A month-to-month rent increase in California runs on a different law than ending the tenancy — and using the wrong one, or the wrong jurisdiction’s cap, is one of the more common mistakes we see. In this video, we walk through which statute actually governs a rent increase, the 2026–2027 caps by jurisdiction, how often you can use them, and the new-tenancy delays most landlords don’t know to check.
What This Video Covers
- Why Civil Code §827 — not §1946.1 — governs a rent increase on a month-to-month tenancy
- The 2026–2027 rent caps for AB 1482 statewide, Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond
- How often you can raise rent under each jurisdiction’s rule — and why AB 1482 and Oakland differ
- The new-tenancy delay each local jurisdiction has that AB 1482 doesn’t
- What happens (and doesn’t) when a tenant is still inside a fixed-term lease
- How AEBP times rent reviews without a renewal date to anchor them to
In This Video
Civil Code §1946.1 — the law most landlords reach for first — governs ending a month-to-month tenancy. It has nothing to do with raising the rent on one that continues. That’s Civil Code §827, which governs changing the terms of a periodic tenancy while it stays in place; §827 sets the notice period, while AB 1482 (Civil Code §1947.12) or the applicable local ordinance sets the amount.
For the cycle running August 2026 through July 2027, AB 1482’s statewide cap is 8.8%. Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond each set their own, lower number instead — 2.3%, 1.0%, and 1.5% respectively — and where a local ordinance applies, it replaces the statewide figure rather than stacking on top of it. Frequency isn’t uniform either: AB 1482 allows up to two increases in a rolling 12 months as long as the combined total stays under the cap, but Oakland’s local rule caps it at exactly one increase per 12 months regardless of the combined total.
All three local jurisdictions also delay a brand-new tenancy’s very first increase — Oakland by 12 months from move-in, Berkeley through the rest of the start year plus one full additional calendar year, and Richmond by a full calendar year before the next September 1 adjustment date. AB 1482 has no equivalent, for a different reason: it doesn’t regulate a new tenant’s starting rent at all, only increases on someone already in occupancy. And none of this applies yet to a tenant still inside an active fixed-term lease — §827 only governs periodic tenancies, so a mid-lease increase generally needs the lease’s own authorization, and still has to fit within whatever cap applies once it’s allowed.
Key Takeaways
- Civil Code §827 governs raising rent on a month-to-month tenancy — §1946.1 governs ending one; they’re separate statutes with separate notice rules
- 2026–2027 caps: 8.8% statewide (AB 1482), 2.3% Oakland, 1.0% Berkeley, 1.5% Richmond — local ordinances replace the statewide figure, they don’t stack on it
- AB 1482 allows up to two increases per rolling 12 months if the combined total stays under the cap; Oakland allows only one, full stop
- Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond each delay a new tenancy’s first increase — AB 1482 doesn’t, because it doesn’t regulate a new tenant’s starting rent at all
- A tenant still inside a fixed-term lease generally can’t get a mid-term increase unless the lease itself allows it
- Required notice: 30 days for an increase of 10% or less, 90 days for anything above that, plus 5 days if mailed
Resources Mentioned
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Video Transcript
Quick test before we start: if you want to raise the rent on a month-to-month tenant in California, which law do you look up — the one that ends a tenancy, or a different one entirely? A lot of landlords reach for Civil Code section 1946.1, the 30-or-60-day notice law. That’s actually the wrong statute. Ending a tenancy and raising the rent on one that continues are two separate legal actions, governed by two separate sections of the Civil Code — and mixing them up is one of the more common mistakes we see. Let’s walk through the one that actually governs a rent increase.
The law you want is Civil Code section 827. It governs changing the terms of a periodic tenancy — month-to-month, week-to-week — while it continues. A rent increase is a change of terms. Section 827 sets the notice period; a separate law — section 1947-point-12, AB 1482 — or your local rent ordinance sets how much you’re actually allowed to charge.
For the cycle running August 2026 through July 2027, AB 1482’s statewide cap is 8.8 percent. But three of our jurisdictions set their own, lower number, and where a local ordinance applies, it replaces the statewide figure entirely — it’s not layered on top. Oakland’s cap is 2.3 percent. Berkeley’s is 1 percent for calendar 2026. Richmond’s is 1.5 percent for its September 2026 through August 2027 cycle. Apply the wrong one of those four numbers, and you’ve either undercharged for a year or opened yourself up to a compliance problem.
How often you can use that cap isn’t the same everywhere, either. Under AB 1482 statewide, you can actually serve two separate increases within a rolling 12 months, as long as the combined total stays under that period’s cap — four percent in March and another four percent in October is fine on an 8.8 percent unit. Oakland’s rule is stricter: exactly one increase per 12-month period, full stop, even if a second one would still keep you under 2.3 percent. Berkeley and Richmond apply their number as a single annual adjustment, though each also lets you bank a skipped year into a later notice under its own formula.
Here’s a piece that trips landlords up even when they’ve got the percentage right: all three of our local jurisdictions delay a brand-new tenancy’s very first increase, and the wait is longer than most people expect. Oakland won’t let the first increase land any earlier than 12 months after move-in. Berkeley is the strictest of the three — no increase for the rest of the calendar year a tenancy starts, plus the entire following calendar year, so a tenancy that starts in March 2026 doesn’t see its first increase until 2028. Richmond requires a full calendar year of tenancy before the next September 1 adjustment date. AB 1482 doesn’t have an equivalent delay, for a different reason — it doesn’t regulate what you charge a brand-new tenant in the first place, only increases on someone already living there.
One more distinction, and it’s the one we see cause the most confusion: none of this applies yet if your tenant is still inside an active fixed-term lease. Section 827 governs periodic tenancies — it doesn’t create a right to raise rent mid-lease just because a cap exists. If the lease itself has an escalation clause, that increase still has to fit inside whatever cap applies to the unit. Otherwise, the increase becomes available once the fixed term actually ends and the tenancy converts to month-to-month or a new lease gets signed.
That conversion point is actually where we anchor our own process. We don’t send proactive renewal offers — when a fixed-term lease ends, we let it convert to month-to-month by default rather than re-papering a new lease as a matter of course. That conversion date is what flags a unit for a rent review on our end, separate from any renewal conversation with the tenant. From there it’s a straightforward section 827 question: where does the current rent sit against the cap and the market, and does a notice make sense.
Once you know the number and the timing works, the notice itself is simple: 30 days for an increase of 10 percent or less, 90 days for anything above that, plus 5 more days if you mail it instead of hand-delivering.
If you want the full breakdown — the jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction table, the banking rules, and exactly how the fixed-term exception works — the complete guide is linked below. We manage 600-plus units across Emeryville, Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond, and this is the exact process we run every rent-review cycle.
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