California housing law
Rent control rules by city
The state floor is one rule everywhere: 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, over the lowest rent charged in the prior 12 months, and just cause after 12 months. City ordinances replace it on the units they cover. This table shows, city by city, which layer decides each rule — and links every cell to the section it was read from.
2 cities so far — only cities whose ordinance is published verbatim in the Code Library get a row, so every figure here has its text one click away. More cities arrive as their ordinances are ingested.
| City | Which units are covered | Allowable annual increase | Increase ceiling | Just cause to evict | Relocation assistance | Registration & fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Los Angeles County | ordinance Rental units — dwelling units, efficiency units, guest rooms, duplexes and condominiums, mobile homes and RVs in parks — in a structure whose first Certificate of Occupancy was issued on or before October 1, 1978 | ordinance 90 percent of the change in the CPI (All Urban Consumers, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim) between the two most recent 12-month periods ending September 30, rounded to the nearest whole number; if that is under 1 percent the landlord may still take 1 percent | ordinance 4% | ordinance Yes — a landlord may recover possession only on one of the 14 grounds enumerated in § 151.09(A): nonpayment, uncured lease violation, nuisance or criminal activity, illegal use, refusal to renew a like lease, refusal of access, unapproved subtenant, owner or family or resident-manager occupancy, interference with a Tenant Habitability Plan, demolition or permanent removal from rental use, government order to vacate, HUD sale, residential-hotel conversion, and conversion to affordable housing. Units outside the RSO are covered by the citywide Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance (§§ 165.00–165.12) | ordinance For a no-fault termination under § 151.09 A.8, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14: $23,150 to a qualified tenant and $11,000 to any other tenant for a tenancy under three years; $27,400 and $14,400 for a tenancy of three years or more, or a household at or below 80 percent of AMI. Plus, for grounds 8, 10, 11 and 12, a City relocation-service fee of $971 (qualified) or $604 (other) per unit and $83 administration. A small-landlord owner move-in under § 151.30(E) pays a flat $21,250 or $10,550 instead | ordinance Yes — the owner registers every rental unit with the Los Angeles Housing Department and renews annually; the registration fee is $38.75 per unit (Ord. 186,448, eff. 12/30/19), of which up to half may be passed through to the tenant as a monthly surcharge |
| San Francisco San Francisco County | ordinance All residential dwelling units in the City and County, with the land, appurtenant buildings and housing services supplied with them — except the exclusions in § 37.2(r) and units first certified for occupancy after June 13, 1979 (Ord. 276-79), which are exempt from the rent-increase limits | ordinance 60 percent of the increase in the CPI (All Urban Consumers, San Francisco–Oakland) for the preceding 12 months, published by the Rent Board each March 1, applied to the tenant's base rent — available to a landlord who has reported the unit to the Rent Board under § 37.15 | ordinance 7% | ordinance Yes — a landlord "shall not endeavor to recover possession of a rental unit unless" one of the 17 grounds in § 37.9(a) applies: nonpayment, uncured covenant breach, nuisance or substantial damage, illegal use, refusal to sign a comparable renewal, refusal of lawful access, unapproved subtenant, owner or relative move-in (§ 37.9(a)(8), with §§ 37.9A–37.9B protections), condominium-conversion sale, demolition or permanent removal, temporary removal for capital improvements, substantial rehabilitation, Ellis Act withdrawal (§ 37.9(a)(13)), lead-remediation displacement, development-agreement demolition, expiry of Good Samaritan status, and Planning Code § 317 redevelopment | ordinance Ellis Act withdrawal (§ 37.9(a)(13)): for notices filed on or after September 1, 2022, $10,000 per Eligible Tenant, capped at $30,000 per unit where there are more than three, plus $6,700 (in two $3,350 installments) for a tenant who is 62 or older or disabled — all adjusted annually by the Rent Board. Relocation for the other no-fault grounds (owner move-in, demolition, temporary removal, lead remediation) is governed by § 37.9C and Admin. Code Chapter 72 S.F. Admin. Code § 37.9A(e)(1)–(2) (carried on the § 37.9 page) | ordinance No per-unit registration statement; instead every owner of a covered residential unit pays an annual Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Fee set each year by the Controller (the Rent Board's budget divided by fee-paying units, so no fixed figure is in the text), of which up to 50 percent may be passed through to the tenant (§ 37A.6). Separately, § 37.15 requires owners to report unit information to the Rent Board as the condition of taking the annual CPI increase S.F. Admin. Code Chapter 37A, §§ 37A.1–37A.4, 37A.6; § 37.15 |
The state floor every row is read against
Each sentence is the baseline's own cited value, the same data the city pages resolve against.
Allowable annual increase
5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, over the lowest rent charged in the prior 12 months
"Cost of living" is the regional CPI the statute names; the percentage is recomputed each April for the following August-to-July period.
Exempt units
Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years (rolling); single-family homes and condos not owned by a corporation, REIT or LLC with a corporate member, when the required notice is given; owner-occupied duplexes; dormitories; deed-restricted affordable housing
The 15-year test is rolling — a building leaves the exemption on the anniversary of its certificate of occupancy.
Just cause to evict
Yes — after a tenant has lawfully occupied the unit for 12 months, the owner may terminate only for an at-fault or no-fault just cause listed in § 1946.2(b)
Local just-cause ordinances that are more protective govern the units they cover.
Relocation assistance
For a no-fault just-cause termination: one month of the tenant's rent that was in effect when the notice was issued, as a direct payment or a rent waiver
Local ordinances set their own, usually larger, relocation schedules on covered units.
Rent on a new tenancy
An owner may set the initial rental rate for a new tenancy where the prior tenant voluntarily vacated, abandoned, or was evicted for cause — statewide, including in cities with rent control
Costa-Hawkins § 1954.53. The new rent is then capped during that tenancy by whichever rule covers the unit.
Banking unused increases
No
The cap is measured against the lowest rent in the prior 12 months, so an increase not taken is not carried forward under state law; a local ordinance may allow banking on the units it covers.
Read the statewide rules in full on California Rent Control, or every housing law on the housing & tenant law hub