Is my apartment rent-controlled? Bay Area rent rules, city by city

The answer for each city

Rules as of October 2026. “Allowed increase” is the most a landlord may raise the rent of a covered unit, once in 12 months, for a tenant already living there.

Two state laws shape every row of that table: the Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482), which caps increases on most homes the local ordinances do not reach, and Costa-Hawkins, which stops cities from capping rents on newer buildings, condos and single-family homes. Both are explained below.

California’s cap (AB 1482): the floor under everything else

Where no stricter local rule applies, state law limits a rent increase to 5% plus the regional rise in consumer prices, or 10%, whichever is lower, within any 12 months (Civil Code §1947.12). For the Bay Area — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties — the Attorney General’s chart puts the maximum at:

• 6.3% for increases starting August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026;
• 8.8% for increases starting August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027 (5% plus a 3.8% rise in the San Francisco-area consumer price index).

The rest of the rule matters as much as the number:

• The increase is measured from the lowest rent charged in the previous 12 months, and it can come in at most two steps in that time.
• Who is exempt: homes with a certificate of occupancy from the last 15 years (a rolling window); single-family homes and condos — but only if the owner is not a corporation, REIT or corporate-owned LLC and the lease carries the written exemption notice; a duplex where the owner lives in the other unit; deed-restricted affordable housing; dormitories; and units already under a stricter local cap.
• When a unit is rented to a new tenant, the owner may set the starting rent freely; the cap governs increases after that.
• A raise of 10% or less needs 30 days’ written notice; more than 10% needs 90 days (Civil Code §827).
• The cap expires on January 1, 2030. A 2025 bill to cut it to 2% plus inflation (AB 1157) died in January 2026.

The same law gives most tenants of 12 months or more statewide just-cause eviction protection (Civil Code §1946.2), with one month’s rent in relocation help for a no-fault eviction — except in cities with their own just-cause ordinance, which applies instead.

Why condos and newer buildings are not rent-controlled

California’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (Civil Code §§1954.50–1954.535) bars cities from capping the rent of:

• any unit with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995 — and units a city had already exempted as new construction before then, which is why San Francisco’s cutoff is 1979, Berkeley’s 1980 and Oakland’s 1983;
• most condos and single-family homes, which can be sold separately.

It also allows vacancy decontrol: when a rent-controlled apartment turns over, the landlord sets a new starting rent, and the local cap applies to increases from there. Costa-Hawkins limits rent caps only — a city can still give condo and newer-building tenants just-cause eviction protection, and most of these cities do.

City by city

San Francisco

The Rent Ordinance covers most units in buildings built on or before June 13, 1979. Single-family homes and condos rented from January 1, 1996 on, units built after June 13, 1979 and substantially rehabilitated units have eviction protection but no rent cap. The allowed increase is 60% of the Bay Area inflation rate: 1.6% from March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027. Landlords need a Rent Board “rent increase license” before taking it, and tenants can check a landlord’s status on the Rent Board Portal; the city’s Property Information Map shows when a building was built.

Oakland

The Rent Adjustment Program covers units with a certificate of occupancy before January 1, 1983 — most older apartment buildings, but not most condos or single-family homes. The allowed increase is 60% of inflation, at most 3%: 2.3% for August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027. A landlord cannot raise the rent at all on a covered unit that is not registered with the program. Oakland’s just-cause rules cover far more homes than its rent cap — Measure V extended them to most units built after 1995 — and neither the sale of the building nor the end of a lease is a just cause.

Berkeley

The Rent Board fully covers most multi-unit buildings built before June 1980. Newer units, most condos and single-family homes rented from 1996 on have just-cause protection and deposit interest but no rent ceiling. The 2026 Annual General Adjustment is 1.0%; 2.5% is already adopted for January 1, 2027. Anyone can look up a unit’s registration and rent ceiling on the Rent Board’s site without an account.

Alameda

The Rent Program fully regulates lots with two or more units built before February 1, 1995. Single-family homes, condos and newer units are partially regulated: no cap, but the eviction, relocation and registration rules apply. The allowed increase is 2.7% from September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027 (70% of inflation, never below 1% or above 5%). A tenant in a partially regulated home who gets an increase of more than 10% may be owed a relocation payment if they move out.

Hayward

Hayward’s ordinance caps increases on multi-unit buildings built before July 1, 1979 — about half the city’s rentals — at a flat 5% once in 12 months, with banked increases limited to 10% in total. Almost every unit has local just-cause protection, and the city’s Rent Review Database shows which rules apply to an address.

San Leandro

San Leandro adopted rent stabilization in February 2026, starting January 1, 2027 for multifamily buildings with a certificate of occupancy on or before February 1, 1995. From that date the rent of a tenant in place since July 1, 2025 may not exceed the July 1, 2025 rent plus 3.3% — and a rent above that must be reduced; a tenancy that began after July 1, 2025 may rise at most 2.5%. After that first period, increases are capped at the lower of 3% or 65% of inflation, published each May. Until 2027 only leases and state law apply.

Emeryville and Fremont

Neither city caps rents, so the state’s 8.8% applies to covered homes. Emeryville has its own just-cause eviction ordinance. Fremont lets a tenant request a review and hearing of any increase over 5% in 12 months, but the board’s decision is advisory, not binding.

How to check a particular apartment

1. Find the year the building was built — on the listing, the county assessor’s record, or (in San Francisco) the city’s Property Information Map.
2. Know what kind of home it is. An apartment in a building of two or more units is the usual rent-controlled case; a condo or a single-family house usually is not.
3. Ask the city’s rent program, or use its public lookup where there is one (Berkeley’s registry, Hayward’s Rent Review Database, San Francisco’s Rent Board Portal).
4. Ask the landlord in writing — San Leandro requires owners to tell prospective tenants when a unit is covered, and an exempt single-family home or condo must carry the state’s exemption notice in the lease.