On this page
- The Los Angeles RSO ends at the City limits. At least ten other cities in the county run rent programs of their own, each confirmed on the city's own site, and the County's ordinance covers unincorporated areas.
- Coverage dates differ widely: October 1, 1978 in Los Angeles, April 10, 1979 in Santa Monica, July 1, 1979 in West Hollywood, and February 1, 1995 in Pasadena, Culver City and unincorporated County areas.
- The yearly increase is set city by city, some as a share of CPI and some as a fixed percentage, and several programs publish a new figure each year.
- Registration is where sales get into trouble. Some programs want each new tenancy registered within 30 days, and Huntington Park warns that an unregistered unit may leave the landlord unable to enforce an increase or an eviction.
Which rules reach the building?
Start with the parcel, because the jurisdiction sets the ceiling on how fast the income can grow. For a parcel inside the City of Los Angeles, ZIMAS shows whether the RSO applies, and confirming RSO status takes one more look, at LAHD's search and the certificate of occupancy. For an unincorporated address, the County's rent registry looks up coverage by address or assessor's parcel number. Anywhere else, the city's own program decides.
State law runs under all of them. Because Costa-Hawkins is a state statute, every program below has to let you set a new rent after the vacancies that act allows, and none can cap a unit first certified after February 1, 1995 or one sold separately, such as a condo, subject to the act's conditions. The vacancy rules under Costa-Hawkins read the same in Pasadena as in Pomona. Coverage, the increase formula and registration are what change from city to city.
Which cities have their own rent programs?
Every row comes from the city's own published pages. A percentage appears only where the city said which period it covers.
| City | Which units | How rents may rise | Registration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica | Charter amendment adopted by voters in April 1979. Units built after April 10, 1979 are generally exempt | A general adjustment each September, from a Charter formula of 75 percent of the change in the area CPI for the year ending in March | Rent for each new tenancy registered with the Rent Control Board within 30 days |
| West Hollywood | In effect since June 27, 1985. Multifamily rental units built before July 1, 1979 | The Annual General Adjustment | New tenancies registered within 30 days, and a separate registry for units outside rent control |
| Beverly Hills | Most multifamily rentals with two or more units. Chapter 5 units are in buildings built before September 20, 1978 with an original rent of $600 or less, and the rest are Chapter 6 | One increase every 12 months, with the maximum worked out differently for each chapter | Increases registered online each year, and tenants may appeal the reported rent |
| Culver City | Permanent ordinances in effect since October 30, 2020. The cap does not reach units first occupied after February 1, 1995 | Capped by ordinance, and a landlord may apply for an adjustment to earn a fair and reasonable return | Every landlord registers rental units with the City |
| Pasadena | Measure H, in effect since December 22, 2022. Most multi-unit rentals built before February 1, 1995 | An Annual General Adjustment, with a guaranteed fair rate of return | Every covered unit, then each year by October 31 |
| Inglewood | Units under the City's Rental Housing Protection law | Since January 1, 2025, aligned with the state limit of 5 percent plus CPI, never above 10 percent. Before that, properties under Ordinance No. 20-03 were capped at 3 percent or CPI, whichever was greater | Online registry each January through March for buildings of two or more units, mixed-use buildings and entity-owned rentals, with penalties from April |
| Pomona | Covered residential units, excluding those exempt under Costa-Hawkins or the Tenant Protection Act | Under Ordinance No. 4359, effective January 1, 2026, at most 5 percent a year and one increase in any 12 months | Ask the city's program |
| Baldwin Park | Units under the city's Rent Stabilization Ordinance | A 3.0 percent maximum, effective January 17, 2026 | Ask the city's program |
| Bell Gardens | Units under its Rent Stabilization and Tenant Eviction Protections Ordinance | 50 percent of CPI or 4 percent, whichever is less | Every rental unit, by September 30 each year |
| Huntington Park | Units under its Rent Stabilization Ordinance | Capped by ordinance. Confirm the current limit with the city | Every unit, every year, with proof of registration given to tenants |
Inglewood and Pomona have both changed their rules since the start of 2025. Inglewood's alignment with the state limit raised its ceiling above the old rule of 3 percent or CPI, which changes what an Inglewood rent roll can grow into. Pomona's updated ordinance took effect January 1, 2026, so a projection for a Pomona building starts from Ordinance No. 4359 and not from the version it replaced.
Santa Monica also publishes a maximum lawful rent lookup. Expect a buyer to check each of your units against it before trusting the rent roll.
What applies in unincorporated areas?
Unincorporated Los Angeles County falls under the County's Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections Ordinance, which the County runs through DCBA's Rent Stabilization Program. It reaches rental units on a property with two or more rental units, whatever their permit status, along with accessory dwelling units that have a certificate of occupancy or an equivalent permit. Units built before February 1, 1995 are covered unless fully exempt, and evictions need just cause.
For fully covered units, County Code section 8.52.050 allows 60 percent of the change in average CPI over the twelve months ending in September, never more than 3 percent. The County's rent increase bulletin puts the maximum for most fully covered units at 1.919 percent through June 30, 2027. At 1.919 percent a year, a sitting tenant's rent climbs slowly, so a County building is priced mostly on the rents it collects today.
What if the city has no rent program?
Then the state's rules set the limit, the same ones that reach a City of Los Angeles building outside the RSO. Long Beach is one such city. Its city materials say it adopted a Just Cause for Termination of Tenancies Ordinance on March 10, 2020 instead of local rent control, having repealed its own relocation ordinance in December 2019 because the statewide law offered stronger protections.
Where no local program applies, Civil Code section 1947.12 holds each 12-month increase to the lower of 10 percent or 5 percent plus the change in the cost of living, counted from the lowest rent charged in the prior year, until January 1, 2030. Its exemptions include housing under a stricter local program, housing whose certificate of occupancy is less than 15 years old, and certain single-family homes and condos whose tenants received the statutory notice. The Attorney General's rent cap page summarizes it. After 12 months of lawful occupancy, section 1946.2 also requires a just cause to end the tenancy.
A building under the state cap can raise rents faster than an RSO building, up to 10 percent in a year against the RSO's 4 percent ceiling, so the same in-place rents support a different price in Long Beach than under the RSO.
What does a buyer check outside Los Angeles?
A buyer starts with the coverage date, because it decides whether a unit's increases are capped at all. A building from 1985 is outside the RSO in Los Angeles but covered in Pasadena, in Culver City or in an unincorporated area, and with identical rents it is a different building for pricing purposes in each.
Then come the paper trails each program keeps. Expect requests for registration confirmations, the filing for every new tenancy in Santa Monica or West Hollywood, and the Chapter 5 or Chapter 6 status of each Beverly Hills unit. In Inglewood the buyer will want proof that registration was done by March, since penalties start in April and an unpaid balance can become a lien on the tax bill. In Huntington Park, a gap in registration can leave increases and evictions unenforceable.
Reading a particular city's ordinance against your units is work for a landlord-tenant attorney who practices there, since Shaya does not practice law. Once those answers are in, he can tell you how a buyer will read the building.