California AB 1482 Statewide Rent Cap Calculator

How this calculator works

California's statewide rent cap is codified at Cal. Civil Code § 1947.12, enacted by AB 1482 — the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (Stats. 2019, Ch. 597). The statute took effect January 1, 2020 and is currently scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2030 unless the Legislature extends it. AB 1482 was the first statewide rent cap in the United States enacted by a state without a long tradition of municipal rent control — Oregon's SB 608 was passed earlier in 2019, but California's coverage is broader and the just-cause companion statute (§ 1946.2) is materially stronger. The calculator projects a California rent increase against the post-AB-1482 statutory framework: whether the unit is exempt under § 1947.12(d), the applicable § 1947.12(a)(1) cap percentage on the supplied facts, the maximum permissible dollar increase, the lawful new monthly rent, and whether the proposed rent complies.

The § 1947.12(a)(1) cap — 5% + regional CPI, with a 10% ceiling

Under § 1947.12(a)(1), the annual rent increase on a covered unit is capped at the LESSER of (a) 5% plus the percentage change in the regional Consumer Price Index for the 12 months ending the prior April, OR (b) 10% of the lowest gross rental rate charged for the unit at any time during the prior 12 months. In every California region today, the 5% + CPI figure governs — regional CPIs run between roughly 2.5% and 4.5%, producing caps between 7.5% and 9.5%. The 10% absolute ceiling only constrains a hypothetical environment in which regional CPI exceeds 5%, which has not happened in California in the post-AB-1482 era. The statute keys CPI lookup to five Bureau of Labor Statistics metropolitan statistical areas: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, San Diego-Carlsbad, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (the Inland Empire), and rest of state for units outside any MSA.

A second rule under § 1947.12(a)(2) prohibits more than two increases in any 12-month period AND requires their combined effect to remain within the § 1947.12(a)(1) cap. In practice, nearly every California operator treats this as a single-increase-per-year rule because the math of compounding two increases against the same cap is rarely worth the operational complexity. The calculator follows the operator practice — when a prior increase has occurred within the last 12 months, the lawful new rent equals the current rent and any proposed increase is impermissible.

Worked example — $2,500 Los Angeles apartment, 20-year-old building

A tenant in a 20-year-old Los Angeles multifamily building pays $2,500 per month. The landlord has not raised rent in the prior 12 months. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim regional CPI default is 3.5%, so the § 1947.12(a)(1) cap is 5% + 3.5% = 8.5% (well below the 10% ceiling). The maximum permissible increase is $2,500 × 8.5% = $212.50. The lawful new rent is $2,712.50. If the landlord proposes $2,800, the proposed rent EXCEEDS the cap by $87.50 per month — about $1,050 per year of illegal overcharge. The tenant should send a written demand for the lawful amount citing § 1947.12(a)(1); continued overcharge is recoverable in California small claims and may expose the landlord to attorney's fees in fee-shifting cases.

Worked example — $3,500 San Francisco apartment, 12-year-old building

A tenant in a 12-year-old San Francisco Bay Area multifamily building pays $3,500 per month. The building's Certificate of Occupancy was issued only 12 years ago — well within the 15-year rolling exemption under § 1947.12(d)(4). The unit is EXEMPT from AB 1482; there is no § 1947.12 cap. HOWEVER, the calculator surfaces a critical second point: San Francisco's local Rent Ordinance is stricter than AB 1482 and applies to most pre-1979 buildings under SF's own jurisdictional rules. The 12-year-old building is also outside the SF Rent Ordinance's coverage in this scenario, so neither AB 1482 nor SF rent control governs — the increase is a matter of market and contract only. The 15-year exemption is rolling: this building will enter AB 1482 coverage in three years when it crosses the 15-year anniversary.

Worked example — $2,000 single-family home, individual owner with notice

A tenant rents a single-family home in suburban Sacramento for $2,000 per month. The owner is an individual natural person, not a corporation or LLC. At lease signing, the owner delivered the § 1947.12(d)(5) written notice ("This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12...") to the tenant. The unit is EXEMPT from AB 1482 — both conditions of the single-family exemption are satisfied (individual ownership AND the statutory notice). No AB 1482 cap applies. The owner may raise rent in any amount permitted by the lease, subject only to the lease's notice provisions and any local ordinance.

Worked example — $2,000 single-family home, LLC with corporate member

A tenant rents the same $2,000 single-family home, but the owner has transferred title into an LLC for liability protection. One of the LLC's members is the owner's investment-management corporation. The unit is NOT EXEMPT from AB 1482 under § 1947.12(d)(5) — the single-family exemption is unavailable when any LLC member is a corporation. The corporate-affiliated-LLC trap accounts for a substantial share of AB 1482's single-family-exemption litigation. The applicable § 1947.12(a)(1) cap is 5% + 3.0% (rest of state) = 8.0% — maximum permissible increase $160, lawful new rent $2,160. A landlord operating under the assumption of a single-family exemption who proposes $2,300 has exposed themselves to $140 per month of illegal overcharge that may compound over years of tenancy if not corrected.

Worked example — increase already given 8 months ago

A tenant in a covered Long Beach apartment received a $150 rent increase 8 months ago. The landlord now proposes a second increase. Under § 1947.12(a)(2), no second increase is permitted within any 12-month period. The maximum permissible increase for this period is $0; the lawful new rent equals the current rent. The landlord must wait at least four more months — until 12 months have elapsed since the prior increase — before raising again. Any second-increase notice within the 12-month window is void as a matter of law regardless of the dollar amount.

The 15-year rolling exemption — designed as a new-construction incentive

Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(4) exempts residential buildings for which a Certificate of Occupancy was issued within the prior 15 years. The exemption is rolling: a building that received its CofO in 2010 was exempt until 2025 and entered AB 1482 coverage on the 15-year anniversary. The exemption was deliberately designed as a new-construction incentive — developers raising capital for new California rental housing in 2019 needed to know the project would not be subject to the rent cap during its 15-year lease-up and stabilization window. The boundary is the CofO date, not the building-permit date or the first lease. Verify with the local building department before relying on the exemption; some California jurisdictions issue temporary CofOs and final CofOs separately, and the AB 1482 question is whether the final CofO issuance is within 15 years.

The single-family exemption and the written-notice requirement

Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12(d)(5) exempts a single-family residence or condominium IF (a) the unit is not owned by a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or an LLC where at least one member is a corporation; AND (b) the landlord has delivered written notice to the tenant in substantially the statutory form: "This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code and is not subject to the just cause requirements of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code..." Both conditions must be satisfied independently. The most common errors are the corporate-LLC trap (an LLC with any corporate member fails the ownership test even if the operating partner is an individual) and the missing-notice trap (a properly-individual-owned unit forfeits the exemption when the landlord never delivered the notice). For tenancies commenced before July 1, 2020 the notice may be delivered as a lease addendum or separately; for new tenancies, the notice must be in the lease itself.

Local rent control governs when stricter — § 1947.12(j)

Under § 1947.12(j), where a local rent stabilization ordinance imposes a STRICTER cap than § 1947.12, the local ordinance governs and AB 1482 effectively does not apply to that unit. Local ordinances that are stricter and therefore govern in their jurisdictions include:

• San Francisco Rent Ordinance (Admin. Code § 37 et seq.) — annual allowable increase reset annually; typically 1.5%–3.5%.
• Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO, LAMC § 151) — annual allowable rate reset annually for rent-stabilized pre-1978 units.
• Oakland Rent Adjustment Program, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Santa Monica Rent Control, West Hollywood Rent Stabilization Ordinance, East Palo Alto Rent Stabilization Program, Hayward Rent Review and Stabilization Ordinance, and several others.

In each covered jurisdiction, the local rent board publishes the current allowable annual increase and the methodology. Verify the unit's coverage with the local rent board before applying either the AB 1482 cap or any assumed exemption.

The § 1946.2 just-cause eviction companion

Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2 — the just-cause eviction protection enacted alongside § 1947.12 — applies to the same units the rent cap covers. Under § 1946.2, a landlord may terminate a tenancy only for one of the enumerated at-fault causes (nonpayment, breach of lease, nuisance, criminal activity, etc.) or no-fault causes (owner move-in, withdrawal from the market under the Ellis Act, government-ordered habitability work, substantial remodel). At-fault terminations require notice and (where applicable) an opportunity to cure. No-fault terminations require relocation assistance of one month's rent OR a waiver of the final month's rent. This calculator computes the rent-cap posture only; the just-cause posture is a separate analysis and the lead-capture bundle includes a worksheet for it.

Sunset on January 1, 2030

AB 1482's sunset clause was a legislative compromise in 2019. Both the rent-cap framework of § 1947.12 and the just-cause framework of § 1946.2 are scheduled to expire on January 1, 2030 unless the Legislature acts to extend or make them permanent. As of this calculator's review date in 2026, the California Legislature has held hearings on extension and broad housing-policy consensus favors extension, but no extension has been adopted. Calculators run for year >= 2030 should be re-verified against the then-current statutory framework. The calculator surfaces the sunset warning in the notes when the input year is at or past 2030.

Common errors

• Assuming every single-family home is exempt. The single-family exemption requires BOTH individual ownership AND the § 1947.12(d)(5) written notice. SFHs held in LLCs with any corporate member, or owned by individuals who never delivered the notice, are NOT exempt and are fully covered by AB 1482.
• Missing the 5% + CPI math. Plaintiff and defense calculations sometimes use a flat 5% cap (the base rate) or a flat 10% cap (the absolute ceiling) and miss the regional CPI add-on. The correct figure is 5% + CPI in every case, capped at 10%; in practice this is roughly 8% in every California region today.
• Forgetting the twice-per-12-months rule. A landlord who raised rent 8 months ago cannot raise again now regardless of cap math. The 12-month clock runs from the effective date of the prior increase, not the lease anniversary.
• Treating local rent control and AB 1482 as alternatives. When a stricter local ordinance applies, § 1947.12(j) makes the local ordinance the governing rule; AB 1482's cap is irrelevant to that unit. Calculators that compare both numbers and pick the lower are doing it right.
• Forgetting the 15-year exemption is rolling. A property that was exempt at lease commencement may roll into coverage during the tenancy. The exemption boundary is the CofO date.

What the calculator does not do

This is a planning and verification tool. It does not:

• Replace litigation counsel. California rent-cap practice involves substantive judgment on look-back compliance, local-ordinance interaction, just-cause eviction posture, the corporate-affiliated-LLC analysis under § 1947.12(d)(5), and any attorney-fee shifting. Consult a California-licensed attorney for the specific case.
• Compute the § 1946.2 just-cause eviction posture. The just-cause analysis is a separate workflow and the Fennec Press bundle linked above includes a dedicated worksheet for it.
• Compute local-ordinance allowable increases. SF, LA RSO, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, East Palo Alto, Hayward and other covered cities each set their own rates, reset annually. Look the current rate up with the local rent board.
• Track the § 1947.12(g) March 15, 2019 look-back. The look-back set the starting rent for the post-AB-1482 trajectory at the beginning of the statute's life. Every modern increase is measured from the post-look-back base, and tenancies commenced after the look-back date are not affected by it.
• Compute commercial rent or mobile-home park rent. Commercial leases are governed by general California contract law; mobile-home park tenancies are governed by the California Mobilehome Residency Law (Civil Code §§ 798–799.11). Neither is within § 1947.12.

How this page is maintained

The post-AB-1482 framework of § 1947.12 has been in force since January 1, 2020 and is settled California law. We monitor each California legislative session for amendments to § 1947.12, any extension of the sunset, and any appellate decision interpreting the rent cap, the single-family exemption, the corporate-LLC trap, the 15-year rolling exemption, or the local-ordinance deference under § 1947.12(j). The regional CPI defaults are reviewed annually against the official BLS releases. The page is refreshed within the quarter after any statutory or material case-law change.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-15 against Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12, Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2, and AB 1482 (Stats. 2019, Ch. 597).