The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 — California's AB 1482, codified as Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1946.2 and 1947.12 — does two things to most California residential rentals. It caps annual rent increases at 5% plus regional CPI, hard-capped at 10%. And after a tenant has lived in the unit for 12 continuous months, it requires the landlord to have a statutorily defined "just cause" to terminate the tenancy.
Both provisions apply by default. Exemptions exist, and the most common one — a single-family home or condo owned by individuals — only works if the lease contains a notice whose wording is fixed by statute. Leave the notice out and the home is covered, however it is owned. Covered units need a notice too: § 1946.2(f) prescribes its text and requires it in at least 12-point type.
Who is covered
The rule of thumb: most multi-family residential rentals in California are subject to AB 1482. Specifically, the law reaches:
- Apartments in buildings of any size, once the building is more than 15 years old.
- Single-family homes and condos owned by a corporation, a REIT, or an LLC with at least one corporate member.
- Single-family homes and condos owned by individuals whose lease does not contain the statutory exemption notice.
The "newer construction" exemption is rolling. It covers housing whose certificate of occupancy was issued within the previous 15 years, so a building loses the exemption on the 15th anniversary of its own certificate.
Who is exempt
The two halves of AB 1482 have slightly different exemption lists. These exempt a unit from both the rent cap and just cause (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1947.12(d), 1946.2(e)):
- Newer construction. Certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years (rolling).
- Single-family homes and condos that can be sold separately from any other unit, when (a) the owner is not a REIT, a corporation, or an LLC with a corporate member, AND (b) the lease contains the statutory exemption notice.
- Owner-occupied duplexes. Two units in one structure, the owner living in one of them as a principal residence since the tenancy began, and neither unit an ADU.
- Affordable housing restricted by deed or regulatory agreement, or subsidized, for very low, low, or moderate income households.
- Dormitories run by a college or school.
These exempt a tenancy from just cause only; the rent cap still applies (§ 1946.2(e)(4)–(5)):
- A tenant who shares a kitchen or bathroom with an owner who lives there.
- An owner-occupied single-family home where the owner rents out no more than two units or bedrooms, including an ADU.
Only the single-family/condo exemption needs a notice, and its text is fixed by § 1946.2(e)(8)(B)(i). For any tenancy that began or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, it must be in the rental agreement itself:
"This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code and is not subject to the just cause requirements of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code. This property meets the requirements of Sections 1947.12 (d)(5) and 1946.2 (e)(8) of the Civil Code and the owner is not any of the following: (1) a real estate investment trust, as defined by Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code; (2) a corporation; or (3) a limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation."
What landlords must do
Three operational obligations follow from coverage:
Cap rent increases at the lesser of 5% + CPI or 10%
The cap is computed against the lowest gross rental rate charged in the prior 12 months, not against current rent. CPI is the regional all-items index for the metropolitan area where the property sits. For most California metros in 2026 the practical cap will land between 8% and 10% — and the 10% absolute ceiling controls in high-CPI years.
Increases must come with proper notice (30 or 90 days, depending on the size of the increase per Cal. Civ. Code § 827).
Justify any termination after the 12-month mark
After the tenant has continuously occupied the unit for 12 months, the landlord can terminate only for a cause listed in Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(b). The list divides into two buckets:
- At-fault causes — non-payment of rent, breach of a material lease term, nuisance, criminal activity, refusing access, etc. These don't entitle the tenant to relocation assistance.
- No-fault causes — owner move-in, withdrawal from the rental market under the Ellis Act, government order to vacate, substantial remodel. Most no-fault terminations require one month's rent in relocation assistance (or a rent waiver of equivalent value).
Reasons not in the statutory list — "I want to charge market rent," "the tenant is annoying," "I'd rather have someone else" — are not valid bases for termination of a covered tenancy.
Put the notice in the lease
A covered unit needs its own notice. § 1946.2(f)(3) requires this text, in the lease, an addendum, or a written notice the tenant signs, in no less than 12-point type:
"California law limits the amount your rent can be increased. See Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code for more information. California law also provides that after all of the tenants have continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 12 months or more or at least one of the tenants has continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 24 months or more, a landlord must provide a statement of cause in any notice to terminate a tenancy. See Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code for more information."
So every California lease needs one of two fixed notices: this one for a covered unit, or the exemption notice above for an exempt single-family home or condo. A lease that paraphrases either one, or sets it in small print, does not do the job.
Common mistakes
Three patterns we see come up repeatedly:
Assuming "single-family" automatically means exempt. It doesn't. The exemption only applies when the ownership structure qualifies AND the lease contains the disclosure. A single-family rental owned by an LLC where one member is a corporation does not qualify, regardless of how the property is described.
Treating month-to-month tenancies as month-by-month escape hatches. AB 1482 looks at continuous occupancy, not lease length. A tenant on month-to-month who has been in the unit 13 months is in a covered tenancy under the just-cause provisions — the landlord can't simply terminate the month-to-month lease without a statutory cause.
Banking skipped increases. The cap applies per 12-month period. A landlord who didn't raise rent for two years can't compound back-to-back to "catch up"; the next increase is still capped at the current period's allowable amount.
How to stay compliant
Both notices are fixed by statute, and the type size is part of the rule. A free template has to get three things right: which notice applies to your unit, the exact wording, and 12-point type for the covered-unit notice.
A correctly built California residential lease agreement asks whether the unit is covered or which exemption applies, then prints the matching notice word for word. That's what we ship at BuildMyLease: an owner renting rooms in their own home keeps the rent-cap terms, and a single-family home or condo gets the exemption notice that makes the exemption real. Every clause cites the Civil Code section behind it.
The federal E-SIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001) and California's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act both treat typed-name signatures with audit trail as legally equivalent to wet ink, so you can sign and send the lease for tenant signature without printing anything.
Build a compliant California lease — $29 one-time, generated in 5 minutes, with the right AB 1482 notice printed word for word.
Statutory references
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12 — annual rent-increase cap (5% + CPI, max 10%).
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2 — just-cause-for-termination requirements after 12 months.
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2(f) — the notice every covered tenancy needs, in at least 12-point type.
- Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1946.2(e)(8), 1947.12(d)(5) — the single-family / condo exemption and its required notice.
- Both sections are set to expire on January 1, 2030 unless the Legislature extends them.
- SB 567 (2023, eff. April 1, 2024) — clarifications to the no-fault termination rules and relocation assistance.
- Cal. Civ. Code § 827 — minimum notice for rent increases (30 days for ≤10%, 90 days for >10%).