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California landlord tenant law: AB 1482, just cause and deposits
This year's rent cap, the single-family exemption and the two conditions that defeat it, what just cause requires, and the deposit rule that works differently for service members.
How much can a landlord raise rent in California?
Rent increases on a covered San Diego property are capped by California's Tenant Protection Act — AB 1482 — at 5% plus the regional consumer price index, never exceeding 10% in total. For the year running 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027 the San Diego figure is 8.2%.
The cap is annual and the regional index is republished each year, so the number changes and last year's figure is not a safe basis for this year's notice. Only two increases are permitted in any twelve-month period, and together they cannot exceed the cap.
Covered is doing significant work in that sentence. A great many San Diego rentals are exempt, which the next answer sets out — but an owner who assumes exemption without meeting its conditions has simply issued an unlawful increase.
Which California rentals are exempt from AB 1482?
Most single-family homes and condominiums in San Diego County are exempt from the AB 1482 rent cap and just-cause rules, as are properties built within the last fifteen years. The single-family exemption is conditional rather than automatic, and two conditions defeat it regularly.
The first is ownership. The exemption is written for individual owners; where the property is held by a corporation, a real estate investment trust, or a limited liability company with a corporation among its members, it does not apply. Investors who move a rental into an entity for liability reasons sometimes lose the exemption without noticing.
The second is notice. The exemption has to be stated to the tenant in writing in the statutory form; without that notice in the lease or delivered separately, the property is treated as covered. That is the failure a small landlord is most likely to make, and it is entirely avoidable.
Do I need a reason to end a tenancy in California?
Ending a tenancy on a covered San Diego property requires a stated just cause once the tenant has occupied it for twelve months. Just cause divides into at-fault grounds such as non-payment, lease breach or nuisance, and no-fault grounds such as an owner moving in, withdrawing the property from the rental market, or a substantial renovation.
The distinction has a price attached. A no-fault termination generally obliges the owner to provide relocation assistance equivalent to one month's rent, whether paid directly or waived as a final month, and the requirement is not discretionary.
Owner move-in in particular is scrutinised, because it is the ground most often used improperly. Treat it as something that has to be genuinely intended and properly documented rather than as a convenient route to vacancy.
How much security deposit can a California landlord collect?
Security deposits on San Diego rentals are capped at one month's rent, furnished or unfurnished, under a rule in force since 1 July 2024. A narrow exception lets a small landlord — a natural person owning no more than two residential rental properties totalling no more than four units — collect up to two months.
That exception has a carve-out which matters more in San Diego than almost anywhere: it does not apply where the tenant is an active-duty service member. For a service member the cap stays at one month regardless of how small the landlord is, and in a county with this concentration of military tenants that is a rule an owner will meet.
The change was a real reduction from the previous allowance, so an owner working from an older lease template or older advice is likely to be collecting an unlawful amount rather than a generous one.
A note on what this is
Everything above is general information about published California law, not legal advice, and tenant law is an area where the details decide outcomes. Local ordinances can also add requirements on top of the state rules. Before acting on any of it — particularly a termination — take advice from a landlord-tenant attorney.
Last updated 2026-08-27