How Much Can a Landlord Raise Rent in California?

Finding a place with reasonable rent isn’t easy in California. To make things more frustrating, there’s a good chance your landlord will raise the rent when it comes time to renew your lease agreement.

So, how much can a landlord raise rent in California? In this article, we take a closer look at the current legislation.

How Often Can My Landlord Raise My Rent?

Let’s start by reiterating how important it is to have a lease when renting. Your landlord can’t increase your rent during the term of your lease unless there is a new provision added. For example, your landlord may decide to allow you to have a pet, but only if you pay an additional monthly fee.

Month-to-month leases are more complicated. Theoretically, your landlord can increase your rent as often as they’d like. That said, they have to give you a specific amount of notice depending on the amount of the increase.

How Much Can A Landlord Raise Rent in California?

There are currently no caps on how much rent can be raised in California. As a matter of fact, voters rejected a bill that would have allowed for an expansion of rent-control earlier this year. Proposition 10 failed miserably, at a 2 to 1 margin, despite pre-election polling showing people claimed to support the idea.

Why the bill failed is a bit of an anomaly. In 2015, a new outlet broke a story about a Bay Area woman’s rent being raised by 400 percent (and no, that’s not a typo). Another renter spoke of her rent increasing 25 percent at one lease renewal and 10 percent at the next (or 25 percent if she wanted to go month-to-month).

These are staggering numbers that prevent people from living comfortable lives. Many won’t move because of the instability involved in finding yet another likely expensive living arrangement. All of this said, while rental rates are high, the average landlord isn’t likely to raise the rents unreasonably.

Proposition 10’s failure serves to uphold the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1955. The act prevents cities from applying rent control rules to new constructions, single-family homes, and condos. They are also not allowed to enact vacancy control measures, which prohibit landlords from raising rents between tenants.

In other words, a California landlord can raise a tenant’s rent as much as they want as long as they remain within state guidelines for giving proper notice. Exceptions to the rule include several cities that have applied their own rent control ordinances, including West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica.

In Los Angeles, for example, landlords may increase their rent by three percent. They can increase it an additional one percent for each utility included in the lease, such as gas or electricity. The landlord may also collect an additional three percent security deposit and another three percent of the last month’s rent to keep in escrow.

There are other exceptions to rate increases in rent controlled areas. A landlord may increase your rent by up to 10 percent if you bring in additional tenant, but only if you are notified within 60 days. The landlord must likewise decrease the rent if the extra tenant moves out. Capital improvements to the dwelling are also considered justifiable, but must also be approved by the city’s Rental Board.

How Much Notice Does My Landlord Have to Give Me?

California law has clear rules that dictate how much notice a landlord must give a tenant before raising the rent. If your rent is going up by 10 percent or less, your landlord has to give you a minimum of 30 days notice in writing, with an additional five days added if they are sending the notice via mail. If your rent is going up by more than 10 percent of what you are currently paying, California Civil Code requires the landlord to provide you at least 60 days written notice, again with another five days added for mailing time.

What to Do if Your Landlord Raises the Rent

Make sure your rent increase is received in writing. A verbal notification does not satisfy California rules for notification of a rent increase. Look to see if your new lease or rent increase notice is properly dated to give you the amount of notice mandated by California law.

Consider whether or not your rate increase is reasonable. A conscientious landlord may raise your rent three percent per year to simply keep up with increased housing and maintenance costs. Even if the increase seems high, you may end up looking at other rentals only to find that the increase is average for your area.

A rent increase of 10 or 25 percent or more may price you right out of your home. You should not reasonably spend more than 30 percent of your income on housing and utilities. If your new increase puts you over that mark, you may need to seriously consider moving. It is worth talking to your landlord (if you’re on good terms) to see if the rate is negotiable. Your landlord may be willing to adjust the terms if you’ve been a good tenant, have maintained your rental, and regularly pay your rent on time.

Ask yourself: is this increase random, or do you suspect your landlord is raising your rent to punish you for a disagreement? If you suspect you are being punished, you should contact an attorney familiar with landlord-tenant law as retaliatory rate increases are always considered illegal.

Conclusion

While landlord-tenant law gives you a lot of rights and protects you from unfair and discriminatory housing practices, it doesn’t protect you from rent increases in most areas. Fair or not, the only way to regain control over the housing market is to continue fighting for legislation that caps rental increases to a maximum annual percentage.

Do you have any personal experience with this? We would love to hear your story in the comments section below. And, as always, if you would like to discuss your options with an experienced attorney near you, we are always happy to help you find a lawyer.