Rent Control in Hayward, CA: Increases, Just Cause, Notices

Rent control in Hayward, CA caps annual rent increases at 5% and requires landlords to give a legally recognized reason before ending a tenancy. These rules come from the city’s Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RRSO) and apply to rental housing built before July 1, 1979. Newer units usually fall under California’s statewide Tenant Protection Act instead, so almost every renter in the city has some form of protection.

Which Units the Hayward Ordinance Covers

The RRSO covers residential units in buildings constructed before July 1, 1979. In practice that pulls in most of the city’s older duplexes, triplexes, and apartment buildings. A property can still be exempt even if it meets the age cutoff. The main exemptions:

Single-family homes and condominiums, which are shielded from local rent control by the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
Owner-occupied properties with an accessory dwelling unit, where the owner lives in the main home and rents out an ADU such as a converted garage.
Affordable housing units already subject to government subsidy rent restrictions.
Hospitals, care facilities, convalescent homes, transitional housing, motels, hotels, inns, and boarding houses.
Non-profit cooperatives owned or occupied by most of their members.

Mobile home spaces are not covered by the RRSO. Hayward regulates them through a separate Mobile Home Rent Stabilization Ordinance with its own rules.²

What If Your Unit Was Built After 1979

If your building went up on or after July 1, 1979, the local ordinance probably does not apply. The state’s Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) covers most rental housing at least 15 years old on a rolling basis, so a building completed in 2011 came under AB 1482 in 2026.³

Under AB 1482, annual rent increases are capped at 5% plus the local Consumer Price Index change, or 10%, whichever is lower. The state cap floats with inflation; Hayward’s local 5% is fixed. AB 1482 also gives just cause eviction protection to tenants who have lived in the unit at least 12 months.³

Where both laws reach a unit, the more restrictive rule wins. For pre-1979 Hayward buildings that usually means the local 5% cap controls.

How Much Rent Can Go Up

A landlord of an RRSO-covered unit can raise rent by no more than 5% in a 12-month period, and only once per year. The percentage does not adjust with inflation.⁴

Banked Increases

When a landlord skips a yearly increase or uses only part of it, the unused portion can be banked and applied later. Any year since 2018 without an increase counts. A combined increase in a single year, including the current 5% plus banked amounts, cannot exceed 10% of the tenant’s current rent. Banked increases expire after 10 years if unused.⁵

Capital Improvement Pass-Throughs

A landlord who makes significant property improvements can pass half the cost to tenants once the city approves the amount. The pass-through is separate from rent, so a 5% increase and a capital improvement charge can appear the same year. The two combined still cannot exceed 10% of the tenant’s current rent, and the charge must come off once the approved period ends.¹

Vacancy Decontrol

If a tenant voluntarily moves out, the landlord can set any rent they want for the next tenant. This is how controlled rents eventually catch up to market. After a non-voluntary vacancy, where the landlord pushed the move-out, the new rent can only be set up to 5% above what the previous tenant paid.¹

Notice Rules for a Rent Increase

Every rent increase in California has to follow Civil Code Section 827. An increase of 10% or less over the prior 12 months needs at least 30 days of written notice. An increase that pushes the total above 10% within 12 months needs 90 days.⁶

Hayward adds a local requirement on top. The landlord must give the city a copy of the rent increase notice within 30 days of serving it on the tenant. Each failure to notify the city can draw a citation.¹

Just Cause Eviction

A landlord of a covered unit cannot end a tenancy without a legally recognized reason. The ordinance groups those reasons into at-fault and no-fault categories.

At-Fault Grounds

At-fault grounds let a landlord terminate the lease because the tenant did something wrong. Typical examples are failing to pay rent, breaking a material lease term, or creating a nuisance that affects others. For most at-fault evictions, the landlord has to serve written notice that identifies the problem and gives the tenant a reasonable chance to fix it before moving forward.

No-Fault Grounds

No-fault grounds let a landlord recover the unit even when the tenant has done nothing wrong. The common scenarios are the owner moving in as a primary resident, or the owner removing the property from the rental market entirely under the Ellis Act (Government Code Section 7060).⁷ Any no-fault termination notice has to be filed with the city within the required timeframe to comply with the RRSO.

Relocation Assistance

A tenant displaced through a no-fault eviction is entitled to permanent relocation assistance. In Hayward, that comes as either one month’s rent or a waiver of the last month’s rent.⁸ The city publishes a Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance Summary with the full calculation; ask the Housing Division or pull it from the city website if you receive a no-fault notice.

Harassment and Retaliation

The RRSO bars landlords from retaliating against tenants who exercise their rights, including filing a rent petition or reporting code violations. The ordinance treats the following as harassment or retaliation:

Cutting or reducing services, ignoring repair requests, or failing to complete repairs in a timely and professional way.
Entering the unit without proper notice or justification.
Using lies, threats, or violence to pressure a tenant into leaving, including threats about immigration status.
Refusing to accept rent as a pretext for eviction.
Making repeated buyout offers within a six-month period after the tenant has declined in writing.
Any action meant to discourage or block a tenant from petitioning the city.

⁹

The minimum fine for a harassment or retaliation violation is $1,000. When the tenant is a senior citizen, a veteran, or a person with a disability, the minimum rises to $5,000. Before filing a court complaint over service reductions, maintenance failures, rent refusal, or interference with quiet enjoyment, a tenant has to give the landlord written notice and 15 days to fix the problem.⁹

Challenging an Unlawful Rent Increase

If a landlord raises rent above the allowed amount or skips the notice rules, the tenant can file a Tenant Petition Form with the city. The form is on the Hayward Housing Division website.¹

Include the current monthly rent, the amount of the proposed increase, and the specific reason you believe it is unlawful. Attach the signed lease, the written increase notice from your landlord, and rent payment records for the previous 12 months. If the problem involves lost services, such as broken appliances or eliminated amenities, add photos or written correspondence that documents the issue.

Mediation

Once a petition is filed, the city sends a copy to the landlord and schedules mediation within 30 days. A trained mediator helps both sides discuss the problem and look for a resolution. If the parties agree, the mediator writes it up for both to sign and the case ends there. Either side can waive mediation if both agree to skip it.¹⁰

Arbitration

If mediation does not produce an agreement, the city sets an arbitration hearing. The landlord has to show that the rent increase complies with the RRSO. An arbitrator reviews the evidence from both sides and issues a decision setting the allowable rent, which can include a refund of any overpayments made during the dispute.¹¹

1
City of Hayward – Official website. Resources, Documents and Forms for Tenants and Landlords
2
City of Hayward. Mobile Home Rent Stabilization Ordinance Frequently Asked Questions
3
California Legislative Information. AB-1482 Tenant Protection Act of 2019 Tenancy Rent Caps
4
City of Hayward. Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance 16-19
5
City of Hayward – Official website. Information for Landlords
6
California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 827
7
California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code 7060
8
City of Hayward – Official website. Tenant Relocation Assistance
9
City of Hayward. Residential Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protection Ordinance Tenant Harassment and Retaliation Protection Factsheet
10
City of Hayward – Official website. Petitions
11
City of Hayward. Residential Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protection Ordinance Mediation and Arbitration Factsheet