AB 1482 Rent Cap: California’s Statewide Limit on Rent Increases

What it requires

• Keep total increases in any 12 months within 5% plus the local CPI change, or 10%, whichever is lower, measured from the lowest rent charged in the prior 12 months.
• Raise a sitting tenant’s rent in no more than two steps in any 12 months.
• Set rent freely for a new tenancy when no prior tenant remains; the cap applies to later increases.
• Common exemptions: housing with a certificate of occupancy in the last 15 years; an owner-occupied duplex; single-family homes and condos not owned by a REIT, corporation, or LLC with a corporate member, but only if the tenant got the exact exemption notice the law prescribes.
• Where a city’s rent control sets a lower limit, such as Oakland or Berkeley, the city limit applies instead.

Owner checklist

• Check whether a local rent limit applies before using the state cap
• Use the cap for the period when the increase takes effect
• Add up every increase in the last 12 months, not just the new one
• If claiming the single-family or condo exemption, confirm the statutory notice is in the lease