Rent control in San José, CA

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

San José's ARO caps qualifying pre-September-1979 apartments at 5%
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Verified on 2026-08-18 — 1 day ago.

The Apartment Rent Ordinance limits increases to 5% every 12 months for covered apartments in buildings with three or more units built and occupied before 7 September 1979.

The ARO starts at three units and applies to qualifying apartments built and occupied before 7 September 1979; duplexes, single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes, and newer rentals are outside the local rent ceiling.

Annual cap
5%
Unit counts
3+ units
Construction
Built before 1980

Sources

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

Every rule for San José, CA