Rent control in East Palo Alto, CA

2 rules apply — the local one first, then the county and state rules that bind alongside it.

Research, not legal advice

These summaries are compiled from ordinance text and public sources and are dated at the point they were last checked. Rules change between checks — Newark replaced its whole registration regime in a single month — so confirm anything you are about to underwrite against the primary source or the municipal office named in the citation.

East Palo Alto regulates covered rents and tenancy filings

East Palo Altohigh confidence

Verified on 2026-08-18 — 1 day ago.

East Palo Alto's Rent Stabilization Ordinance limits increases for covered units and requires the programme's annual registration and tenancy-change filings.

Use the city's applicability rules and registry to establish the unit's coverage, lawful rent and current increase ceiling.

Sources

AB 1482 caps increases at 5% plus CPI, to a 10% ceiling

Californiamedium confidence

Verified on 2026-08-01 — 18 days ago.

The Tenant Protection Act caps annual rent increases at 5% plus CPI, with a hard ceiling of 10%, on housing built more than 15 years ago.

The 15-year window rolls forward, so a building drifts into coverage with age rather than being fixed by its construction date at purchase.

Exemptions

Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years.
An owner-occupied duplex is exempt when the owner occupied one unit as their principal residence at the tenancy's start and remains there.
A separately alienable single-family home or condominium is exempt only when the owner is not a REIT, corporation, or LLC with a corporate member and the tenant received the statutory exemption notice.

Annual cap: 10%
Owner-occupied exemption: Yes

In effect since 2020-01-01.

Sources

California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) — Cal. Civ. Code §1946.2, §1947.12

Every rule for East Palo Alto, CA