Is My California Rental Exempt From the Rent Cap?

California rent cap exemptions are set out in one place: subdivision (d) of Civil Code 1947.12, the statewide cap created by AB 1482. If your home fits one of the six categories, the 2026 cap of 8.1% to 8.8% does not limit your increase; if it fits none, it does. The general rules are in the AB 1482 rent cap explainer. This page works through the exemptions one at a time, with the conditions a landlord has to meet for each.

The California rent cap exemptions, as a checklist

Go down the list. If none applies, the cap covers your unit from the first day of the tenancy, whatever its length.

1. Affordable housing. Housing restricted by deed, a regulatory agreement with a government agency or another recorded document as affordable for very low, low or moderate income households, or housing under an agreement that provides affordable-housing subsidies (1947.12(d)(1)).
2. Dormitories. Dorms owned and run by a college or university or by a K-12 school (d)(2).
3. Local rent control with a lower cap. Housing under a local rent or price control law that limits annual increases to less than the state cap (d)(3). The local law then controls.
4. Newer buildings. Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years, unless it is a mobilehome (d)(4).
5. Single-family homes and condos — any unit that can be sold separately from every other dwelling unit, including a mobilehome — but only when both the owner-type test and the written-notice test are met (d)(5).
6. Owner-occupied duplex. Two units in one structure, where the owner lived in one unit as their principal residence when your tenancy began and still lives there, and neither unit is an ADU or JADU (d)(6).

Separately, the section does not apply to a mobilehome homeowner as defined in Civil Code 798.9 (1947.12(j)). Everything else — apartment buildings, fourplexes, a house owned by a corporation, a duplex whose owner moved out — is covered unless one of the six items fits.

The 15-year rule: newer buildings roll into the cap

The new-construction exemption is not tied to a fixed year. The statute says “within the previous 15 years,” so the window moves forward every day. A building that is exempt today will be covered once its certificate of occupancy is more than 15 years old.

Say your building’s certificate of occupancy is dated June 15, 2012. In September 2026 that is a little over 14 years ago, so the building is still exempt. On June 15, 2027 it passes the 15-year mark, and from then on the cap applies to its rent increases unless another exemption fits. By the same logic, a building finished in 2008 is already covered, and one finished in 2020 stays exempt until 2035.

The date that matters is the one on the certificate of occupancy, not when the building was bought or last renovated. Your city or county building department keeps those records, and many post them in an online permit search.

Single-family homes and condos: two tests, both required

Renting a house or condo does not by itself make a tenancy exempt. Under 1947.12(d)(5), both of these must be true.

Test A: who owns it

The owner may not be:

• a real estate investment trust (REIT), as defined in Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code;
• a corporation;
• a limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation; or
• mobilehome park management.

An individual, a couple, a family trust or an LLC made up only of people can pass this test. A house owned by a corporation, or by an LLC that has a corporate member, cannot.

Test B: the written notice

The tenants must have been given written notice using this exact statement, which is set out word for word in 1947.12(d)(5)(B)(i) and repeated in Civil Code 1946.2(e)(8)(B)(i):

“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.”

Where the notice has to appear depends on when the tenancy started:

• Tenancies that began before July 1, 2020: the notice may be in the rental agreement, but does not have to be.
• Tenancies started or renewed on or after July 1, 2020: the notice must be in the rental agreement.
• Mobilehome tenancies: the same two rules, with July 1, 2022 as the dividing date.

Because the statute requires both tests, a house owned by an individual is still covered by the cap if the tenant never received the notice. Read your lease for that paragraph. A notice with the wording changed or shortened is not the statement the statute prescribes.

One more detail: under (d)(5)(B)(iv), adding the notice to a new or renewed lease still counts as a renewal on “similar” terms. That matters because refusing, after a written request, to sign a renewal of similar length and terms is an at-fault just cause under 1946.2(b)(1)(E).

Owner-occupied duplexes, and why an ADU changes the answer

The duplex exemption in (d)(6) is narrow. It needs:

• exactly two separate dwelling units within a single structure;
• the owner living in one of them as their principal residence at the beginning of your tenancy;
• the owner still living there; and
• neither unit being an accessory dwelling unit or a junior accessory dwelling unit.

So a house with a backyard ADU does not qualify under the duplex exemption, even if the owner lives in the main house. And if the owner moves out, the condition “so long as the owner continues in occupancy” stops being met. The owner may still qualify under the single-family exemption if both of its tests are satisfied.

How to check who owns your rental

Tenants often do not know whether the owner is a person, a trust or a company. A few public records usually answer it:

• County recorder. The recorded deed names the owner of record. Most county recorders let you search by address or parcel number, sometimes for a copy fee.
• County assessor. The assessor’s parcel records may show the parcel number, the owner name and the year built, which is a useful cross-check against the certificate of occupancy date.
• California Secretary of State business search. If the owner is a company, the state’s business records show whether it is a corporation or an LLC. An LLC’s filings do not always list every member, so a corporate member may not be visible from public records alone.
• Your own paperwork. The lease, rent receipts and any notice naming the owner or agent.

If the records show a corporation or REIT, the single-family exemption is off the table no matter what the lease says.

How the rent cap exemptions line up with just cause

The rent cap and the statewide just cause eviction rules in 1946.2 share most of their exemptions, and the single-family notice covers both at once. They are not identical, though.

Local law can also displace 1946.2: a property under a local just-cause ordinance adopted on or before September 1, 2019, or a later one that is more protective, follows the local ordinance instead (1946.2(i)).

Questions people ask

Are single-family homes exempt from AB 1482?

Only when the owner is not a corporation, REIT or LLC with a corporate member and the tenant received the statutory notice. A house owned by an individual with no notice in a lease signed after July 1, 2020 is covered.

Is a building from 2013 exempt from the rent cap in 2026?

If its certificate of occupancy was issued in 2013, yes — that is within the previous 15 years. It becomes covered 15 years after the date on the certificate, in 2028, unless another exemption applies.

My landlord lives upstairs in our duplex. Is my rent capped?

Not if the owner lived there when your tenancy started, still lives there, and neither unit is an ADU or JADU. If any of those is not true, the duplex exemption does not apply.

Can a landlord add the exemption notice later?

For tenancies started or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, the notice must be in the rental agreement. The statute lets it be added to a new or renewed lease, and says doing so still counts as a renewal on similar terms.

Related California renter guides

• How much can a landlord raise rent in California in 2026?
• Rent increase calculator by county
• AB 1482 explained: California’s statewide rent cap
• Just cause eviction rules in California
• Rent increase notice: 30-day vs 90-day rules
• Los Angeles rent control (RSO)

This page explains what the cited California law says. It is not legal advice. Last verified September 28, 2026.