Two facts sort almost every rental in the City of Los Angeles: when the building was first built, and what kind of property it is. Get those from the permit record, not the listing, and the answer usually takes a minute.
First, confirm the property is actually in the City of Los Angeles. A Los Angeles mailing address does not settle it. Unincorporated county areas run under the county’s own ordinance, and cities like Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, and Pasadena run their own. The California rent control city list has them.
Bucket 1: the RSO
According to the Los Angeles Housing Department, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance generally applies to rental properties first built on or before October 1, 1978, when the unit is one of these:
- An apartment, or a unit in a duplex
- Two or more single-family dwellings on the same parcel
- An ADU or junior ADU
- A room in a hotel, rooming house, or boarding house rented to the same tenant for more than 30 days
- A residential unit attached to a commercial building
- A condominium or townhome, with a catch: the rent is not regulated for tenancies that began after December 31, 1995
A single house alone on its parcel is not on the list.
For a covered unit, the rules on rent are short:
- 3 percent for increases from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, the same figure as the year before.
- Once every 12 months.
- No utility add-on. Since February 2, 2026 the old extra percentage for landlord-paid gas or electricity is gone, according to LAHD.
- A new formula going forward. The city now sets the increase at 90 percent of CPI, with a floor of 1 percent and a ceiling of 4 percent. Under the old rules it was 3 to 8 percent.
RSO units must be registered every year, and a vacancy resets the rent to market for the next tenant when the prior one moved out voluntarily. Registration, just cause, and relocation are in the Los Angeles RSO guide.
An RSO unit is not also under AB 1482. The state cap does not apply to housing under a local ordinance that limits increases below the state formula (Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(3)), and 3 percent is well below it.
Bucket 2: AB 1482
Built after October 1, 1978, or a house alone on its lot? Then the RSO does not reach it, and the state question begins.
AB 1482 caps the increase at 5 percent plus CPI, at most 10 percent. For the Los Angeles metro, that is 8.7 percent for increases taking effect from August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027, according to the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.
Note that the two years do not line up. The RSO year runs July to June. The AB 1482 year runs August to July. A landlord with units in both buckets is working from two calendars.
Bucket 3: neither cap
Two kinds of non-RSO units fall outside AB 1482 as well:
- Newer buildings. Housing within 15 years of its certificate of occupancy (§ 1947.12(d)(4)). The window rolls forward every year, so a building that is exempt today may not be exempt next year.
- Qualifying houses and condos. A single-family home or condo owned by an individual or a non-corporate entity, with the statute’s exemption statement in the lease (§ 1947.12(d)(5)). The exact wording and the traps are in is my property exempt from AB 1482.
A condo in a pre-1979 building whose tenancy began after 1995 sits in an odd spot: in the RSO for some purposes, outside it for rent. Ask LAHD or an attorney which cap, if any, reaches that unit before you set the next increase.
The Just Cause Ordinance covers nearly everything else
None of the buckets is a free hand on evictions. The city’s Just Cause Ordinance covers most rental properties that are not under the RSO, single-family homes included. It applies once the tenant has lived there six months or the first lease has expired, whichever comes first. It does not regulate rent. It does require a legal reason to evict and relocation assistance for no-fault evictions.
Two rules apply across RSO and JCO units alike. Every eviction notice has to be filed with LAHD within three business days of service. And every rented property has to be registered with the city each year.
A quick way to sort your units
| Unit | Rent rule | Eviction rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 fourplex | RSO, 3% | RSO |
| 1972 house, alone on its lot | AB 1482, 8.7%, unless exempt with the lease clause | JCO |
| 1995 sixplex | AB 1482, 8.7% | JCO |
| 2018 duplex | No cap until its 15-year window closes | JCO |
Once you know the bucket, the math is in how to calculate a legal rent increase in California, and the AB 1482 calculator turns the formula into a dollar amount. The AB 1482 rent increase limits page covers the state cap in full.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and local ordinances vary. Confirm current requirements with your city, county, or an attorney before you act.