💡 Moved In During 2026? No 2027 Increase
If your Berkeley tenant moved in at any point in 2026, you can’t raise their rent on January 1, 2027. Their first allowable increase is January 1, 2028.
The Berkeley Rent Board bars any increase for the rest of the year a tenancy starts, plus one full additional calendar year. The rule applies to fully rent-controlled units. It runs from the date the tenant moved in, not from the lease type or the date a lease went month-to-month.
The 2027 Annual General Adjustment (AGA) is 2.5%, up from 1.0%. The Rent Board adopted it on October 15. Tenancies that began in 2025 or earlier can take it on January 1, 2027 with proper notice. Tenancies that began in 2026 can’t.
What We See at AEBP
Everywhere else we manage, we time rent increases to each unit’s lease anniversary and track that date in AppFolio. Berkeley is the one exception: we issue Berkeley increases on January 1 (company practice).
The new-tenancy rule is the reason. Once a tenancy clears its waiting period, waiting for the lease anniversary would mean every new tenancy waits a full 24 months for its first increase. January 1 shortens that for every tenant who didn’t move in during January. A November move-in, for example, waits 14 months instead of 24.
So when a Berkeley tenancy starts, we set its first eligibility date in AppFolio to the second January 1 after move-in. We do increases once a year, so the unit stays on a January 1 cycle after that. An eligibility date isn’t an automatic increase, though. Owners sometimes skip a year, often to keep a good tenant, and in Berkeley a skipped AGA can be banked and taken later with proper notice.
| Move-in | First increase on January 1 | First increase on the lease anniversary |
|---|---|---|
| January 2026 | Jan 1, 2028 (24 months) | January 2028 (24 months) |
| June 2026 | Jan 1, 2028 (19 months) | June 2028 (24 months) |
| November 2026 | Jan 1, 2028 (14 months) | November 2028 (24 months) |
| 2025 or earlier | Eligible Jan 1, 2027 at 2.5% | Next anniversary in 2027 |
In Berkeley, the move-in year sets the clock, not the lease anniversary.
Before You Send January Notices
- Sort your Berkeley units by move-in year: every tenancy that started in 2026 gets a first eligible date of January 1, 2028. Leave those units out of this year’s notices.
- Decide on 2025-and-earlier tenancies now: these can take the 2.5% AGA on January 1, 2027. If you skip it, the AGA is banked, not lost.
- Check eligibility before you serve: Berkeley’s AGA isn’t available for units with certain registration or habitability violations.
- Serve on time: a 30-day notice (increases of 10% or less) must be in the tenant’s hands by December 1, or mailed by November 25 to allow five extra days. An increase over 10%, which can happen when banked AGAs are added, needs 90 days’ notice (Civil Code §827).
💡 This week’s takeaway
A Berkeley tenancy that began in 2026 can’t take a rent increase until January 1, 2028, no matter when its lease renews. Set that date in your records now so a January notice doesn’t go to a tenant who isn’t eligible yet.
📘 Learn more
This tip comes from Monday’s guide to the 2027 rent increase rules:
→ Oakland and Berkeley Rent Increases for 2027 — which rate applies to each unit, the move-in table and the January 1 notice calendar
→ Berkeley Rent Control Compliance Guide — registration, the AGA and banking
→ East Bay Rent Cap Update — current caps for Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and AB 1482
This tip is part of our ongoing education series for Bay Area landlords focused on compliance, risk reduction, and smarter property management. 📋 Browse all Thursday Landlord Tips →
