Tenant Protection Act of 2019: Rent Caps, Just Cause, and Exemptions

California’s Tenant Protection Act of 2019, known as AB 1482, caps annual rent increases at 5% plus local inflation (never more than 10% total) and bars landlords from ending a tenancy without a legally recognized reason once the tenant has lived in the unit for at least 12 months.¹ It applies to most rental housing in the state, with several significant exemptions, and is scheduled to expire on January 1, 2030.

Which Rentals Are Covered

Most residential rentals in California fall under AB 1482, but the exemptions carve out a meaningful share of the market, and whether your unit is covered determines everything else.

Buildings that received a certificate of occupancy within the last 15 years are exempt on a rolling basis.² A building completed in 2012 becomes covered in 2027. The window moves forward each year, pulling more housing into the law over time.

Single-family homes and condominiums are exempt from both the rent cap and the eviction rules, but only when two conditions are met: the owner is a natural person (not a corporation, REIT, or an LLC with a corporate member), and the landlord has given the tenant a specific written notice stating the unit is exempt.² A family trust counts as a natural person. An LLC with a corporate member does not. Without the written notice, the exemption fails and the home gets treated as covered.

Owner-occupied duplexes are exempt as long as the landlord has lived in one of the units as a principal residence since the start of the tenancy. If the owner moves out mid-tenancy, the exemption ends.

Units already covered by a stronger local rent control ordinance are excluded, because the local rules give tenants more.³ San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland each run their own rent stabilization programs. If you rent in one of those cities, check which law governs your unit; the answer turns on which set of rules offers greater protection.

How Much Rent Can Go Up Each Year

For a covered unit, the landlord can raise rent by 5% plus the regional change in the Consumer Price Index, or 10% total, whichever is lower, over any 12-month period.⁴ If regional inflation runs at 4%, the cap is 9%. If inflation spikes to 8%, the 10% ceiling takes over. In quiet inflation years, the cap can land as low as 5% or 6%.

The CPI used depends on the region, so the exact allowable percentage differs between the San Francisco Bay Area, the Los Angeles basin, and other parts of the state. The percentage is applied to the lowest gross rent the landlord charged during the prior 12 months. Short-term discounts or concessions do not count toward that baseline; they have to be listed separately in the lease.⁴ That rule stops a landlord from offering a brief promotional rate and then calling the pre-discount figure the base for the next increase.

Rent can go up twice in a 12-month period, but the two increases combined still cannot exceed the annual cap.

When every tenant moves out and a new tenancy begins, the landlord can set the starting rent at any amount. AB 1482 has no vacancy control. Once the new tenant signs on, the cap applies to future increases during that tenancy.⁴

Notice Before a Rent Increase

California Civil Code Section 827, a separate statute from AB 1482, requires written notice before any rent increase takes effect. For increases of 10% or less, the landlord must give at least 30 days’ written notice. For increases above 10%, the required notice is at least 90 days.⁵ Because the AB 1482 cap sits at 10%, covered tenants should always receive at least 30 days’ notice. A text, phone call, or email does not satisfy the requirement. The notice has to be in writing.

Just Cause Eviction Protections

Once a tenant has lived in a covered unit continuously and lawfully for 12 months, the landlord cannot end the tenancy without a reason the statute recognizes.² The reason must be stated in the written termination notice. A landlord cannot serve a vague notice and fill in the justification later.

The law divides reasons into two categories: at-fault, which involves tenant conduct, and no-fault, which does not.

At-Fault Grounds

At-fault grounds include failure to pay rent, material lease violations such as unauthorized pets or occupants, nuisance or waste, criminal activity on the property or threats against the owner, unauthorized subletting, refusing to sign a comparable lease renewal, denying the landlord lawful entry, using the unit for an illegal purpose, and failing to vacate after giving written notice to move out.² For violations that can be fixed, the landlord has to give the tenant a chance to cure the problem. If the tenant corrects it within the notice period, the grounds dissolve.

No-Fault Grounds

No-fault grounds have nothing to do with the tenant’s behavior. They are:

Owner or qualifying family member (spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents) moving in as a primary residence for at least 12 continuous months.
Permanent withdrawal of the unit from the rental market under the Ellis Act.
A government order to vacate for health or safety reasons.
Demolition or substantial remodel of the unit.

No-fault evictions carry additional obligations, including relocation assistance and tighter proof requirements, that do not apply to at-fault removals.

Tighter Rules on Owner Move-In and Remodel Evictions

Senate Bill 567, effective in 2024, added enforcement to the two no-fault categories that had been most commonly misused.

For an owner move-in, the intended occupant must actually move into the unit within 90 days of the tenant leaving and live there as a primary residence for at least 12 consecutive months. If they do not, the landlord has to offer the former tenant the unit back at the original rent and lease terms and reimburse reasonable moving expenses beyond any relocation payment already made.² The termination notice must name the person moving in and state their relationship to the owner, and the tenant can ask for proof. The ground also fails if the intended occupant already lives on the property or if a similar vacant unit is available there.

For a substantial remodel, SB 567 narrowed the definition sharply. The work must force the tenant to vacate for at least 30 consecutive days and must be work that cannot safely be done with the tenant in place.⁶ It also has to involve either replacement or significant modification of a structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical system that requires a government permit, or abatement of hazardous materials such as lead paint, mold, or asbestos. Painting, decorating, and cosmetic repairs do not qualify, no matter how extensive.

The termination notice for a remodel must describe the planned work, give an estimated duration, and include a copy of the required permit. If the project is hazardous material abatement that does not need a permit, the landlord has to provide a signed contractor agreement with a detailed description of the work instead. If the remodel never happens, the landlord must offer the tenant the chance to return at their former rent. The tenant then has 30 days to accept and another 30 days to move back in.

Relocation Payment for No-Fault Evictions

Every no-fault eviction under AB 1482 triggers a mandatory relocation payment equal to one month’s rent at the rate in effect when the termination notice is served.² The landlord picks one of two methods: a direct cash payment within 15 calendar days of serving the notice, or a waiver of the tenant’s final month of rent. There is no income test. The assistance is automatic.

If the landlord chooses the rent waiver, the termination notice has to say so explicitly and specify the dollar amount being waived. The waiver has to be in place before that final month’s rent comes due. If the tenant has already paid, the landlord has to refund the money rather than apply the waiver going forward.

Skipping this step has a serious consequence. The statute says that failure to strictly comply with the relocation requirements renders the termination notice void. More broadly, failure to comply with any provision of the just cause eviction section voids the notice. A void notice stops the eviction and forces the landlord to start over.

Disclosures Your Landlord Must Give You

For any tenancy that started or was renewed on or after July 1, 2020, the lease must contain a written notice (or a signed addendum) telling the tenant the property is subject to AB 1482’s rent cap and just cause rules. For tenancies that existed before that date, landlords had to deliver the notice by August 1, 2020.¹

Landlords claiming an exemption have to give a separate written notice stating the unit is not covered, using language the statute spells out.² This is not a paperwork formality. Without the exemption notice, the unit can be treated as covered even if it would otherwise qualify to opt out. A landlord who skipped the notice and later tried to raise rent above the cap or evict without cause will struggle to defend that action.

When the Law Expires

AB 1482 is not permanent. It contains a sunset clause set for January 1, 2030. As of 2026, no legislation has been signed extending that deadline, though extension bills have been discussed in Sacramento. If the law sunsets without renewal, statewide rent caps and just cause protections end for any property not covered by a local ordinance. Tenants in cities with their own rent stabilization programs would keep those local protections. Everyone else who relies on AB 1482 would lose both the rent cap and the eviction rules on the same day.

1
California Legislative Information. AB-1482 Tenant Protection Act of 2019 Tenancy Rent Caps
2
California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1946.2 – Tenant Protection Act of 2019
3
California Department of Justice. Landlord-Tenant Issues
4
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code Section 1947.12
5
California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 827
6
LegiScan. Bill Text CA SB567 2023-2024 Regular Session Chaptered