conversion triggers a mandatory relocation payment to the displaced tenant. The amounts are adjusted every July 1 for inflation. Through June 30, 2026, the base figures are:¹²

Studio or one bedroom: $8,106.68
Two bedrooms: $9,977.45
Three or more bedrooms: $12,315.92

Households that include lower-income, elderly, or disabled tenants, or minor children, get an additional $2,500 per unit. Only one additional payment applies per unit, even when more than one category applies. The payment covers the whole household and is split equally among roommates.¹²

Length of tenancy scales the payment. Under one year, the tenant receives one-third of the base amount. At least one year but under two, two-thirds. Two years or more, the full amount.¹² Skipping these payments or cutting corners on the eviction process risks dismissal in court and additional financial liability.

Filing a Petition

Either side can bring a dispute to the Rent Adjustment Program. Tenants usually petition to contest a rent increase or to claim a decrease in housing services, such as lost parking, broken laundry, or reduced maintenance. Landlords petition when they want approval for increases beyond CPI, most often for capital improvement pass-throughs. Forms are available on the RAP website and through the online portal, and every petition must include supporting documentation. A petition without adequate evidence can be dismissed without a hearing.³

Tenant Deadlines

A tenant contesting a rent increase generally has 90 days from the later of the date the increase notice arrived or the date the RAP Notice was first received. If the RAP Notice was given in the past but not attached to the current increase, the window extends to 120 days. A tenant who never received a RAP Notice at all can contest every rent increase ever imposed. For decreased housing services, the 90-day clock runs from when the tenant became aware of the problem or first received the RAP Notice, whichever is later, except that an ongoing service reduction can be challenged at any time.¹³

Mediation, Hearing, and Appeal

After a petition is filed, the program typically offers mediation, a voluntary session with a neutral third party. If mediation does not resolve the case, it moves to a formal hearing where the hearing officer issues a written decision that binds both sides on the allowable rent.¹⁴

Either party has 20 calendar days from the proof of service date on the decision to file an appeal. Filing an appeal suspends the decision while it is pending. Appeals that raise more than a clerical error go to the Housing, Residential Rent and Relocation Board. The Board’s written decision is Oakland’s final word; there is no further appeal to the City Council. A party who disagrees with the Board’s decision has 90 days to seek judicial review in Superior Court.¹⁴

1
City of Oakland. Info Sheet – Allowable Annual Rent Increase
2
City of Oakland. Properties Exempt from the Rent Adjustment Program
3
City of Oakland. Rent Adjustment Program Regulations
4
City of Oakland. Owner Petition for Approval of Rent Increase
5
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 827
6
City of Oakland. Rent Adjustment Program Forms and Notices for Property Owners
7
City of Oakland. Pay Rent Adjustment Program Fee and Business Taxes
8
City of Oakland. Oakland City Council Rent Registry Ordinance
9
Oakland, CA. Oakland Code 8.22.300 – Just Cause for Eviction Introductory Clauses
10
City of Oakland. Just Cause for Eviction Regulations
11
City of Oakland. Understanding Evictions in Oakland
12
City of Oakland. Oakland Rent Adjustment Program – Owner Move-In Relocation FAQ
13
City of Oakland. Tenant Petition Information
14
City of Oakland. Hearings, Mediations, and Appeals