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Santa Monica registration fee and date
Santa Monica bills the annual rental registration fee at $240.00 per unit per year, due August 1. The Board lets $10.00 per unit per month of it be passed through to the tenant, and having paid it is one of the conditions the General Adjustment rests on.
Source: Santa Monica: Maximum Lawful Rent Verified August 9, 2026
The figures behind this
Applies July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027
"For the 2026/2027 fiscal year, the annual registration fee is $240 per unit." The Board's own General Adjustment and Registration Fee History shows the same $240 for 2025. The fee is reset annually. Check your bill.
Source: Santa Monica: Maximum Lawful Rent Verified August 9, 2026
Half of the annual registration fee may be passed through at $10 a month, beginning September 1, but only if you paid the registration fee in full by the Rent Control Board's deadline.
Source: Santa Monica Rent Control Information Sheet 2026 Verified August 9, 2026
SMMC Chapter 4.25 (Ord. No. 2835CCS) requires annual registration of every rental housing unit NOT under the city's rent control charter: single-family homes, condos, ADUs, JADUs and SRO units included; hotels/transient stays under 14 days, hospitals and similar institutions, and government-owned housing are exempt (§4.25.030). The chapter took effect January 1, 2026 (§4.25.100). The annual filing deadline is set by administrative regulations that have not been issued (§4.25.040(a)(1), §4.25.080), and the fee is set by a council resolution that has not been adopted (§4.25.070(a)), so we hold no date and no dollar amount yet. Once a fee exists, half of it may be passed through to tenants in monthly twelfths (§4.25.070(b)). From January 1, 2027, an owner may not demand or accept rent without displaying or providing the registration certificate (§4.25.060(b)), and violations carry a civil penalty of $200 per unregistered unit per month (§4.25.090(b)).
Source: SMMC Chapter 4.25: Registration of Rental Housing Not Subject to Article XVIII (Ord. No. 2835CCS, adopted 11/18/2025), codified text on eCode360 Verified August 9, 2026
The Rent Control Board allows the GA only if the tenancy started at least a year before it takes effect (before September 1 of the previous year), all Rent Control registration fees and accrued penalties for the property have been paid, the unit's tenancy is properly registered, there are no uncorrected citations or notices of violation of health, safety or housing laws for the property, the owner is in compliance with all provisions of the Rent Control Law, the owner gave tenants starting 7/31/17 or after a copy of the Rent Control Information Sheet and declared it on the Tenancy Registration form, and the owner serves proper written notice, typically 30 days. The city's Maximum Lawful Rent page attributes these conditions to Chapter 3 of its regulations; we quote the Board's own FAQ, which lists them in full.
Source: Santa Monica Rent Control Board: Frequently Asked Questions (v. 6/16/2025) Verified August 9, 2026
What to do
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August 1
Santa Monica annual registration fee due
The Rent Control Board's annual per-unit registration fee ($240 a unit for the 2026/2027 fiscal year) has to be paid in full by August 1. Bills are mailed at the beginning of July.
The Board's FAQ says the bills "must be paid by August 1 in order for the owners to pass fifty percent of the fees paid for each unit through to the tenants as a monthly surcharge." Miss it and you lose the $10 a month pass-through for the year, and an unpaid fee or penalty also costs you the General Adjustment.
About this date: The fee is reset annually. $240 is the figure the city publishes for 2026/2027. Check the amount on your own bill.
Santa Monica: Registering Ownership, Tenancies and Amenities
Source: Santa Monica Rent Control Board: Frequently Asked Questions (v. 6/16/2025) Verified August 9, 2026
What we do not hold
- August 1 is the fee date the Board's FAQ prints, and its 2025 General Adjustment notice used August 1, 2025. The FAQ also calls it the date fees are "usually" due, so a year where the Board moves it is possible; the bill is the authority.
- SMMC Chapter 4.25's codified text was read directly on eCode360 on August 9, 2026: effective dates, the January 1, 2027 rent-collection bar, and the $200/unit/month penalty are now primary-sourced. What still does not exist anywhere: the annual registration deadline (awaiting administrative regulations under §4.25.080) and the fee amount (awaiting a council resolution under §4.25.070(a)). We generate no reminder until the city publishes them.
Part of this fee is recoverable from the tenant month by month. This works out how much.
Free. No account, no card.
Want a note before August 1?
We email you 45, 14 and 3 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.