In most of Orange County, your landlord can raise the rent by no more than 5% plus the local inflation rate in any 12-month period, with an absolute ceiling of 10%. For increases taking effect through mid-2026, the Orange County rent increase limit under state law is 8.0%. Santa Ana is the exception: it has its own ordinance, and the cap there is 2.42% through August 31, 2026.
The 2026 Cap in Dollars
The 8.0% figure comes from the California Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482), codified at Civil Code Section 1947.12. The formula is 5% plus the annual change in the Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, or 10%, whichever is lower. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported CPI growth of 3.0% for the 12 months ending April 2025, which sets the cap at 8.0% for increases through mid-2026. The 12-month CPI change ending April 2026 came in at 3.7%, so the cap for the following period rises to 8.7%.1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index, Los Angeles Area
If you pay $2,200 a month and the 8.0% cap applies, the most your landlord can add in a 12-month period is $176, bringing your new rent to $2,376. The percentage applies to the lowest rent the landlord charged for that unit at any point during the prior 12 months. Watch for one trap: temporary discounts, move-in concessions, and promotional credits don’t lower the base rent, as long as the lease lists the standard rent and the concession separately.
Which Rentals Aren’t Covered
The statewide cap doesn’t reach every unit. The main exemptions are:
- Buildings issued a certificate of occupancy within the last 15 years. This is a rolling window, so a building completed in 2011 was exempt through 2025 and becomes covered in 2026.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1947.12 – Limitation on Rent Increases
- Single-family homes and condominiums, but only if the owner is a natural person (not a corporation, REIT, or LLC with a corporate member) and the owner has delivered the required written notice to the tenant.
- Owner-occupied duplexes where the landlord lives in one unit.
- Deed-restricted affordable housing operating under separate income limits.
The written notice piece matters. To claim the single-family or condo exemption, the landlord must give the tenant a specific written statement that the property is not subject to Sections 1947.12 and 1946.2 and that the owner is not a corporation, REIT, or corporate-member LLC.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12 (2025) If that notice was never delivered, the unit is treated as covered even if it would otherwise qualify as exempt.
Santa Ana’s Lower Cap
Santa Ana is the only city in Orange County with its own rent stabilization ordinance, and its limits are far tighter. Annual increases are capped at the lower of 3% or 80% of the CPI change for the most recent 12-month period.4City of Santa Ana. Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction For the period from September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026, the city set the maximum allowable increase at 2.42%.
The ordinance applies to buildings constructed on or before February 1, 1995, consistent with the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, and to mobilehome parks established before 1990. The city publishes the updated cap each year by June 30, and it takes effect September 1. Only one rent increase is permitted within any 12-month period in Santa Ana, which is stricter than the state rule allowing two.5City of Santa Ana. Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance
Santa Ana landlords also have to give written notice of the ordinance and tenant rights at lease signing and with any rent increase notice, in the language used to negotiate the tenancy (Spanish, Vietnamese, or Korean, for example) in addition to English. Owners who believe the cap prevents a reasonable return can petition the city to raise rent above the 3% limit.
No other Orange County city currently has a local rent control ordinance.
How Much Notice You Should Get
California Civil Code Section 827 controls how much warning your landlord has to give before an increase takes effect. The required notice depends on the size of the increase:
- 30 days’ notice if the proposed increase, by itself or combined with any other increases in the prior 12 months, totals 10% or less of the rent.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 827 – Rights of Owners
- 90 days’ notice if the proposed increase, alone or combined with prior increases in the last 12 months, exceeds 10%.
Notice can be delivered in person or sent by mail under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1013. When served by mail, additional days get added to the notice period for delivery time. The clock runs from the date of proper service, not the date the landlord decided to raise the rent. An increase that takes effect before the notice period expires is unenforceable, and the landlord can’t legally collect the higher amount until the period has run.
How Often Rent Can Go Up
Under the Tenant Protection Act, if the same tenant stays in the unit, the landlord cannot raise the rent more than twice in any 12-month period, and the combined increases still have to stay within the annual cap. Two smaller bumps can’t be stacked to exceed 8.0%. In Santa Ana, only one increase per year is allowed at all.
What Happens If the Landlord Overcharges
Since SB 567 took effect in April 2024, tenants charged above the legal maximum have real teeth to push back. A landlord who demands or collects rent above the cap can be sued for:
- A refund of every dollar paid above the maximum allowable rent.7LegiScan. Bill Text CA SB567 2023-2024 Regular Session
- Up to three times the overcharged amount if the landlord acted willfully or with oppression, fraud, or malice.
- Attorney’s fees and costs, at the court’s discretion.
- An injunction ordering the landlord to stop the illegal increase and roll rent back to the lawful amount.
The statute of limitations is three years from the date of the overcharge. The California Attorney General, local city attorneys, and county counsel can also bring enforcement actions. In any action for injunctive relief, courts presume the tenant is suffering irreparable harm from the violation, which makes it easier to get a judge to act quickly.
The numbers add up fast. On a $2,200 unit where the landlord overcharged by $200 per month for two years, the base overcharge is $4,800. A finding of willful misconduct turns that into $14,400, plus the tenant’s attorney’s fees.
One related protection worth knowing: once you have lived in a covered unit for 12 months, your landlord cannot terminate the tenancy without “just cause” under Civil Code Section 1946.2.8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1946.2 – Tenancy Termination That rule exists because without it, a landlord could evict a tenant and simply re-rent the unit at any price, and the cap would mean nothing.
How Long the Cap Lasts
The Tenant Protection Act was originally set to expire on January 1, 2030. In 2024, the legislature passed AB 2801, which extended the rent cap and just cause protections through January 1, 2035. The exemptions, the formula, and the enforcement provisions all carry forward. Santa Ana’s local ordinance runs on its own timeline and does not depend on the state law’s sunset.