We’re talking about a complex subject today: how much can you increase the rent on your property in Solano County?
This used to be a simple question, but now we have The Tenant Protection Act, and before we can answer your question about rental increases, we need to know what that act is, and who it applies to.
Here’s a quick disclaimer: we are not attorneys. If you have any questions about the legality of your rental increase, talk to an attorney.
The Tenant Protection Act of 2019
In 2019, California passed The Tenant Protection Act (TPA), which is also known as AB1482. This law applies to properties that are more than one unit, assuming the landlord doesn’t live in one of the units themselves. If they do, there are special details about how many units would qualify for the TPA.
If you’re living in the property, talk to an attorney. There will be some determining factors to how you raise rent.
If you are a corporation or an LLC where one of the members of the LLC is a corporation, then the law applies.
Here is an important piece of information a lot of people don’t know:
When you’re a single-family property landlord, you’re exempt from the TPA. But, if you have not given the appropriate notice to your resident in your lease agreement after July 2020, which states that your property is not TPA property, then the law does apply to you. Your lease needs the correct language, so find a good landlord/tenant attorney who can help you determine where you stand and provide the appropriate lease language.
Rental Increases for TPA Properties
You can increase rent annually by 5 percent plus whatever the Consumer Pricing Index (CPI) index is. In Solano County, we use the CPIU, which is a combination of metro areas around us. This number resets every August. The CPIU number is factored from April to April. So, working off numbers from April 2022 to April 2023, our CPIU increase was 4.4 percent. That means the full increase is 9.4 percent. That’s the max you can raise the rent for a tenant in a TPA property.
Rental Increases for TPA-Exempt Properties
If your property is exempt, you can technically increase the rent by any amount.
However, if you’re raising your rent more than 10 percent, you must give your tenants a 90-day notice of that rent increase. Further, and more importantly, you cannot go over a 10 percent increase if there is a state of emergency.
California has states of emergency often. We had one for COVID, for the drought, and for wildfires. During those statewide emergencies, every property has a 10 percent max for raising rent.
In Solano County, we have a local state of emergency right now. That’s because the City of Vallejo has a lack of police officers available. Vallejo has to be fully staffed at 120 officers, and currently force is at just under 50 percent of that. So, if you’re a landlord in Solano County, you cannot increase the rent by more than 10 percent.
Our blanket recommendation is not to raise the rent by more than 10 percent. If you do, talk to an attorney first.
This is difficult to navigate, and it’s why we always recommend that you hire a good property manager, especially in California. If you’d like to talk about Solano County property management, please contact us at Krystle Properties. We lease, manage, and maintain rental homes in Benicia and work in surrounding areas such as Vallejo, American Canyon, and Fairfield.
