Owner Resources and Forms Available for Download

The regional Consumer Price Index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (using the 12-month period from April to April). See this link:
https://www.bls.gov/regions/subjects/consumer-price-indexes.htm#CA

Just Cause. A prohibition on evictions without “just cause.” Landlords can no longer terminate month-to-month tenancies at will and may now only evict tenants for one of 15 specific reasons. The permissible reasons are divided into two categories: “at fault” and “no fault.”

• “At fault” termination is generally allowed when tenants have breached their lease and does not require the payment of relocation as34sistance. “At fault” reasons include non-payment of rent, nuisance, illegal use of the property, refusal to allow entry, and breach of a material term of the lease.
• “No fault” termination is allowed even when the tenant has not breached the lease and will require the landlord to pay one month’s rent in relocation assistance. “No fault” reasons include an owner or family member intending to occupy the property, withdrawal from the rental market, substantial remodeling and compliance with a government order to vacate the property,

 Exemptions. The law’s just cause eviction provisions only protect tenants who have been in possession for a year or more.  Certain types of housing are exempt including:

• Single-family homes and condos if:
  1. Tenants have received notice of the exemption and,
  2. The owner is not a REIT, corporation, or LLC owned wholly or in part by a corporation
• Homes built within the last 15 years
• Owner-occupied duplexes

Owner-occupied single-family homes where two or fewer rooms are rented out (exempt from just cause but not rent cap)

Mandatory Section 8: Under Senate Bill 329 landlords may no longer refuse to rent to a tenant solely on the basis of a tenant’s participation in a housing voucher program such as Section 8. Doing so would constitute illegal “source of income” discrimination.

However, landlords remain free to reject prospective tenants provided they do so on otherwise lawful grounds that are not based on a tenant’s receipt of a housing subsidy. Landlords also remain free to charge rents as allowed under law and are not required to reduce rents even if chosen rent levels would make a unit too expensive for a voucher holder to afford. Further, landlords can continue to apply appropriate financial and income standards in making rental decisions, such as verifying income levels or checking creditworthiness. However, landlords no longer have the option to forgo participation in housing subsidy programs when presented with a prospective tenant who is qualified to rent from them in all other respects.

Assembly Bill 1110 extends the notice period for increasing rent by more than 10% in any 12-month period to 90 days. Previously, it was 60 days. In calculating if a proposed rent increase is greater than 10%, the owner must combine it with all other rent increases imposed within the 12 months prior to the effective date of the rent increase. The notice period for rent increases of 10% or less (combining all prior rent increases within 12-months before effective date of the increase) remains 30 days.  

Keep in mind that with the passage of AB 1482 capping rents statewide, an increase of more than 10% within any 12-month period will only be permitted for housing that is exempt from the statewide rent cap law. But even if exempt, landlords should be cognizant of the anti-price gouging law based upon declared states of emergency which will restrict rent increases to no more than 10% for properties located in counties affected by declared states of emergency.