AB 1482 caps annual rent increases at 5% plus local CPI (max 10%) for most California rentals built before 2005. It also requires just cause for eviction after 12 months. Miss a compliance step and you're exposed to a tenant lawsuit. Here's exactly what it covers, what's exempt, and how to stay compliant.
The Rent Cap
Under AB 1482, annual rent increases are capped at 5% plus the local Consumer Price Index (CPI), with a maximum of 10%. For most of Orange County in 2025, local CPI runs 3–4%, making the effective cap 8–9%. The cap applies to the total increase in a 12-month period — you cannot stack multiple smaller increases to exceed the annual cap. The cap applies to individual tenants, not units. When a unit turns over and you sign a new lease with a new tenant, you can set rent at any amount. AB 1482 only restricts increases during an existing tenancy.
Months of rent required as relocation assistance for no-fault evictions (owner move-in, Ellis Act, substantial renovation). Protected tenants — seniors, disabled, households with children — qualify for higher amounts in most jurisdictions.
| City | Base (months) | Protected Tenants (months) |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 3 | 6 |
| Oakland | 3 | 4 |
| Los Angeles | 1 | 3 |
| Santa Monica | 2 | 4 |
| Berkeley | 3 | 5 |
| West Hollywood | 3 | 4 |
| Inglewood | 2 | 3 |
| Richmond | 3 | 3 |
| East Palo Alto | 2 | 3 |
| Culver City | 3 | 4 |
What's Exempt
New construction: Units with a certificate of occupancy within the last 15 years are exempt — a rolling window. A building that received its COO in 2010 becomes covered in 2025. Single-family homes and condos: Exempt if the owner provides written notice of the exemption at lease signing. The notice must be in the lease — failure to include it makes the unit covered even if it would otherwise qualify. Owner-occupied duplexes are also exempt.
Just Cause Eviction Requirements
AB 1482 is not just a rent cap — it also imposes just cause eviction requirements on covered properties. Once all tenants have continuously occupied a unit for 12 months (or at least one tenant has been in residence 24 months, whichever comes first), termination requires just cause. The law defines two categories:
At-fault just cause (no relocation assistance required):
- Nonpayment of rent (after proper notice)
- Material lease violation (after notice and failure to cure)
- Nuisance behavior
- Criminal activity on the premises
- Refusal to sign a comparable lease renewal
- Refusal to allow lawful access for repairs or inspections
- Unauthorized subletting or assignment
No-fault just cause (relocation assistance required — one month's rent):
- Owner or immediate family member move-in
- Withdrawal from the rental market (Ellis Act)
- Government order making unit uninhabitable
- Substantial renovation requiring vacancy (60+ days)
Relocation assistance must be paid before or at the same time as the termination notice. Failure to pay invalidates the notice.
How to Calculate the AB 1482 Cap Correctly
The calculation is straightforward but landlords frequently get it wrong:
- Find the applicable CPI: Use the LA-Long Beach-Anaheim CPI (April to April) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the index that covers Orange County.
- Add 5%: The maximum increase is CPI + 5%, capped at 10% absolute maximum.
- Check the 12-month window: The cap applies to total increases in any 12-month period. If you raised rent 3% six months ago, you can only raise an additional (cap minus 3%) in the next six months.
- Use the lowest rent in the preceding 12 months as your baseline: Not the current rent — the lowest rent charged at any point in the prior 12 months.
For 2026, the OC-applicable CPI increase is approximately 3.2%, making the effective cap roughly 8.2%.
The 15-Year Rolling Exemption
New construction is exempt from AB 1482 for 15 years from the date of the certificate of occupancy. This is a rolling window, meaning buildings completed in 2011 became covered in 2026. If you are acquiring a property built in the 2010–2015 range, the AB 1482 coverage date is a material underwriting factor — once the exemption expires, your rent-setting flexibility on occupied units drops significantly.
Key nuance: substantial renovation does not reset the 15-year clock. Only new construction from the ground up qualifies. An ADU added to an existing property gets its own COO date and its own 15-year window.
Orange County Implications
AB 1482 is the baseline rent control framework for OC's pre-2011 multifamily stock, but several OC cities have now enacted additional local protections. Santa Ana has local rent stabilization ordinances, Costa Mesa has an active tenant protection ordinance discussion. Always verify both state and local requirements before calculating an allowable increase or issuing a termination notice.
On a portfolio of 20 units averaging $2,400/month with 15% annual turnover, AB 1482 constrains rent increases on approximately 17 occupied units per year. For buildings acquired with below-market rents, this is a material value constraint — factor the AB 1482 cap into your underwriting assumptions for occupied-unit rent growth, and model turnover-driven market resets separately.
The AB 1482 cap equals local CPI plus 5%, never exceeding 10%. The 2021 cap dropped to 6.4% due to COVID-era deflation, spiked to the statutory 10% ceiling in 2023 as inflation surged, then normalized. Landlords must use the lower of this cap or 10% — whichever is less.
| Year | LA Metro CPI (Apr–Apr) | Max Allowable Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3.3% | 8.3% |
| 2021 | 1.4% | 6.4% |
| 2022 | 3.7% | 8.7% |
| 2023 | 7.9%+ | 10.0% (statutory ceiling) |
| 2024 | 3.7% | 8.7% |
| 2025 | 3.5% | 8.5% |
Compliance Checklist
Know your building's certificate of occupancy date. Include required AB 1482 notice language in every lease for exempt SFRs and condos. Track the 12-month rolling period carefully when calculating allowable increases. Document just cause for every eviction. Pay relocation assistance for no-fault terminations before or concurrent with the notice. None of these are complex — but each one matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
