Rate tables › LA City RSO › Rent increases
LA City RSO rent increase limits
The City of Los Angeles RSO allows 3% this year, and the extra percentage for utilities is eliminated. An increase of that size takes 30 days of written notice, and the figure moves again on July 1.
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
The figures behind this
Applies July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027
Set each year inside a 1–4% band tied to CPI for the 12 months ending September 30. One increase per 12 months, and it is not cumulative or retroactive: you cannot bank a year you skipped. The security deposit may be raised at the same time and by the same percentage. Confirmed against §151.06.D itself (Ord. No. 188,795, eff. 2/2/26), read in the city's code library on August 9, 2026: the formula is 90% of the September-to-September CPI change, never below 1% or above 4%; increases not previously noticed and served between June 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026 are capped at 3% with no utility add-on.
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
Applies from February 2, 2026
Bulletin #3, in its own words: "Effective February 2, 2026, the RSO annual rent increase must not include any additional percentage increase for utilities." The older 1%-for-gas / 1%-for-electric adders no longer apply. LAHD's tenant-facing rent registry FAQ still describes the old adders; the bulletin is the current rule.
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
Applies from February 2, 2026
Effective February 2, 2026: 10% more rent, and 10% more security deposit, for each added tenant who is not a dependent. No increase at all is allowed when the added person is a dependent. When that additional tenant moves out, a matching rent reduction is required. You may approve or disapprove a prospective tenant, but approval must not be unreasonably withheld.
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
Applies from February 2, 2026
Bulletin #3: the landlord "must notify the tenants of the rent increase within 60 days of obtaining actual or constructive knowledge of the new tenant." This is a deadline that runs from the day you learn of the added tenant: it is not 60 days of advance notice before the increase, and the ordinary 30-day increase notice still applies.
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
LAMC §151.05.A, in its own words: "On or after April 30, 1983, no landlord shall demand or accept rent for a rental unit without first serving a copy of a valid registration or annual registration renewal statement on the tenant of that rental unit." This is not a fine: it is the rent roll. It is why the February registry deadline is the most expensive date on the LA City calendar. Read directly in the city's code library (codelibrary.amlegal.com, “2026 Rev. 8 (current)” compilation) on August 9, 2026, in a browser session: the quoted sentence appears verbatim in §151.05.A, and Subsection A's most recent amendment is Ord. No. 157,572, effective 4/1/1983. No later amendment exists. The same substance is stated on LAHD's Annual RSO/JCO/SCEP Bill page and in LAHD's RSO Registration bulletin.
Source: LAMC §151.05: Registration, Notification of Tenants, Posting of Notice and Payment of Fees Verified August 9, 2026
What to do
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July 1
New LA City RSO annual increase percentage takes effect
LAHD publishes the allowable increase for the year running July 1 to June 30. The 2027–28 figure is not published yet.
This is the number your next increase notice depends on. We update the table and email you the new figure with its source.
LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3
Source: LAHD Allowable Rent Increase Bulletin #3 (rev. 02/02/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
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the last day of February
LA City annual rent registry report due
Report the current rent for every rental unit subject to the RSO, by the last day of February. Registration is complete only once every outstanding fee is paid and the rent, tenancy and emergency contact information is in. Rent Registry Ordinance #184529, effective October 4, 2016.
An unregistered unit cannot legally have its rent collected or increased. This is the deadline that costs the most to miss.
Source: LAHD Tenant Rent Registry Verified August 9, 2026
What we do not hold
- We hold no relocation-assistance figures for LA City. LAHD publishes them in its Relocation Assistance Bulletin and raises them every July 1, and the amount turns on the tenant's category, income, tenancy length and which of three Resident Protections Ordinance options an owner takes. We say relocation assistance applies and link to LAHD rather than print a number we would have to pick for you.
Put in the rent and it returns the ceiling, the notice period and the source for both.
Free. No account, no card.
Want a note before July 1?
We email you 30 days before for your building, with the figure and the document it came from.
We do not sell or share your address, and we report nothing to any agency.