TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- The California rent increase limit created by AB 1482 lives in Civil Code section 1947.12. Over any 12-month period an owner may not raise the gross rental rate by more than 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, measured against the lowest gross rental rate charged for that unit during the prior 12 months.
- The cap is a ceiling, not a single statewide number. The cost-of-living component is a regional CPI figure that changes annually and differs between Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, and the rest of the state.
- The companion just cause rule is Civil Code section 1946.2. After a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a residence for 12 months, the owner cannot terminate without stating a just cause in the written notice, and the at-fault and no-fault categories carry different obligations.
- A no-fault termination triggers relocation assistance. The owner must either pay the tenant one month of the rent in effect when the notice issued, within 15 calendar days of service, or waive the final month’s rent in writing before it comes due. Failure to strictly comply renders the notice void.
- Both sections carry the same expiration. Section 1947.12 subdivision (o) and section 1946.2 subdivision (n) each provide that the section remains in effect only until January 1, 2030, and is repealed as of that date.
The Direct Answer
Under Civil Code section 1947.12, a California landlord covered by AB 1482 may not raise rent over any 12-month period by more than 5 percent plus the regional change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower. Civil Code section 1946.2 separately requires a stated just cause to end most tenancies after 12 months.
California Rent Increase Limit: How the AB 1482 Cap Is Calculated
AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, did two things at once, and confusing them is the single most common mistake in this area. It capped rent increases, and it separately restricted terminations. A property can be covered by one and exempt from the other, because the two sections have overlapping but not identical exemption lists.
Sections below are marked for the side they speak to. The calculation rule that follows applies to both.
Section 1947.12(a)(1) sets the cap. Over the course of any 12-month period, an owner shall not increase the gross rental rate for a dwelling or a unit more than 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for that dwelling or unit at any time during the 12 months prior to the effective date of the increase.
Three parts of that sentence do the work.
“Whichever is lower.” The statute is a hard 10 percent ceiling and a soft 5-percent-plus-CPI floor. When inflation is low, the cap is below 10 percent. When inflation is high, 10 percent controls. It is never above 10 percent.
“The lowest gross rental rate charged.” The baseline is not last month’s rent. It is the lowest rent charged for that unit at any point in the preceding 12 months. A landlord who dropped the rent for three months to fill a vacancy cannot use the higher pre-discount number as the base. Subdivision (a)(1) also excludes accepted discounts, incentives, concessions, and credits from the calculation, and requires that the gross per-month rate and any such concessions be listed separately in the lease.
“Over the course of any 12-month period.” Subdivision (a)(2) adds that where the same tenant stays in occupancy, the rent may not be raised in more than two increments over a 12-month period, and the two together still have to fit under the cap.
The percentage change in the cost of living is defined at subdivision (g)(3): the change in the regional CPI-U published by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics for the metropolitan area where the property sits, with four areas named in the statute and the California CPI used where no metropolitan index exists, rounded to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent. Which April figures apply depends on whether the increase takes effect before or on or after August 1.
No article should tell you the current number. Both sides should pull the applicable regional CPI for the year in question.
How Much Can a Landlord Raise the Rent in California?
Up to the cap, if the unit is covered, and with the notice the law requires.
For landlords. The rent increase notice period is not in AB 1482. It is in Civil Code section 827, which subdivision (e) of section 1947.12 expressly points to. Under section 827(b)(2), an increase of 10 percent or less of the rent charged at any time during the preceding 12 months requires at least 30 days’ written notice. Under section 827(b)(3)(A), an increase greater than 10 percent requires at least 90 days. Both are subject to the extra time Code of Civil Procedure section 1013 adds when service is by mail. Since the AB 1482 cap tops out at 10 percent, a covered increase will almost always be a 30-day notice – but an exempt property raising rent by more than 10 percent needs 90 days, and that trips people up.
For tenants. Section 1947.12(b) is the provision worth understanding before you sign. For a new tenancy in which no tenant from the prior tenancy remains in lawful possession, the owner may set the initial rent at whatever the market bears; the cap applies only to increases after that. AB 1482 constrains the trajectory, not the starting point.
If the cap was exceeded, subdivision (k) gives the tenant a civil action for injunctive relief, damages equal to the overcharge, attorney’s fees and costs in the court’s discretion, and up to three times the overcharge on a showing that the owner acted willfully or with oppression, fraud, or malice. Subdivision (k)(4) sets a three-year limit from accrual. Waivers are void under subdivision (l).
AB 1482 Exemptions: Which Properties Are Not Covered?
This is where the two halves of AB 1482 come apart, and reading one exemption list as though it governed both is a genuine error.
The rent cap exemptions are at section 1947.12(d). The just cause exemptions are at section 1946.2(e), with a further local-ordinance carve-out at 1946.2(i). They overlap heavily and are not the same.
| Property type | Exempt from rent cap, Sec. 1947.12(d) | Exempt from just cause, Sec. 1946.2(e) |
|---|---|---|
| Deed-restricted or subsidized affordable housing | Yes, (d)(1) | Yes, (e)(9) |
| Dormitories owned and operated by a school or college | Yes, (d)(2) | Yes, (e)(3) |
| Certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years, unless a mobilehome | Yes, (d)(4) | Yes, (e)(7) |
| Single-family home or condo alienable separate from title, owner not a REIT, corporation, or corporate-member LLC, with the prescribed written notice given | Yes, (d)(5) | Yes, (e)(8) |
| Owner-occupied duplex, neither unit an ADU or JADU | Yes, (d)(6) | Yes, (e)(6) |
| Owner-occupied single-family home renting no more than two units or bedrooms | Not listed | Yes, (e)(5) |
| Tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen with the resident owner | Not listed | Yes, (e)(4) |
| Housing in a hospital, religious facility, extended care or licensed residential care facility | Not listed | Yes, (e)(2) |
| Transient and tourist hotel occupancy | Not listed | Yes, (e)(1) |
| Local rent control stricter than the state cap | Yes, (d)(3) | Local just cause ordinance governs under (i) |
Two points about the single-family exemption, because it is the one most often claimed and most often claimed wrongly.
It is conditional on notice. Sections 1947.12(d)(5)(B) and 1946.2(e)(8)(B) both require that the tenant have been given written notice, in the exact statutory wording, that the property is exempt and that the owner is not a REIT, a corporation, or an LLC with at least one corporate member. For any tenancy commenced or renewed on or after July 1, 2020 – July 1, 2022 for a mobilehome – that notice must be in the rental agreement. No notice, no exemption.
And it is conditional on ownership form. A single-family rental held in an LLC whose members are all natural persons still qualifies; the same house in an LLC with a corporate member does not.
Just Cause: At-Fault Versus No-Fault Terminations
Section 1946.2(a) turns on time in possession. Once a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the residence for 12 months, the owner may not terminate without a just cause stated in the written notice. Where additional adult tenants were added before an existing tenant hit 24 months, the protection attaches only if all tenants have 12 months or one tenant has 24.
| At-fault just cause, Sec. 1946.2(b)(1) | No-fault just cause, Sec. 1946.2(b)(2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Nonpayment of rent; material lease breach; nuisance; waste; refusal to sign a similar renewal; criminal activity; unlawful subletting; refusing lawful entry | Owner or close-relative move-in; withdrawal of the property from the rental market; compliance with a government or court order; intent to demolish or substantially remodel |
| Cure required first | Yes for a curable violation, Sec. 1946.2(c), via the three-day cure notice in CCP Sec. 1161(3) | Not applicable |
| Relocation assistance owed | No | Yes, Sec. 1946.2(d) |
| Extra notice content | Standard | Yes – the notice must name the intended occupant, or describe the remodel and attach the permit |
Two of the no-fault categories carry conditions that read like traps and are not.
Owner move-in. Under section 1946.2(b)(2)(A), the intended occupant must move in within 90 days after the tenant vacates and occupy the unit as a primary residence for at least 12 consecutive months. The notice must name the intended occupant and their relationship to the owner, and tell the tenant they may request proof. If the occupancy does not happen, the owner must offer the unit back to the displaced tenant at the old rent and terms and reimburse reasonable moving expenses beyond the relocation payment already made.
Substantial remodel. Under section 1946.2(b)(2)(D), a substantial remodel means replacing or substantially modifying a structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical system requiring a permit, or abating hazardous materials, and it must require the tenant to vacate for at least 30 consecutive days. Cosmetic work is expressly excluded. The notice has to include a prescribed re-rental statement, a description of the work with its expected duration, and a copy of the permit.
Relocation Assistance and the One-Month Rule
Section 1946.2(d) is short and unforgiving.
On a no-fault termination the owner must, regardless of the tenant’s income and at the owner’s option, either make a direct relocation payment or waive the final month’s rent in writing before it becomes due. The amount either way is one month of the rent in effect when the notice issued. A direct payment must be made within 15 calendar days of service of the notice. The written notice must tell the tenant which option the owner chose, and if it is the waiver, state the amount waived and that no rent is due for the final month.
Then subdivision (d)(4): an owner’s failure to strictly comply with this subdivision shall render the notice of termination void. Subdivision (g) repeats the point for the section as a whole.
For landlords, that is the sentence to plan around. The relocation payment is not a post-move-out settlement item; it is a condition of the notice’s validity with a 15-day clock attached. For tenants, it means a no-fault notice that says nothing about relocation assistance is worth having reviewed rather than obeyed.
Subdivision (d)(3)(B) preserves the owner’s position if the tenant does not leave: the assistance actually provided is recoverable as damages in an action for possession. And (d)(3)(C) credits the payment against relocation assistance required by any other law, which matters in cities with their own ordinances.
What Happens When a Landlord Gets the Notice Wrong?
The consequences are statutory and they are steep.
Section 1946.2(g) voids a written termination notice that fails to comply with any provision of the section. Section 1946.2(h) makes an owner who attempts to recover possession in material violation liable for actual damages, attorney’s fees and costs in the court’s discretion, up to three times actual damages on a showing of willfulness, oppression, fraud, or malice, and punitive damages. The Attorney General, a city attorney, or county counsel may seek injunctive relief.
A void notice is not a technicality that gets fixed on the courthouse steps. The unlawful detainer built on it fails and the landlord starts over, months later, with the tenant still in possession.
Two adjacent points. Local ordinances adopted on or before September 1, 2019 displace section 1946.2 entirely under subdivision (i)(1)(A), and later ordinances displace it if they are more protective and carry the binding finding subdivision (i)(1)(B)(iii) requires; a property is never subject to both. And under subdivision (j), any waiver of these rights is void as contrary to public policy.
When to Bring Counsel Into a Rent Cap or Just Cause Problem
Four moments are worth a call rather than a search. Before serving a no-fault notice, because the content requirements, the relocation election, and the 15-day payment window all have to be right in the same document. When the plan depends on the single-family exemption, because whether the statutory notice actually went into the rental agreement, and whether the ownership entity qualifies, are checkable facts that usually get assumed. When a local ordinance is in play, because that decides which notice, which cause list, and which relocation amount applies. And, for tenants, a notice that names no cause, or names one that does not appear in subdivision (b): that is a defect with a statute attached, not a negotiating position.
Several adjacent questions sit just outside this post and are covered separately: what a landlord’s remedies look like when a tenant breaches, how eviction and lease abandonment differ as paths, what the unlawful detainer lawsuit itself involves, what to do about landlord harassment, how a fixed-term lease differs from a month-to-month tenancy for these purposes, what happens to the deposit once the tenancy ends, and which notice a landlord has to serve before any of it begins.
Work with Bay Legal
Bay Legal, PC advises California landlords and tenants on AB 1482 compliance, rent increase disputes, just cause terminations, and relocation assistance obligations. If you are preparing a notice, or you have received one and are not sure it is valid, call (650) 668-8000 in Northern California or (213) 668-8000 in Southern California, or schedule a consultation at https://baylegal.com/contact-us/.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a landlord raise the rent in California?
For a unit covered by AB 1482, no more than 5 percent plus the regional percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, over any 12-month period, measured against the lowest rent charged for that unit in the previous 12 months. The increase may arrive in no more than two steps. The cost-of-living component changes every year and differs by region, so the correct number depends on both the county and the year. Exempt properties are not subject to the cap, and a brand new tenancy can be priced at market.
Which properties are exempt from AB 1482?
The rent cap and the just cause rule have separate exemption lists, at Civil Code sections 1947.12(d) and 1946.2(e). Both exempt deed-restricted affordable housing, school dormitories, housing with a certificate of occupancy issued in the previous 15 years, owner-occupied duplexes, and single-family homes and condominiums alienable separate from title where the owner is not a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or an LLC with a corporate member. That last exemption only works if the tenant received the exact statutory notice, in the rental agreement for tenancies commenced or renewed on or after July 1, 2020.
What counts as just cause for eviction under California law?
Civil Code section 1946.2 lists them. At-fault causes include nonpayment of rent, a material breach of the lease, nuisance, waste, refusing to sign a similar renewal, criminal activity, unlawful subletting, and refusing the owner lawful entry. No-fault causes are owner or close-relative move-in, withdrawal of the property from the rental market, compliance with a government or court order relating to habitability, and intent to demolish or substantially remodel. The cause has to be stated in the written notice, and curable lease violations require a cure opportunity first.
What is the difference between at-fault and no-fault just cause?
At-fault causes arise from something the tenant did, and for curable violations the owner must give notice and an opportunity to cure before serving a notice to quit. No-fault causes arise from the owner’s plans for the property, and they carry two extra obligations: relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent, and additional content in the notice itself. An owner-move-in notice must name the intended occupant; a substantial-remodel notice must describe the work and attach the permit. Failure to comply with the relocation requirement renders the notice void.
When does a landlord owe relocation assistance?
On any no-fault termination under section 1946.2(b)(2), regardless of the tenant’s income. The owner chooses between a direct payment and a written waiver of the final month’s rent, made before that rent comes due, and either way the amount equals one month of the rent in effect when the notice issued. A direct payment must reach the tenant within 15 calendar days of service of the notice, and the notice must say which option was chosen. Strict compliance is required; anything less voids the notice.
