Rent control in Santa Monica, 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.

Santa Monica controls most rental units dating to April 1978

Santa Monicahigh confidence

Verified on 2026-08-18 — 1 day ago.

Santa Monica's Rent Control Charter limits rents for covered units. Through 31 August 2026, the current general adjustment is 2.3%, with a $60 ceiling for maximum allowable rents at or above the published threshold. The separately adopted 2.6%/$70 adjustment does not begin until 1 September 2026.

Confirm the unit's controlled status and Maximum Allowable Rent in the Rent Control Agency records; a property can have an exemption or conversion history that the year alone does not reveal. The adopted 2.6%/$70 adjustment is future law on this verification date and begins 1 September 2026, not before.

Exemptions

Rental units and dwellings constructed after 10 April 1978 are generally exempt from the local rent ceiling.
A property of three or fewer units with one owner-occupied unit can qualify for an exemption.

Construction: Built before 1979
Owner-occupied exemption: Yes

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 Santa Monica, CA