Raising rent on a California rental? Four checks before you serve notice

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Raising rent on a California rental? Four checks before you serve notice

Leo SteinBusiness Member
Property Manager · Orange County, CA · Member since 2025 · 306 posts · 75 votes

Planning a rent increase for the new year? The number matters, but the process matters just as much. A few checks before you send anything:

  1. Know what covers your home. Check whether California's statewide rent cap or a local city rule applies to your property before you pick a number. Some homes are exempt, but exemptions usually come with conditions.

  2. Read the lease. A fixed-term lease and a month-to-month tenancy work differently. If you're mid-term, the lease usually controls when rent can change.

  3. Give proper written notice. Serve it in writing, the right way. Bigger increases need more notice. Keep a dated copy of what you served and how.

  4. Keep it clean. Never raise rent right after a complaint or repair request; it can look like retaliation. Use the same approach for every tenant.

General information, not legal advice. If you're not sure your property is covered, check with a qualified attorney before serving notice.

For those who self-manage, how do you decide when and how much to raise rent?

[email protected]949-391-1019
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  • Carl Millsap
    Investor · Midwest · Member since 2019 · 377 posts · 249 votes
    9h

    @Leo Stein interesting. Can you give more detail on the CA Statewide rent cap? I don't invest in CA but I wonder how a cap works when the market changes?

    As for when I decide when and how much to raise rent the process starts at 90 days from lease expiration. My in house PM reviews expiring leases, looks at what our other units are renting at and then makes a recommendation. We also consider if the tenant is still a fit, or if it's time to let them move on.

    Once those decisions are made, we send a notice 60 days from lease expiration. The notice gives a 12, 9, or 6 month option. 6 and 9 month options have a premium on them.

    If we decided we didn't want to renew then the 60 day notice is a non-renewal notice.

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    • Leo SteinBusiness Member
      OP
      Property Manager · Orange County, CA · Member since 2025 · 306 posts · 75 votes
      1h

      In general, California's statewide rent cap limits annual increases for many covered rentals, while exemptions and local rules can change what applies. I can't assess a specific property here, but I'm happy to talk through property-management questions

      —call or text.

      [email protected]949-391-1019
      Real Property Management Optimal 521 Reviews
      WebsiteView Page
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  • John Cafarelli
    Member since 2026 · 28 posts · 9 votes
    6h

    Carl's 90-day start is a good anchor, and adding a simple rent-review sheet makes that timeline much easier to repeat. For each unit, keep one line with the current rent, the last increase date and amount, the lease end date, the notice deadline, the comparable rents checked, and the new rent and effective date. That one record helps with bookkeeping, tax prep, and answering a tenant's question months later without digging through old messages.

    Before choosing a number, many small landlords compare three figures: the extra rent over a year, the cost of one vacant month, and the likely turnover cost for cleaning, repairs, and re-letting. If the increase is smaller than the cost of losing a reliable tenant and turning the home over, a smaller increase, or no increase that year, can be the better cash-flow choice, even when market rents have risen.

    Finally, keep the notice itself simple and consistent: the new amount, the effective date, the payment method, and a short note that the lease terms otherwise stay the same. Save a dated copy, note how it was delivered, and keep the tenant's acknowledgement with the lease file.

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    • Leo SteinBusiness Member
      OP
      Property Manager · Orange County, CA · Member since 2025 · 306 posts · 75 votes
      1h

      Thanks for sharing this, John—your rent-review checklist and turnover-cost comparison are useful additions to the discussion. I appreciate you laying out a practical process.

      [email protected]949-391-1019
      Real Property Management Optimal 521 Reviews
      WebsiteView Page
      0Reply
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