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Pasadena rent increase (AGA) limits
Pasadena's Annual General Adjustment is 2.5% for rent years starting October 1, up from 2.25% the year before. It takes 30 days of written notice, and it is only yours to impose if the property is in substantial compliance, registration included.
Source: Pasadena Rental Housing Board Resolution RHB-2026-10 (adopted 6/18/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
The figures behind this
Applies October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027
Charter §1808(a)(1) sets the AGA at 75% of the increase in the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI for the twelve months ending in March, rounded to the nearest quarter of a percent. CPI rose 3.4% from March 2025 to March 2026; 75% of that is 2.5%. Adopted by the Rental Housing Board on June 18, 2026.
Source: Pasadena Rental Housing Board Resolution RHB-2026-10 (adopted 6/18/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
Applies October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026
Adopted by the Rental Housing Board on August 7, 2025.
Source: City of Pasadena: Rental Housing Board sets the 2025–2026 Annual General Adjustment at 2.25% Verified August 9, 2026
Charter §1808(c): an AGA increase becomes effective only after the landlord gives the tenant written notice in the manner prescribed by law, with at least thirty days' advance written notice. State law lands in the same place (Civil Code §827(b) requires thirty days for an increase of 10% or less), but Pasadena sets the thirty days itself.
Source: Pasadena City Charter Article XVIII: the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (Measure H, 2022 general election) Verified August 9, 2026
Civil Code §827(b) makes a rent-increase notice "subject to Section 1013 of the Code of Civil Procedure if served by mail", and §1013(a) adds five calendar days. Post it thirty days out and it is late.
Source: California Code of Civil Procedure §1013 (service by mail) Verified August 9, 2026
PRHB Regulations Chapter 9 §I.1, citing Charter §1808(e)(1): a landlord who has failed to substantially comply with the Charter Amendment and the PRHB Regulations, including the rental registration requirements, may not impose an Annual General Adjustment rent increase on any covered rental unit. Charter §1808(e) puts two more conditions alongside it: no increase is effective if the unit is not maintained in compliance with Civil Code §1941.1 et seq. and Health & Safety Code §§17920.3 and 17920.10, or if ordered repairs have not been made.
Source: PRHB Regulations Chapter 9: Rental Registration, citing Charter §1808(e)(1) Verified August 9, 2026
Charter §1808(d): any notice that increases rent or changes a term of tenancy must state that Article XVIII exists and that the tenant may petition against a rent increase above the AGA. §1808(d)(3) is explicit: no rent increase takes effect until those requirements have been met.
Source: Pasadena City Charter Article XVIII: the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (Measure H, 2022 general election) Verified August 9, 2026
Charter §1808(a)(4): a landlord who wants the AGA must impose it during the twelve months from October 1 to September 30, and one who does not is not eligible to defer it to a later year. A year you skip is gone.
Source: Pasadena City Charter Article XVIII: the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (Measure H, 2022 general election) Verified August 9, 2026
What to do
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October 1
Pasadena Annual General Adjustment takes effect
The new AGA applies to rent years starting October 1, and Charter §1808(a)(4) gives you until September 30 to take it. Miss the window and it does not carry forward. It is only yours to impose if you are in substantial compliance with the Charter and the PRHB Regulations, rental registration included (Charter §1808(e)(1), PRHB Regulations Chapter 9 §I.1). The notice needs thirty days (Charter §1808(c)) and must state that Article XVIII exists and that the tenant may petition (Charter §1808(d)).
Source: Pasadena Rental Housing Board Resolution RHB-2026-10 (adopted 6/18/2026) Verified August 9, 2026
What we do not hold
- Charter §1812(c) says owners must register "no later than April 1st" each year, while PRHB Regulations Chapter 9 §C.1 and the city's registry page both set the annual deadline at October 31. We follow the Board's regulation and the city's published window, because that is what the Rent Stabilization Department administers, and we note the Charter text says otherwise.
- Our copy of Charter Article XVIII is the text the voters enacted in 2022, published by the City Clerk. Any amendment made to the article since then would not show up in it.
Put in the rent and it returns the ceiling, the notice period and the source for both.
Work out this year's adjustment
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