California Rent Increase Notice PDF: Limits, Timing, and Delivery

A California rent increase notice must be a written document that identifies the tenant and unit, states the new rent and its effective date, and — for properties covered by the Tenant Protection Act — includes specific statutory language in at least 12-point type. It has to be delivered either by hand or by mail (no email, no text, no door-posting), and it must go out at least 30 days before the increase for a raise of 10% or less, or 90 days before for anything larger.¹ Miss any of these steps and the notice is void.

When You Can Raise the Rent at All

Civil Code 827 authorizes rent increases only for periodic tenancies — week-to-week, month-to-month, or shorter than a month.¹ A tenant on a fixed-term lease, like a one-year agreement, cannot have the rent raised until that lease expires. A rent increase notice served during an active fixed-term lease is unenforceable no matter how well the form is filled out.

The right moments to plan an increase are when a lease comes up for renewal or after the tenancy has already rolled over to month-to-month.

How Much You Can Raise It

Most California rentals fall under the Tenant Protection Act rent cap in Civil Code 1947.12. The cap limits annual increases to 5% plus the local percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, or 10% of the lowest rent charged in the prior 12 months, whichever is lower.² The CPI figure varies by region and updates annually; for increases taking effect between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026, the maximum sits between roughly 6.3% in the San Francisco Bay Area and 8.8% in San Diego County.³

Three things about the cap catch landlords off guard:

It measures against the lowest rent charged during the prior 12 months, not the current rent.
You cannot split a large increase into smaller ones. The cap looks at combined increases over any 12-month period.
You cannot raise rent more than twice in any 12-month period, even if both increases stay within the cap.²

When a unit becomes vacant and a new tenant moves in, the initial rent can be set at any amount. The cap only applies to increases after that starting rate is established.²

Properties Exempt From the Cap

Not every rental is subject to AB 1482. The following are exempt from the Civil Code 1947.12 rent cap:⁴

Units that received a certificate of occupancy within the last 15 years, calculated on a rolling basis. A unit built in 2011 is exempt in 2026 but covered in 2027.
Deed-restricted affordable housing under recorded agreements with government agencies.
Dormitories owned and operated by educational institutions.
Housing already subject to a local ordinance that limits annual increases to less than AB 1482 allows.
Owner-occupied duplexes where the owner lives in one of the two units throughout the tenancy.
Qualifying single-family homes and condominiums, but only if the owner is not a corporation, REIT, or LLC with a corporate member, and only if the landlord gave the tenant the specific written exemption notice described below.

That last category matters. Owning a single-family home is not enough on its own. The written exemption notice must use exact statutory language, and for tenancies starting on or after July 1, 2020, it must be in the lease.⁵ Skip that step and the exemption doesn’t apply — the cap governs the property by default.

What the Notice Must Include

Civil Code 827 requires the notice to be in writing but doesn’t spell out each element. In practice, the document needs enough information for the tenant to understand the change and for a court to verify it was proper. That means:

The tenant’s name
The address of the rental unit
The new monthly rent amount
The effective date of the increase

Including the current rent, the dollar amount of the increase, and the percentage increase relative to the lowest rent charged in the prior 12 months is smart practice, since that percentage determines both the notice period and whether the increase stays inside the AB 1482 cap.

Mandatory Language for Covered Properties

For properties covered by the Tenant Protection Act, Civil Code 1946.2 requires the following notice of the tenant’s rights, in at least 12-point type:⁵

“California law limits the amount your rent can be increased. See Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code for more information. California law also provides that after all of the tenants have continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 12 months or more or at least one of the tenants has continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 24 months or more, a landlord must provide a statement of cause in any notice to terminate a tenancy. See Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code for more information.”

For tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2020, this language must appear in the lease itself or as a signed addendum.

Mandatory Language for Exempt Single-Family Homes and Condos

If the property is a qualifying single-family home or condo claiming the exemption, the landlord must provide this exact wording:⁴

“This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code and is not subject to the just cause requirements of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code. This property meets the requirements of Sections 1947.12(d)(5) and 1946.2(e)(8) of the Civil Code and the owner is not any of the following: (1) a real estate investment trust, as defined by Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code; (2) a corporation; or (3) a limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation.”

The statute prescribes the exact words. Paraphrasing it doesn’t work. For tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2020, the exemption notice must be included in the rental agreement.⁵

How Much Notice You Have to Give

The notice period depends on how large the increase is relative to the lowest rent the tenant has been charged in the prior 12 months:¹

10% or less: at least 30 days before the increase takes effect.
More than 10%: at least 90 days before the increase takes effect.

The 10% threshold looks at all increases combined over the previous 12 months, not just the current one. If you raised rent 6% four months ago and want to raise it another 6% now, the combined figure is 12%, which triggers the 90-day requirement for the second increase.¹ Getting this wrong costs at least three months.

The clock starts on the date the notice is actually served, not when it was written or signed.

How to Deliver It

Civil Code 827 authorizes exactly two delivery methods:¹

Personal delivery: handing the notice directly to the tenant.
Mail: sending it following the procedures in Code of Civil Procedure 1013.

That’s the whole list. Unlike eviction notices, which allow substituted service and posting on the property, rent increase notices under Section 827 are limited to these two. A notice taped to the tenant’s door, left with a roommate, emailed, or texted may not hold up as valid service. Electronic signatures on the document itself are fine under the federal ESIGN Act, but the delivery of the printed notice still has to be by hand or by mail.

The Mail Extension

When the notice goes by mail, CCP 1013 adds extra time to account for postal delivery. If both landlord and tenant are in California, add five calendar days to the required notice period. If either party is outside California but within the United States, add ten.⁶ A 30-day notice mailed within California is effectively a 35-day notice; a 90-day notice becomes 95.

Certified mail with return receipt isn’t required, but it creates a paper trail proving when the notice was mailed. Keep a copy of the completed notice along with the mailing receipt.

Local Rent Control Can Add More Rules

AB 1482 does not override stricter local rent control. Cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Berkeley have their own rent stabilization laws that often limit increases to less than the state allows. Where a local ordinance caps increases below the AB 1482 limit, the local rules control and the state cap doesn’t apply to that unit.⁴ Some local ordinances also impose their own notice requirements, registration procedures, or forms. Check whether the city has a rent board before preparing the notice.

Section 8 Tenants Need Housing Authority Approval

If the tenant has a Housing Choice Voucher, raising the rent involves an added layer. The landlord still has to comply with state law and the AB 1482 cap where applicable, but the increase also needs approval from the local housing authority that administers the voucher. Housing authorities run a “rent reasonableness” review comparing the proposed rent to similar unassisted units, and they can deny an increase or approve a lower one.⁷

The practical sequence: serve the tenant with a proper state-law notice, then submit a rent increase request form (with a copy of the tenant notice) to the housing authority. Most authorities require at least 60 days’ notice before the proposed effective date; some require 90. The increase doesn’t take effect until the authority approves it and notifies both parties. Skipping this step and simply billing the tenant more can violate the Housing Assistance Payment contract.

What Happens If the Notice Is Wrong or the Tenant Won’t Pay

Once a valid notice has been properly served and the effective date passes, the new rent becomes part of the tenancy. If the tenant keeps paying the old amount, the unpaid difference is treated as unpaid rent. The landlord can serve a three-day notice to pay or quit and, if the tenant still doesn’t pay, file an unlawful detainer. Nonpayment is a recognized just cause for eviction under Civil Code 1946.2 for tenants who have been in the unit long enough for just-cause protections to apply.⁵

If any part of the notice was defective — wrong notice period, missing statutory language, an increase over the cap, or improper delivery — a court can throw out the eviction and the tenant stays at the old rent. Landlords who lose an eviction over a notice defect often burn several months of the intended increase by the time they re-serve and re-wait. Getting the notice right the first time is cheaper than litigating it later.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 827
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1947.12
3
California Department of Justice. Know Your Rights as a California Tenant
4
California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1947.12
5
California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1946.2
6
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1013
7
City of Anaheim. Rent Increase Request Procedures