Recently I had a client ask what the rent control limits might apply to their property in Huntington Park. I knew Huntington Park was close to the some of the towns covered under the City of Los Angeles rent control laws. Knowing that the City of Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) is the most restrictive, this was the first place to start. To see if your property falls under the City of Los Angeles RSO click below and input an address.
As an example, I typed in a property I manage in San Pedro. Here is a snap shot of the properties within the City of LA.
And here is a zoom in on the navigational portion of this website.
Highlighted is the portion regarding if the RSO applies. In the case of this San Pedro property I manage, this seven unit property DOES fall under the Cities of LA’s RSO, but my clients property in Huntington Park does NOT fall under the Cities RSO. In fact their address in Huntington Park doesn’t even come up when searched.
So now we need to determine what laws may apply to either Los Angeles County and / or the City of Huntington Park. Los Angeles County had temporarily put in rent control during Covid, but this only applies to Unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County and is expected to end on June 30th, 2021.
Next is to determine if the City of Huntington Park has any citywide rent control restrictions. After searching both google and the City of Huntington Park’s website, I did not see any citywide rent control ordinance.
Which leads us to what rent control ordinances apply to California, which up until recently had not statewide rent control restrictions.
As a side note here is a list of Cities and Counties that have their own rent control ordinances, which are likely more restrictive than statewide restrictions. CA_RentControlUpdate
New Statewide Restrictions
State law AB 1482, otherwise known as the “Tenant Protection Act of 2019”, went into effect on January 1st, 2020. In a nut shell, it limits annual rent increases to either 5% plus the local CPI (which would now total around 8%) or a maximum of 10% which ever is less.
So for my clients 5 unit property, this would mean an 8% increase should be legal. However, with the most recent CPI’s coming in hot, it is likely that local CPI’s could be published at higher rates. AB 1482, also covers additional details such as exemptions (such as Single Family Homes) and other topics such as Just Cause eviction. You can read more about the details on several links published below.
City of San Francisco – Rent Board
Prologue – ie. Lots of Snark. I dedicate the last 3 hours of my time spent answering a very simple question to Gavin Newsome. California was recently ranked as the Least Business Friendly State and most costly to do business based upon CNBC’s annual ranking of Top States to do Business. Gavin should be proud of creating the most difficult and costly state in which to do business.
When 5 year old Gavin was asked “What do you want to do Gavin when you grow up?”. Gavin proudly responded, “I want to make peoples lives difficult. I want to be a thorn in peoples side and really mess up their livelihoods. I want people to flee the state which they have come to love.” Well congratulations Gavin, you are livin the dream, or at least so says CNBC!
Final Prologue – I am not an attorney. Should you have any particular questions regarding your property, I would recommend an attorney who specializes in this area.