How much can rent go up in Pasadena?

City rule: existing tenancies in Covered Rental Units get a yearly adjustment of 75% of the CPI rise, at most 1 per 12 months.

Rent increases in Pasadena: the local rules

Pasadena code What Pasadena's code adds
Annual increase limit	75% of the percentage increase in the CPI, rounded to the nearest quarter of a percent. Applies: Covered Rental Units only, existing tenancies; uses CPI for the 12 months ending in March; set by the Rental Board, effective October 1 each year. § 1808 · code text The Annual General Adjustment shall be equal to seventy five percent (75%) of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) The yearly general adjustment is 0%. Applies: Covered Rental Units only, when the CPI change is negative. § 1808 · code text In the event that the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index is negative, the Annual General Adjustment shall be zero percent (0%).
Units covered	Covered Rental Units. Applies: Existing tenancies. § 1808 · code text The Annual General Adjustment is the percentage by which the Rent for existing tenancies in Covered Rental Units may be increased each year, subject to the limitations of this Article.
How often rent can go up	No more than 1 rent increase per 12-month period. Applies: Covered Rental Units only. § 1808 · code text No more than one Rent increase per twelve-month period may be imposed on a Tenant.
Petitions and pass-throughs	A landlord may petition for a rent increase, granted only when needed to give the landlord a fair return. Applies: Covered Rental Units only; not for a landlord who fails to obey orders under the article or to keep the unit habitable. § 1813 · code text To effectuate the purposes of this Article and the requirements of law, a Landlord may file a Petition for an upward adjustment of the Rent to ensure a Fair Return. It is the intent of this Article that individual upward adjustments in Rent be granted only when the Landlord demonstrates that such adjustments are necessary to provide the Landlord with a Fair Return. Capital replacement costs plus interest may count as expenses, spread over at least 36 months, then removed from rent. Applies: Covered Rental Units only; part of a fair return petition; specified conditions apply; costs averaged over units that actually benefit. § 1813 · code text The costs are amortized over a period of not less than thirty-six months. Tenants may petition to lower rent for poor habitability, cut services or maintenance, deterioration beyond normal wear, or unlawful rent. Applies: Covered Rental Units only; habitability and service petitions must show the landlord had reasonable notice and a chance to fix it. § 1813 · code text A Tenant may file a Petition with the Rental Board to adjust the Rent downward based on a loss in rental value attributable to the Landlord's failure to maintain the Rental Unit in habitable condition. Tenants may petition against increases above the Annual General Adjustment, unless from an approved petition; increase notices must say so. Applies: Covered Rental Units only. § 1808 · code text The right to Petition against any Rent increase in excess of the Annual General Adjustment unless such Rent increase is pursuant to an approved Petition. Tenants may petition for mediation within 10 days of notice; the increase waits until the landlord's authorized agent meets them. Applies: Rent increase mediation; the petition is filed and served; the hearing is set before the increase date; not for written-lease increases that need no notice. § 2.380.120 · code text If, within 10 days of the receipt of a notice of an increase in rent, a petition for mediation is filed and served by a tenant of a dwelling unit subject to the rent increases, then a mediation hearing shall be set prior to the effective date of the rent increase. A rent increase is not invalid because the mediation hearing ends without agreement. Applies: Rent increase mediation only. § 2.380.120 · code text No rent increase shall be invalid or otherwise questioned for failure to reach agreement regarding the increase at a mediation hearing. The tenant must keep paying the rent in effect before the increase notice, whether or not the landlord attends mediation. Applies: Rent increase mediation only. § 2.380.120 · code text Nothing in this chapter shall relieve a tenant of the obligation to pay the rent in effect prior to the receipt of the notice of an increase, whether or not the landlord meets with the tenant at the mediation hearing.

Also in Pasadena's code: Pasadena Rent Stabilization: 2026–2027 Annual General Adjustment (city guidance); The Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (Charter Art. XVIII); Housing Mediation Contractor (§ 2.380.120) — mediation of rent increases only. This page does not summarize it yet.

Where Pasadena's rule above does not cover a situation, state law still applies. For the statewide rule on its own, see California's statewide rent cap.

CA state law The statewide rule underneath
Rent cap right now	8.7% for increases taking effect August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027 (5% plus 3.7% inflation) Applies: Covered units only. Inflation is the BLS consumer price index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, April to April, as the statute requires; the figure is recomputed every year. Civ. Code § 1947.12(a)(1), (g)
Statewide rent increase cap (AB 1482)	5% plus the change in cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower, over any 12 months Applies: Covered units only; measured against the lowest rent charged in the prior 12 months. Civ. Code § 1947.12(a)(1)
Number of rent increases	No more than two increases in any 12-month period Civ. Code § 1947.12(a)(2)
Rent cap — new construction exemption	Housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years is exempt (rolling) Applies: Mobilehomes excepted. Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(4)
Rent cap — single-family home or condo exemption	A home or condo that can be sold on its own is exempt when the owner is not a REIT, a corporation or an LLC with a corporate member, and the tenant was given the written exemption notice Applies: The same exemption applies to the just-cause rule (§ 1946.2(e)(8)). Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(5)
Rent cap — owner-occupied duplex exemption	A duplex in one building is exempt when the owner lived in the other unit at the start of the tenancy and still does, unless either unit is an ADU or JADU Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(6)
New tenancy resets the rent	When no prior tenant remains, the owner may set the initial rent; the cap applies to later increases Civ. Code § 1947.12(b)
Rent cap sunset	§ 1947.12 is repealed on January 1, 2030 unless extended Civ. Code § 1947.12(o)

Rent increases in Pasadena

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What Pasadena's code says

The California rule underneath

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