The Rent Increase Your Landlord Cannot Legally Charge — and the Refund You’re Owed

AB 1482, California’s statewide rent control law, caps annual rent increases at 5% plus local CPI — generally 8 to 10% in most California metros. Any increase above that cap is illegal. Tenants who paid the illegal amount are owed a refund for every month they overpaid. Most never collect it because they do not know the law applied to their building.

Which Buildings AB 1482 Covers

AB 1482 applies to residential rental units in buildings that are at least 15 years old, that are not single-family homes or condos with certain ownership structures, and that are not already subject to a stricter local rent control ordinance. The 15-year rolling window means a building constructed in 2009 became covered in 2024. Many tenants in buildings they assumed were uncontrolled are actually protected.

How to Calculate Whether Your Increase Was Legal

Take your rent before the increase. Multiply it by 1.05 (5%) plus the local CPI percentage for your area. The result is the maximum legal rent. If your landlord charged more than that amount, the excess is an illegal rent increase. Every month you paid the illegal amount generates a refund obligation.

What to Do With an Illegal Increase

Send a written demand letter to your landlord citing Civil Code §1947.12, identifying the legal maximum rent, calculating the overpayment, and demanding both a rent correction going forward and a refund of past overpayments. Keep paying rent at the legal amount while the dispute is pending — do not withhold entirely, as that creates a separate non-payment issue.

Local Rent Control May Be Stronger

Cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and others have local rent control ordinances with lower caps and additional protections. If you live in one of these cities, the local ordinance applies instead of AB 1482, and the caps may be significantly lower.

Educational use only. Not legal advice. Justice Foundation.