How often can rent be raised? If you have a lease for more than 30 days, rent cannot be increased during the term of the lease, unless the lease allows rent increases. If you have a periodic rental agreement, the landlord can increase rent, but the landlord must give tenant proper advance notice in writing. The written notice states how much the increased rent is and when the increase goes into effect.
California law guarantees a tenant at least 30 days' advance written notice of a rent increase if tenant has a month-to-month (or shorter) periodic rental agreement. Under the law, a landlord must give tenant at least 30 days' advance notice if the rent increase is 10 percent (or less) of the rent charged at any time during the 12 months before the rent increase takes effect. The landlord must give tenant at least 60 days' advance notice if the rent increase is greater than 10 percent. In order to calculate the percentage of the rent increase, tenant must know the lowest rent that the landlord charged during the preceding 12 months, and the total of the new increase and all other increases during that period. Examples: Assume that the current rent is $500 per month due on the first of the month and that the landlord wants to increase rent $50 to $550 beginning this June 1. To see how much notice the landlord must give tenant, count back 12 months to last June. 30 days' notice required: Suppose that the rent was $500 last June 1. Here's how to calculate the percentage of the rent increase and the amount of notice that the landlord must give tenant: The landlord therefore must give tenant at least 30 days' advance written notice of the rent increase. 60 days' notice required: Suppose that rent was $475 last June 1, and that your landlord raised the rent $25 to $500 last November. Here's how to calculate the percentage of the rent increase and the amount of notice that the landlord must give to tenant: The landlord therefore must give at least 60 days' advance written notice of the rent increase. Now suppose that the rent was $500 last June 1, but that instead of increasing the rent $50, the landlord wants to increase the rent $75 to $575 beginning this June 1. Here's how to calculate the percentage of the rent increase and the amount of notice that the landlord must give to tenant: The landlord therefore must give tenant at least 60 days' advance written notice of the rent increase. Normally, in the case of a periodic rental agreement, the landlord can increase the rent as often as the landlord likes. However, the landlord must give proper advance written notice of the increase, and the increase cannot be retaliatory (see Retaliatory Actions, Evictions and Discrimination). Local rent control ordinances may impose additional requirements on the landlord. Increases in rent for government-financed housing usually are restricted. If you live in government-financed housing, check with the local public housing authority to find out whether there are any restrictions on rent increases. Rent increase; notice and effective date A landlord's notice of rent increase must be in writing. The landlord can deliver a copy of the notice to you personally. In this case, the rent increase takes effect in 30 or 60 days, as just explained. The landlord also can give you a notice of rent increase by first class mail. In this case, the landlord must mail a copy of the notice to you, with proper postage, addressed to you at the rental unit. The landlord must give you an additional five days' advance notice of the rent increase if the landlord mails the notice. Therefore, the landlord would have to give you at least 35 days' notice from the date of mailing if the rent increase is 10 percent or less. If the rent increase is more than 10 percent, the landlord would have to give you at least 65 days' notice from the date of mailing. Example of a rent increase Most notices of rent increase state that the increase will go into effect at the beginning of the rental period. For example, a landlord who wishes to increase the rent by 10 percent or less in a month-to-month rental effective on October 1 must make sure that notice of the increase is delivered to the tenant personally by September 1 or mailed to the tenant by August 27. However, a landlord can make the increase effective at any time in the month if proper advance notice is given. If the increase in the rent becomes effective in the middle of the rental period, the landlord is entitled to receive the increased rent for only the last half of the rental period. For example: · Rental period: month-to-month, from the first day of the month to the last day of the month. · Rent: $500 per month. · Rent increase: $50 (from $500 to $550) per month (a 10 percent increase). · Date that the notice of rent increase is delivered to the tenant personally: April 15 (that is, the middle of the month). · Earliest date that the rent increase can take effect: May 15. If the landlord delivers the notice on April 15, the increase becomes effective 30 days later, on May 15. The landlord is entitled to the increased rent beginning on May 15. On May 1, the tenant would pay $250 for the first half of May (that is, 15 days at the old rent of $500), plus $275 for the last half of May (that is, 15 days at the new rent of $550). The total rent for May that is due on May 1 would be $525. Looking at it another way, the landlord is entitled to only one-half of the increase in the rent during May, since the notice of rent increase became effective in the middle of the month. Of course, the landlord could deliver a notice of rent increase on April 15 which states that the rent increase takes effect on June 1. In that case, the tenant would pay $500 rent on May 1, and $550 rent on June 1. Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs excerpts from California Tenants | 
