Santa Monica Rent Control: 2.6% Cap, $70 Ceiling, Just Cause

Short answer: Santa Monica tenant rights start with an elected Rent Control Board and a voter-approved Charter: most apartments built before April 10, 1979 are under rent control, and for September 1, 2026 onward the yearly increase is 2.6%, capped at $70 a month for units with a maximum allowable rent of $2,674 or more. Most rentals in the city, controlled or not, also need a just cause to evict, and an owner move-in or Ellis Act eviction triggers a relocation payment of $20,500 to $41,900 (amounts effective July 1, 2026).

Santa Monica’s rent rules live in its City Charter, in the Rent Control Charter Amendment, rather than in an ordinary ordinance. The Rent Control Board is made up of five elected commissioners, and it sets the annual increase, registers every new tenancy and hears petitions when an owner overcharges or cuts services. The sections below explain how to tell whether you are covered, what the 2026 numbers mean in dollars, and where to go when something goes wrong.

Santa Monica tenant rights at a glance

Topic	Santa Monica rule	Source
Rent control	Most units built on or before April 10, 1979; 2.6% General Adjustment from Sept. 1, 2026, max $70 for MARs of $2,674 and up	Rent Control Board, Maximum Lawful Rent
Registration fee pass-through	$10 a month for fiscal year 2026/2027 (half the $240 annual fee)	Rent Control Board
Just cause	Required for controlled units (Charter Sec. 1806) and most other units except single-unit homes and condos (Charter Art. XXIII)	Rent Control Information Sheet; Measure RR analysis
Relocation (owner move-in, Ellis)	$20,500 to $41,900 by unit size and household, effective July 1, 2026	Santa Monica Housing Office
Deposit cap and deadline	One month’s rent for most landlords; itemized refund within 21 days	Cal. Civ. Code 1950.5
Entry notice	Written notice; 24 hours presumed reasonable	Cal. Civ. Code 1954
Eviction court	Los Angeles Superior Court, Santa Monica Courthouse (limited unlawful detainer for 90401-90405 ZIP codes)	LA Superior Court Appendix 2.D
Key agency	Santa Monica Rent Control Board, (310) 458-8751	Rent Control Information Sheet

Is your unit under Santa Monica rent control?

Start with the year the building went up. The city’s exemptions page says most properties built after April 10, 1979 can qualify for a permanent new-construction exemption, but only if the Board grants it. That exemption does not reach units carved out of an existing building, buildings moved onto a lot, units built and offered for rent within five years of an Ellis Act withdrawal on the same property, or controlled units an owner agreed to include as a condition of a removal agreement.

Three other exemptions come up often:

Owner-occupied small properties. A building of three or fewer units can get a temporary exemption if the owner is a natural person with at least a 50% interest who has lived there as a principal residence for at least 120 days before applying. It lapses when the owner moves out, drops below 50% or sells.
Single-family homes and separately sold condos. An owner can declare an exemption if the home was vacant or not being rented on July 1, 1984, and the owner does not own a neighboring lot with residential units.
Two years of owner occupancy. A single-family home or separately sold condo can be permanently exempted after the owner lives there continuously for two years.

None of these is automatic. If your landlord tells you the unit is exempt, ask Rent Control whether the Board actually granted it. The Board’s online “Look Up a Rent” tool, described on its Maximum Lawful Rent page, shows a controlled unit’s MAR and the most recently registered tenancy date.

How the 2026 General Adjustment works

Each September 1, the Board raises the Maximum Allowable Rent (MAR) by the General Adjustment, or GA. The GA is mainly based on 75% of the change in the Los Angeles-area Consumer Price Index for the 12 months ending in March. For the increase that took effect September 1, 2026, the Board announced 2.6%, with a $70 ceiling for units whose current MAR is $2,674 or above. Your landlord had to give you at least 30 days’ written notice before charging it.

The GA is not available on every unit. According to the Board, an owner can apply it only if your tenancy began before September 1 of the previous year, all registration fees and penalties are paid, your tenancy is properly registered, there are no uncorrected health, safety or housing code citations on the property, and the owner otherwise complies with the law. A brand-new tenancy also has to be in place for a full year before any GA applies.

What else can be added to the rent

Your lawful rent can include two add-ons beyond the MAR. The first is half of the annual registration fee: for fiscal year 2026/2027 the fee is $240 per unit, so the pass-through is $10 a month. The second is a share of five specific property-tax line items approved by Santa Monica voters, such as school and community college bonds and the Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax. That surcharge is capped at the smallest of the actual prorated amount, 4% of the 2026/2027 MAR, or $35 a month, and it ends permanently once the property is sold or reassessed on or after March 1, 2018. If your tenancy began on or after that date, no tax surcharge can be passed to you.

Since January 1, 1999, owners have been free to set the starting rent for most new tenancies, and every new tenancy must be registered with the Rent Control Agency. Utilities and shared amenities must be stated as a fixed dollar amount at the start of the tenancy; the Board’s Rent Control Information Sheet says variable monthly charges are not permitted. If you have paid more than the law allows, you can file an excess rent complaint with Rent Control to recover the overcharge.

Just cause and relocation in Santa Monica

A controlled-unit tenant cannot be told to leave just because a lease ends. The Information Sheet points to Section 1806 of the Rent Control Charter Amendment for the full list of just causes, which include nonpayment, violating a lawful lease term and using the unit for an illegal purpose. For most fault-based reasons other than nonpayment, the landlord first has to send a warning letter and give you a reasonable time to fix the problem before serving a notice to perform or quit.

Santa Monica adds a paper trail other cities lack. Except for nonpayment cases, the landlord must file a copy of the eviction notice with the Rent Control Agency within three days of serving you, and copies of eviction notices must also go to the City Attorney’s Office within two days. A city ordinance also bars no-fault evictions of students and educators during the school year.

Rentals outside rent control are not left out. The City Attorney’s impartial analysis of Measure RR explains that the Housing Policies Charter Amendment (Article XXIII) requires just cause for non-rent-controlled units, excluding single-unit dwellings and condominiums.

Relocation payments for July 1, 2026 onward

Tenants removed through the Ellis Act or so an owner can live on the property are entitled to a relocation payment set under Municipal Code Section 4.36.040. The Housing Office’s fee table, effective July 1, 2026, lists:

Unit type	Standard fee	Household with a senior, disabled person or minor
Single	$20,500	$21,450
One bedroom	$28,300	$30,200
Two or more bedrooms	$39,350	$41,900

The figures reset each July 1 with the CPI. When construction forces a temporary move, Section 4.36.100(c)(1) sets 2026 per-diem amounts: $405 a day per household for a hotel or motel, $43 per person per day for meals, $2 a day for laundry if your rental included it, and $40 or $73 a day to board a cat or dog.

Buyout offers are legal, but the Information Sheet says they must be in writing, come with a Rent Control disclosure form, and be no less than the permanent relocation amount. You never have to accept one, and a low-income tenant who takes a buyout loses priority for the city’s affordable housing that an evicted tenant would get.

A vote that could change nonpayment evictions

Measure RR is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. If voters approve it, a landlord could not evict for nonpayment unless the tenant owes more than the average HUD Small Area Fair Market Rent for an equivalent-sized unit in Santa Monica’s ZIP codes, and the notice would have to state that figure. Until results are certified, the current rule applies: any unpaid amount can support a nonpayment case.

Repairs, harassment and construction

Report repairs in writing and keep a copy. The Board says text messages are not proper notice, though email may be if you normally use it. If necessary repairs are not finished within 30 days of written notice, a controlled-unit tenant can petition Rent Control for a rent decrease. The same petition covers lost amenities such as parking, storage or laundry, and construction done at an unreasonable pace that substantially interferes with your use of the unit.

Tenant harassment is barred by city ordinance. Construction-related pressure to move goes to Code Enforcement through 311; other harassment goes to the City Attorney’s Office as a Housing Complaint. Before construction that affects habitability, an owner may need to file a Means and Methods Plan describing how noise, dust and utility shutoffs will be controlled, and you can ask to see it. Our repair request letter generator helps you build the written record, and our guide to landlord retaliation covers what to do if a notice follows a complaint.

A worked example: Priya in Ocean Park

Priya has rented a one-bedroom in a 1962 fourplex near Main Street since 2019. The Board’s lookup tool shows her MAR as $2,400, and her tenancy is registered. In late July 2026 her landlord hands her a Notice of Change in Terms of Tenancy raising rent on September 1.

Check the GA math. Her MAR is below $2,674, so the $70 ceiling does not bite. A 2.6% increase on $2,400 is $62.40, making her new MAR $2,462.40.
Add the pass-through. If properly noticed, the owner can add $10 a month for the registration fee. Because the building was sold in 2021, no property-tax surcharge is allowed.
Check the notice period. The notice arrived more than 30 days before September 1, so the increase is on time.

Her neighbor Tom, with a MAR of $3,000, would see a 2.6% increase of $78, but the ceiling holds him to $70. In spring 2027 the owner announces he will move into Priya’s unit. Because her household includes her 9-year-old son, she is owed the higher one-bedroom relocation fee of $30,200 under the July 2026 table, and the owner must file the termination notice with Rent Control within three days of serving her.

Where Santa Monica evictions are heard

Eviction cases are called unlawful detainers in California and are heard by the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. The court’s Appendix 2.D ZIP code table for limited unlawful detainers assigns Santa Monica ZIP codes 90401 through 90405 to the Santa Monica Courthouse. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 85, a case is limited when the amount in controversy does not exceed $35,000.

The timeline is short. Code of Civil Procedure Section 1167 gives you 10 days, not counting weekends and judicial holidays, after the complaint is served to file a response, or you can lose by default. Our California eviction process guide walks through each step, and the landlord-tenant court finder covers other LA County courthouses if you move.

Who to call in Santa Monica

Santa Monica Rent Control Board: 1685 Main Street, Room 202, (310) 458-8751. Questions about your MAR, exemptions, overcharges, rent-decrease petitions and buyouts.
Code Enforcement and the City Attorney’s Office: dial 311 from inside the city, or (866) 311-7266 from outside, for code problems, construction harassment, illegal short-term rentals and Housing Complaints.
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles: runs a Santa Monica office at 1149 3rd St., Suite 300, for low-income tenants.
Stay Housed LA: the county’s tenant program, offering workshops, legal clinics and free legal services for eligible tenants facing eviction.

California law underneath the Santa Monica rules

State law fills the gaps the Charter does not cover. Under Civil Code Section 1950.5, most landlords may collect no more than one month’s rent as a security deposit, with a narrow exception allowing two months for certain small individual landlords. The landlord has 21 calendar days after you move out to return the deposit or send an itemized statement, and bad-faith retention can cost up to twice the deposit in statutory damages. See our California security deposit law guide for deductions and demand letters.

For entry, Civil Code Section 1954 requires reasonable written notice and entry during normal business hours, with 24 hours presumed reasonable. For repairs, Civil Code Section 1942 lets you repair and deduct up to one month’s rent, no more than twice in 12 months, after giving the landlord reasonable time. If your unit is exempt from local rent control, the state rent cap may apply instead; our California rent increase guide explains it. For comparison with the neighboring city, see Los Angeles tenant rights, and for other regulated cities, our list of cities with rent control.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find my unit’s maximum allowable rent in Santa Monica?

Use the Rent Control Board’s “Look Up a Rent” tool, linked from its Maximum Lawful Rent page. It shows the MAR and the latest registered tenancy date. If your tenancy is missing, the owner has not registered it, and the GA cannot be applied.

Can my landlord raise my rent by more than $70 in September 2026?

Not through the General Adjustment. The 2026 GA is 2.6% with a $70 ceiling for MARs of $2,674 and up. The only other lawful additions are the $10 registration fee pass-through and, for older unsold properties, a capped tax surcharge.

My building was built in 1985. Do I have any eviction protection?

Probably yes. Newer buildings are usually exempt from rent control, but the Housing Policies Charter Amendment still requires just cause for non-rent-controlled units other than single-unit homes and condos.

Is a buyout offer below the relocation fee valid?

No. The Board says a buyout must be in writing, include its disclosure form, and be at least the permanent relocation amount, which is $28,300 for a standard one-bedroom under the July 2026 table.

Can my landlord evict me in the middle of the school year if I’m a teacher?

Not for a no-fault reason. A city ordinance bars no-fault evictions of students and educators during the school year. Fault-based evictions, such as nonpayment, are not covered by that rule.

What happens if Measure RR passes?

Nonpayment evictions would require the tenant to owe more than the average HUD Small Area Fair Market Rent for a comparable unit in Santa Monica. Check the Rent Control Board after the election for the effective date.

This page is general information, not legal advice. If you have received an eviction notice, call the Rent Control Board at (310) 458-8751 to confirm your unit’s status, then contact the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Santa Monica office or Stay Housed LA before your response deadline.

Nearby and related city guides: San Diego tenant rights, San Jose tenant rights, San Francisco tenant rights, Oakland tenant rights. See every city in our tenant rights by city index.