Governor Gavin Newsome signed AB-1482 into law October 8, 2019. This new law limits the amount a landlord can raise rent in a 12-month period and prevents “no-cause” evictions. Below are the majority of important points relating to the new California Rent Control Law. The law is broken into two parts; rent Increase and evictions.
- Yearly rent increases over the next decade will be limited to 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living or 10%, whichever is lower.
- Percentage change in the cost of living is the percentage change from April 1 of the prior year to April 1 of the current year in the regional Consumer Price Index for the region where the residential real property is located, as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. If a regional index is not available, the California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for all items, as determined by the Department of Industrial Relations, shall apply.
- The new law would apply to all apartments in the state that are at least 15 years old. Single family homes and condos are exempt from the law unless owned by corporations and real-estate investment trusts, or REITs.
- Owners who share a home with their tenants or owner-occupied duplexes would be exempt from the caps.
- The measure also provides just-cause eviction protections for tenants who have lived in their rental for at least a year, meaning a landlord can’t order renters who are following terms of their lease to move out unless the owner plans to move in, demolish or renovate the unit, or cease renting it at all.
- If a tenant is asked to move out for one of the reasons above and is current with their lease, they are owed relocation assistance. The assistance shall be equal to one moths rent and paid direct to the tenant or given as a rental credit in the final rental month.