California Cities With Rent Control (and Their Caps)

The full list

Rates follow each city's own cycle: some reset every July or September, Antioch about every two months, and San Jose, Hayward and Pomona use a flat percentage. Where a rate couldn't be confirmed on the city's own site, or the published period has ended, the table says to check with the city rather than show an old number.

Details that change the number for some units:

• Los Angeles: LA sets the RSO increase each July 1 from local CPI, with a 1% floor and 4% ceiling.
• Santa Monica: Also capped at $70 a month for units with a maximum allowable rent of $2,674 or more. The 1979 coverage date is the commonly cited cutoff; confirm your building with the Rent Control Board.
• West Hollywood: West Hollywood's current annual increase could not be confirmed on an official city page.
• Beverly Hills: This is the Chapter 6 increase (most rentals). A smaller group of older, low-rent units under Chapter 5 has a different ceiling.
• Pasadena: Pasadena's exact certificate-of-occupancy wording was not confirmed on an official page.
• Inglewood: 3.7% for properties with 5 or more units; 8.7% (CPI + 5%) for properties with 4 or fewer. Inglewood covers units once they're 15 years old.
• Bell Gardens: Lesser of 50% of CPI or 4%. The coverage date and the effective window come from secondary sources.
• Baldwin Park: CPI-based, with a 1% floor and 5% ceiling.
• Pomona: Flat 5% a year, one increase per 12 months.
• San Jose: Flat 5% a year. Covers buildings with 3 or more units.
• Hayward: Flat 5% a year; unused increases can be banked up to 10%.
• Antioch: Lesser of 3% or 60% of CPI. Antioch republishes the rate about every two months.

A few other cities have local rent rules but no general cap: Los Gatos: Rental dispute mediation only; no general rent cap. Union City: Rent review ordinance with no rent cap. Thousand Oaks: No operative general rent cap for apartments. Palm Springs: Rent control applies mainly to mobile home parks and a small set of older units; not modelled here.

Costa-Hawkins: what cities can't cap

Cities don't have a free hand. The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a 1995 state law, sets three limits on local rent control:

• No caps on single-family homes or condos. A city can protect those tenants from eviction, but it can't limit their rent increases.
• No caps on newer buildings. Units with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995 are off limits, and cities that already had rent control keep their own, earlier cutoffs. That's why San Francisco's list stops at 1979 and Los Angeles's at 1978.
• Vacancy decontrol. When a tenant moves out on their own or is evicted for not paying rent, the landlord can generally set the next tenant's starting rent freely. The local cap then limits increases from that new base.

Voters have been asked to repeal Costa-Hawkins more than once, most recently in 2024, and it's still the law.

AB 1482 everywhere else

Since 2020, units that local rent control doesn't reach are generally covered by the Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482). It caps increases over any 12 months at 5% plus the regional change in the cost of living, never more than 10%. For Aug 1, 2026 to Jul 31, 2027, that works out to:

AB 1482 exempts buildings for their first 15 years, owner-occupied duplexes, deed-restricted affordable housing, and single-family homes or condos owned by individuals who put the required notice in the lease. How the state number compares with each city's in practice is covered in our AB 1482 state vs city guide.

Just cause and relocation

Rent caps usually come with eviction protections. Under AB 1482, once a tenant has lived in a unit for 12 months (24 if a new adult joined the lease partway through), the landlord needs a legal reason to end the tenancy. For no-fault reasons, such as the owner moving in or taking the unit off the market, the tenant gets relocation help worth 1 month's rent.

Most rent-control cities go further, with their own lists of allowed reasons and much larger relocation payments. Examples from city programs:

• Los Angeles: No-fault evictions (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027): $11,000 to $27,400 depending on tenancy length, income and whether the household includes a senior, disabled person or minor. Lower amounts apply to some small owner-occupied buildings.
• Los Angeles County (unincorporated): No-fault evictions: $7,654 (studio) to $21,411 (4+ bedrooms, lower-income household), by bedroom count and household type.
• Santa Monica: Permanent relocation (from July 1, 2026): $20,500 (single) to $41,900 (2+ bedrooms with a senior, disabled person or minor).
• Beverly Hills: No-fault evictions: $8,093 (studio) to $18,197 (2+ bedrooms with a senior, disabled person or minor).
• Culver City: Three times the greater of current rent or HUD's small-area fair market rent, plus $1,000 (small landlords may pay half).
• San Francisco: Owner move-in, demolition or major rehab (March 1, 2026 to Feb 28, 2027): $8,245 per tenant, up to $24,733 per unit, plus $5,497 for each senior, disabled or minor-child household. Ellis Act evictions pay more.
• Berkeley: Owner move-in and Ellis Act evictions (2026): $19,413, plus $6,471 for households with a senior, disabled person or minor.
• East Palo Alto: Ellis Act and demolition evictions: $7,500 (under 2 years) or $10,000 (2+ years), plus up to $5,000 more for qualifying households.
• Alameda: Permanent relocation (from July 1, 2026): $6,782 (studio) to $12,912 (4+ bedrooms); $8,764 to $17,961 for qualified households.

Many cities also require landlords to register units and pay an annual fee, and some won't allow an increase until the unit is registered.

How to check your unit

1. Find your city. Check whether you live inside city limits or in an unincorporated area. Unincorporated Los Angeles County has its own ordinance.
2. Find the year built. Your county assessor's records list it for every parcel. For a building near the cutoff year, ask the city's rent program for the certificate of occupancy date.
3. Note the type of home. Single-family homes and condos never get a local cap; duplexes and deed-restricted units follow special rules.
4. Check the current rate with the city, and read your rent-increase notice against it.

Our Rent Control by City Checker walks through these steps and tells you which cap applies, the current rate and the eviction rules. For an AB 1482 unit, the AB 1482 Rent Increase Calculator works out the maximum new rent.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Rates and rules change on each city's schedule. Confirm with your city's rent program or a tenant rights organization before acting.