Rent increase laws
Updated 2026-09-04 · 9 min read
5% + CPI
California's statewide cap on covered units, capped in turn at 10% — Civ. Code § 1947.12, checked 2026-09-04.
Rent increase law answers three questions and only three: whether you may raise it at all right now, by how much, and how much notice the raise requires. Everything else is negotiation.
Whether you may raise it at all
- Mid fixed-term — no. A fixed rent is fixed for the term, whatever the market did.
- Periodic tenancy — yes, on the statutory notice.
- At renewal — yes, with the notice period satisfied before the new term starts.
- In retaliation — never. A raise following a complaint, a repair request or an organising effort is presumed retaliatory in many states.
Retaliation presumptions are usually time-based: a raise within a set number of months of a protected act is presumed retaliatory, and the burden shifts to you. Document the business reason before you send anything.
By how much
Most states have no cap. California's statewide test is the clearest published one: no more than 5 percent plus the change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, measured against the lowest gross rental rate charged in the preceding 12 months (Civ. Code § 1947.12, checked 2026-09-04).
City ordinances are frequently stricter than state law and are the layer landlords miss. Where both apply, the tighter one governs. The arithmetic, including the "lowest rate" trap, is in the rent increase calculator.
How much notice
| Tenancy | Notice (California) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Periodic, resident under a year | 30 days | Civ. Code § 1946.1 |
| Periodic, resident a year or more | 60 days | Civ. Code § 1946.1 |
| Fixed term | n/a until renewal | The lease |
Other states run 30 to 90 days and several scale the period with the size of the increase. The lease may require more; it may never require less.
Putting it into practice
- 01Confirm the tenancy type and the notice period.
- 02Check for a state cap, then a city ordinance.
- 03Work the number and test it against the cap.
- 04Send the notice with the letter template, served as the lease requires.
- 05Diary the effective date and update the rent ledger from that month.
And weigh it against the alternative — how to raise rent on a tenant covers the part the statute does not.