California Late Fees, Termination for Nonpayment of Rent, and Other Rent Rules

Your lease or rental agreement should spell out your landlord’s key rent rules, including:

• the amount of rent (there are limits to how much a landlord can charge under rent control ordinances in several cities in California)
• where rent is due (such as by mail to the landlord’s business address)
• when rent is due (including what happens if the rent due date falls on a weekend date or holiday)
• how rent should be paid (usually check, money order, cash, and/or credit card)
• the amount of notice landlords must provide to increase rent
• the amount of any extra fee if your rent check bounces, and
• the consequences of paying rent late, including late fees and termination of the tenancy.

State laws in California cover several of these rent-related issues, including limits on late fees, the amount of notice a landlord must provide to increase rent under a month-to-month tenancy, and how much time a tenant has to pay rent or move before a landlord can file for eviction. In addition, several cities in California have some form of rent control.

California Rules on Late Fees

Rent is legally due on the date specified in your lease or rental agreement (usually the first of the month). If you don’t pay rent when it is due, the landlord may begin charging you a late fee. Under California law, a late fee will be enforced only if the fee is a reasonable estimate of the amount that the lateness of the payment will cost the landlord, and if specified language is include in a written lease or rental agreement.

California Rules on Bounced Check Fees

California allows landlords to charge $25 for the first bounced check, and $35 for each additional bounced check.

Amount of Notice California Landlords Must Give Tenants to Increase Rent

California landlords must give tenants at least 30 days’ notice—unless the sum of this rent increase and all prior rent increases during the previous 12 months is more than 10% of the lowest rent charged during that time. In the latter case, the landlord must give the tenant 60 days’ notice.

Rent Increases as Retaliation or Discrimination

California landlords may not raise the rent in a discriminatory manner—for example, only for members of a certain race. Also, California landlords may not use a rent increase in retaliation against you for exercising a legal right—for example, in response to your legitimate complaint to a local housing agency about a broken heater.

California State Laws on Termination for Nonpayment of Rent

States set specific rules and procedures for ending a tenancy when a tenant has not paid the rent. California landlords must give tenants at least three days in which to pay the rent or move. If the tenant does neither, the landlord can file for eviction.

Rent Control in California

Rent control is a local phenomenon in California, established either through the initiative process or by the act of a city council or a county board of supervisors. State law regulates some specifics of the various rent control ordinances. The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (CC § 1954.50-1954.53) restricts cities’ power to impose rent control on single-family homes and condominium units, and also requires cities to allow landlords to raise rents after certain types of vacancies occur.

Some form of rent regulation (including rent mediation) now exists in 17 California communities, including Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco. (San Diego does not regulate rent, but does require a “just cause” (legal reason, such as nonpayment of rent) for a landlord to evict a tenant.) Rent control ordinances typically set a base rent for each rental unit that takes into account several different factors, including the rent that was charged before rent control took effect, operation and upkeep expenses, inflation, and housing supply and demand. The ordinances allow the base rent to be increased under certain circumstances or at certain times.

Types of Rent Control in California

No two rent control ordinances are exactly alike in California. Some cities have elected or appointed boards that have the power to adjust rents; others allow a certain percentage increase each year as part of their ordinances. All cities, however, are subject to “vacancy decontrol,” which means that when a tenant moves out voluntarily (or is asked to leave for a just cause), the unit can be rerented at the market rate.

Many rent control ordinances in California control more than how much rent a landlord may charge, and govern how and under what circumstances a landlord may terminate a tenancy, even one from month to month, by requiring the landlord to have just cause to evict. Many cities, most notably Los Angeles, require landlords to register their properties with a local rent control agency.

Not all rental housing within a rent-controlled city is subject to rent control. Generally, new buildings as well as owner-occupied buildings with two (or sometimes even three or four) units or fewer are exempt from rent control ordinances. Some cities also exempt rentals in single-family houses and luxury units that rent for more than a certain amount.

Where to Find California Rent Control Rules

If you own rental property in a city that has rent control, you should always have a current copy of the ordinance and any regulations interpreting it. For a collection of local rent-control rules, see Nolo's article, California Rent Control Law. Start by contacting your city website for information on rent control or rent stabilization:

Berkeley Rent Stabilization

Beverly Hills Rent Control

Campbell Rent Control Rent Mediation Program

East Palo Alto Rent Stabilization

Fremont Rent Increase Dispute Resolution

Glendale Just Cause Eviction Ordinance

Hayward Residential Rent Control

Los Angeles Rent Stabilization

Los Gatos Rental Dispute Resolution

Oakland Rent Adjustment Program

Palm Springs Rent Control

San Diego Just Cause Eviction Rules

San Francisco Rent Board

San Jose Apartment Ordinance

Santa Monica Rent Control

Thousand Oaks Rent Stabilization

West Hollywood Rent Stabilization

California State Laws on Late Fees, Termination for Nonpayment of Rent, and Other Rent-Related Issues

Here’s where to find California state law relevant to rent rules:

• Rent rules and procedures on issues such as raising rent: Cal. Civil Code. §§ 827a, 1946, 1947, 1962.
• California state law on late fees: Orozco v. Casimiro 121 Cal.App.4th Supp. 7 (2004).
• California law on service fees for bounced checks: Cal. Civil Code. § 1719.
• California laws on termination for nonpayment of rent: Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1161(2).

For California state law regarding rent control (most of which is covered by local ordinances), see Cal. Civil Code § 1954.50-1954.53.

See the Laws and Legal Research section of Nolo for advice on finding and reading statutes and court decisions.

California Guides to Tenant Rights

For an overview of tenant rights when it comes to paying rent under California landlord-tenant law, see http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/index.shtml.

For a detailed discussion of rent control and rent rules, eviction protection, and other landlord-tenant law in California, see the Nolo book California Tenants’ Rights, by Janet Portman and David Brown.