AB 1482 Rent Caps: How Much Can You Raise Rent in San Diego?

If you own rental property in San Diego, the ceiling on your annual rent increase is probably set by California's Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482) — unless your property is exempt. Getting this wrong is expensive, and the exemption rules are where most owners trip.

General information, not legal advice. Confirm your specific property with a California real estate attorney.

The formula

AB 1482 caps annual increases at 5% plus the regional CPI, with a hard ceiling of 10%, whichever is lower.

For San Diego County, that means:

Maximum increase = min(5% + regional CPI, 10%)

So if regional CPI is 3.2%, your cap is 8.2%. If CPI came in at 6%, your cap is 10% — not 11% — because the hard ceiling binds. The applicable CPI figure depends on the month the increase takes effect, so check the current number rather than reusing last year's.

You may also raise rent no more than twice in any 12-month period, and the combined total still has to fit under the cap.

Which properties are exempt

The most common exemptions:

• New construction — a certificate of occupancy issued within the last 15 years. This rolls forward, so a property can age into coverage.
• Single-family homes and condos, but only if the owner is not a REIT, corporation, or an LLC with a corporate member — and the required exemption language is in the lease. Miss the notice and you lose the exemption.
• Owner-occupied duplexes where the owner lives in one unit.
• Deed-restricted affordable housing.

That single-family exemption is the one owners most often assume and least often paper correctly. The statutory notice has to actually be in the lease.

Local rules can be stricter

AB 1482 is a floor, not a ceiling. The City of San Diego layers on its own tenant protections, and rules differ across the county. Where local and state rules conflict, the more tenant-protective one generally governs.

Notice periods

• Increase of 10% or less: 30 days' written notice.
• Increase of more than 10%: 90 days' written notice.

Since AB 1482 caps most increases at 10% anyway, covered properties are almost always in 30-day territory. Exempt properties raising rent more steeply need the 90-day notice.

Just cause matters too

For covered units, once a tenant has occupied for 12 months, AB 1482 also requires just cause to terminate — and no-fault terminations generally require relocation assistance equal to one month's rent. Rent caps and eviction protections travel together; owners sometimes plan around one and forget the other.

Practical approach

1. Determine whether the property is covered or exempt — and if exempt, verify the lease contains the required language.
2. Look up the current regional CPI for the month the increase takes effect.
3. Calculate 5% + CPI, cap at 10%.
4. Serve proper written notice, 30 or 90 days.
5. Keep records of the calculation and the notice.

We track caps, CPI, and notice deadlines for every property we manage, and our forecasting tools model what a given increase does to renewal probability — because the maximum lawful increase and the smartest increase are frequently not the same number.