By Solaris Property Management — Last updated June 2026
The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) introduced statewide rent caps and "just cause" eviction rules for much of California's rental housing. In 2024, AB 12 expanded several provisions, and additional clarifications followed through 2025. If you own a long-term rental in Los Gatos, Capitola, Aptos, Santa Cruz, Saratoga, Campbell, or anywhere else in our service area, AB 1482 likely shapes how you raise rent and end tenancies.
This guide breaks down what AB 1482 does, who it applies to, the rent cap formula for 2026, the just-cause termination categories, and what you should be putting in your lease. None of this replaces legal advice — but it will get you up to speed quickly.
AB 1482 has two core mechanics:
For Santa Cruz and Santa Clara county properties, the relevant index is the CPI for the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metropolitan area, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The "CPI" used is the percentage change from April of the prior year to April of the current year. For increases that take effect on or after August 1, the more recently published April figure applies.
Practically: if CPI runs 3.4%, your maximum allowable increase is 8.4%. If CPI runs 6%, you are capped at 10% (not 11%). If CPI runs 1%, you are capped at 6%. Always confirm the current published figure before issuing a notice — using last year's number is a common, costly mistake.
This is where many owners get tripped up. AB 1482 does not apply to every rental in California. Major exemptions include:
A single-family home or condo is exempt from AB 1482's rent cap and just-cause rules only if both of the following are true:
If you forget to include the notice, the property is treated as covered even though it would otherwise qualify. This is the most common compliance miss we see when onboarding owner-managed properties. Our owner services team includes the correct addendum in every lease as a matter of course.
If your property already falls under a stricter local rent control ordinance (for example, some Bay Area cities), the local law typically governs.
Once just cause applies, you can end a tenancy only for one of the listed reasons. They fall into two buckets.
Examples include non-payment of rent, material lease breach after written notice and opportunity to cure, nuisance, criminal activity on the premises, and refusal to allow lawful entry. With at-fault grounds, the owner generally does not owe relocation assistance.
These include owner or family-member move-in (with strict criteria), withdrawal of the property from the rental market, compliance with a government order, and substantial remodel meeting a defined scope and permit threshold. For no-fault terminations, the owner must provide either one month of rent as a direct relocation payment or a waiver of the final month's rent. The notice must include specific statutory language and, in the case of remodel or owner move-in, supporting documentation.
The "substantial remodel" category in particular has been a hotspot for litigation. The work must be more than cosmetic, must require permits, and must reasonably require the unit to be vacated for at least 30 days. Painting and carpet replacement do not qualify.
A 2026-compliant lease should contain at minimum:
Across the properties we onboard, the same handful of mistakes come up again and again. Knowing the patterns helps you avoid them.
An owner has a single-family home that qualifies for the AB 1482 exemption — but the lease never includes the required statutory exemption language. The property is treated as covered by default. By the time the owner discovers the issue, they may have already issued a rent increase that exceeds the cap, exposing them to refund liability.
AB 1482 caps you at two increases in any 12-month period, and the combined increase cannot exceed the annual cap. We see owners raise rent 4% in January and then add another 4% in October "because CPI moved." That second increase would push them over the cap. Track every increase by date — Buildium and similar systems handle this automatically, but manual landlords often miss it.
The cap applies based on continuous tenancy, not lease term. Even if a tenant signs a new 12-month lease, AB 1482 treats them as the same tenancy. Only when a new tenant takes occupancy does the rent reset to market.
The statutory just-cause notice has specific required language. Generic 60-day notices that don't recite the just-cause grounds are not valid for covered units. Tenants who receive an invalid notice can — and often do — successfully challenge the termination, leaving the owner back at square one and on the hook for the tenant's attorney's fees.
For no-fault terminations, owners must either pay one month's rent or waive the last month — and the notice must include that information. Missing this step alone can void the entire termination.
Every lease we write at Solaris is run through a compliance checklist that includes the AB 1482 status of the property, the correct exemption or just-cause language, and the current disclosure pack. When it's time for a renewal, our team pulls the most recent published CPI and proposes an increase that is both within the legal cap and supported by current rent comps. If you want to see how we'd handle your property specifically, we are happy to run a free rental analysis.
Already have a property in our service area? We can audit your existing lease for AB 1482 compliance as part of onboarding — at no extra cost — and flag any clauses that need updating before your next renewal.
We'll review your lease, confirm the AB 1482 status of the property, and recommend a defensible rent for 2026.
Request a Free Rental Analysis →This article is informational and is not legal advice. AB 1482 has technical requirements and ongoing legislative updates. Consult a California landlord-tenant attorney for advice on your specific property.