California Rent Control: Caps, Just Cause Eviction, and Exemptions

California rent control limits annual rent increases on most residential units to 5% plus the regional change in the Consumer Price Index, or 10%, whichever is lower. The rules come primarily from the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482), codified at Civil Code sections 1947.12 and 1946.2, and they layer on top of stricter local ordinances in more than 30 cities. Where both apply, the rule that better protects the tenant generally controls. The statewide law is set to expire on January 1, 2030.

How the Rent Cap Is Calculated

For covered units, the maximum annual rent increase is 5% plus the percentage change in the regional Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, capped at 10% total. The calculation runs from the lowest rent charged for the unit at any point during the 12 months before the increase takes effect.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12

The CPI figure depends on where you live. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes indexes for areas like Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward. For counties without a specific BLS regional index, the California Department of Industrial Relations calculates a statewide figure. Regional CPI has recently run between roughly 3% and 5%, so the effective cap for most tenants lands somewhere between 8% and 10%.

A landlord can split an increase into two separate hikes within a 12-month period, but the combined total still cannot exceed the annual cap.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1947.12 If you received a 4% bump in March, your landlord cannot exceed the remaining allowance until the following March.

Which Properties Are Covered

The Tenant Protection Act applies broadly to residential rental housing, including apartments, multi-unit buildings, and many single-family rentals. Coverage is automatic. Your landlord does not opt in, and you do not register. If your unit falls outside one of the specific exemptions listed below, both the rent cap and the just cause eviction rules apply.

One quirk catches tenants off guard. The just cause eviction protections under Civil Code section 1946.2 do not apply until you have lived in the unit continuously for at least 12 months. During that first year, a landlord can decline to renew a month-to-month tenancy without stating a reason. The rent cap itself, though, applies from day one of a covered tenancy.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2

Exempt Properties

Several categories fall outside the rent cap and eviction protections:

  • Newer construction. Any unit that received its certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years is exempt. The window is rolling, so a building completed in 2012 became covered in 2027, while one completed in 2013 remains exempt through 2028.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12
  • Single-family homes and condos, but only if the owner is not a corporation, a real estate investment trust, or an LLC with a corporate member, and only if the landlord gave the tenant written notice of the exemption. For leases starting on or after July 1, 2020, that notice must appear in the lease itself.
  • Owner-occupied duplexes, where the owner lives in one unit as a primary residence and has done so for the entire tenancy. Neither unit can be an ADU or junior ADU.
  • Affordable housing units already subject to deed restrictions on rents.
  • Certain dormitories and housing where tenants share a bathroom or kitchen with an on-site owner.

The single-family exemption trips up landlords more than any other. If you own a rental house through an LLC that has a corporate member, the property is covered no matter its size. And a landlord who forgot to provide the written exemption notice cannot retroactively claim the exemption; the rent cap applies.

Notice Requirements Before a Rent Increase

California law requires written notice before any rent increase takes effect. The notice window depends on the size of the increase:

  • 30 days’ notice for increases of 10% or less of the rent charged at any point during the previous 12 months.
  • 90 days’ notice for increases greater than 10%.

These periods come from Civil Code section 827 and apply to all residential tenancies, not just those covered by the Tenant Protection Act.4California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 827 The notice must be in writing. A phone call, text, or email does not satisfy the requirement. Because increases on covered units can never exceed 10%, the 30-day rule is the standard for TPA-protected tenancies.

Just Cause Eviction After 12 Months

Once you have lived in a covered unit for 12 continuous months, your landlord cannot end the tenancy without a legally recognized reason. At-fault grounds include failure to pay rent, material lease violations, criminal activity on the property, and nuisance behavior.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2

For lease violations that can be fixed, the landlord must first send written notice describing the problem and give you a chance to cure it. Only if you fail to fix the violation within the notice period can the landlord move to terminate. Landlords who skip the cure step often lose their unlawful detainer cases.

No-Fault Evictions and Relocation Assistance

No-fault grounds cover situations where the landlord has a legitimate reason to reclaim the unit that has nothing to do with tenant behavior:

  • Owner or family move-in, where the owner or a close relative (spouse, domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent, or grandparent) intends to live in the unit as a primary residence for at least 12 continuous months. For leases entered on or after July 1, 2020, this ground applies only if the tenant agreed in writing or the lease permits it.
  • Withdrawal of the unit from the rental market under the Ellis Act.
  • Substantial rehabilitation extensive enough to require vacancy for health and safety reasons.
  • A government order to vacate.

When a landlord serves a no-fault eviction notice, they must provide relocation assistance equal to one month of the current rent. The landlord can either pay directly within 15 calendar days of serving the notice or waive the tenant’s final month of rent in writing. The termination notice must inform the tenant of this right, and failure to strictly comply makes the notice void.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1946.2

The owner move-in ground carries its own enforcement teeth. If the intended occupant does not actually move in within 90 days, or does not stay for 12 months, the landlord must offer the unit back to the displaced tenant at the old rent and reimburse reasonable moving expenses beyond the relocation assistance already paid.

Retaliation Is Prohibited

California law separately bars landlords from retaliating against tenants who exercise their legal rights. Under Civil Code section 1942.5, a landlord cannot raise the rent, cut services, or attempt to evict you within 180 days after you have:

  • Complained to the landlord about habitability problems.
  • Filed a written complaint with a government agency about housing conditions.
  • Participated in a lawsuit or arbitration against the landlord over tenantability.
  • Organized or joined a tenants’ association.

Threatening to report a tenant or the tenant’s associates to immigration authorities counts as prohibited retaliation.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1942.5 A landlord who violates these protections is liable for actual damages plus punitive damages between $100 and $2,000 per retaliatory act if the landlord acted with fraud, oppression, or malice. A tenant can invoke the 180-day presumption only once in any 12-month period.

Local Rent Control and Costa-Hawkins

The statewide cap is a floor, not a ceiling. More than 30 California cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood, keep their own rent control ordinances. These often impose lower annual caps and add tenant protections. When both frameworks apply to the same unit, the rule more favorable to the tenant generally controls.

The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (Civil Code sections 1954.50 through 1954.535) limits what local governments can do. Cities cannot apply local rent control to:

  • Units with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995, or after a locally established earlier cutoff date already in place before that date.
  • Single-family homes and condominiums that are separately alienable from any other dwelling unit.

These exemptions apply to local rent control only, not to the statewide Tenant Protection Act. A single-family home exempt from San Francisco’s rent ordinance under Costa-Hawkins can still be covered by the TPA rent cap if it does not meet the state law’s separate single-family exemption criteria.6San Francisco Rent Board. California Civil Code 1954.50 – The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act The two frameworks have different ownership and notice requirements. Exempt under one does not mean exempt under both.

Vacancy Decontrol Between Tenancies

When a tenant voluntarily leaves a rent-controlled unit, Costa-Hawkins lets the landlord reset the rent to market rate for the next tenant. Civil Code section 1954.53 allows the owner to “establish the initial rental rate” for a new tenancy, which can wipe out years of below-market rent in a single turnover.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1954.53

There is a critical exception. If the landlord terminated the prior tenancy by serving a notice to quit or by changing lease terms under Civil Code section 827 (other than a lawful rent increase), the landlord cannot reset the rent for the next tenant. This prevents evicting a long-term tenant just to reset the rent. Most vacancy decontrol litigation turns on where the line falls between a voluntary move-out and a constructive eviction.

What to Do If Your Landlord Charges Above the Cap

A rent increase that violates the cap is not merely improper. The excess portion is void, and any waiver of your rights under the statute is void as against public policy. If a landlord demands or collects rent above the allowed maximum, you can sue in civil court to recover:

  • Injunctive relief to stop the overcharge going forward.
  • Damages equal to the amount you overpaid.
  • Treble damages (up to three times the overpayment) if the landlord acted willfully or with fraud.
  • Attorney’s fees and costs at the court’s discretion.

The California Attorney General and local city attorneys also have authority to enforce the cap and seek injunctions. You have three years from the date of the overcharge to bring a claim.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1947.12

The 2030 Sunset

The Tenant Protection Act is not permanent. It sunsets on January 1, 2030. Unless the legislature extends or replaces it, the statewide rent cap and just cause eviction protections disappear for properties not covered by a local ordinance. Tenants in cities with their own rent control would still have those local rules, but renters in unincorporated areas and cities without local ordinances would lose state-level protections entirely. Expect legislative activity on extension or replacement to pick up in the 2028 and 2029 sessions.