New California rent cap limits increases, but Santa Barbara renters have additional protections
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A new statewide limit on rent increases is now in effect, limiting how much landlords can raise rent for certain California tenants.
For rental properties covered by the law, landlords generally cannot increase rent by more than 5% plus inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower.
In Santa Barbara, that limit is 8.6%.
But tenant advocates say even an 8.6% increase can be a significant financial burden in a city where housing costs are already high.
“It's still too high for a lot of renters, especially here in Santa Barbara,” said Angeliza Sanchez, an organizer with CAUSE.
Santa Barbara City Councilmember Wendy Santamaria said the statewide limit is intended to prevent excessive rent increases, rather than completely freeze rents.
“Tell me an industry that pays you 8.6% of an increase every year,” Santamaria said. “It’s meant to be an anti-price-gouging limit.”
Not every rental is covered
The statewide rent limit does not apply to every type of rental property.
Santamaria said exemptions include certain single-family homes, owner-occupied duplexes and newer construction, including properties built after 1995.
For those exempt properties, landlords may be able to increase rent beyond the 8.6% statewide limit, depending on the circumstances.
“So technically a landlord could raise it even beyond the 8.6% for those that are exempt,” Santamaria said.
Santa Barbara renters have additional protections
Some renters in Santa Barbara have additional protections through a temporary local rent freeze that remains in effect through the end of the year.
Santamaria said the freeze has provided some relief, but she believes more permanent protections are needed.
“The tenants that are covered by the rent freeze are grateful that there is a little bit of breathing room, but it's not enough,” Santamaria said.
The City Council is working on a broader permanent rent stabilization program before the temporary freeze expires.
Renters navigating large increases
Sanchez said CAUSE is helping renters understand the different state and local rules and assisting people who received significant rent increases before Santa Barbara's rent stabilization protections took effect at the end of February.
Some renters, she said, were hit with increases shortly before the local protections took effect.
“Either the landlord hit them with the rent increase just before it went into effect,” Sanchez said. “And so their rent is like $3,000 for a one-bedroom, two-bedroom. And a lot of the time they need support paying that rent. It's a really difficult time right now.”
Tenant advocates say renters should not assume every rent increase is legal.
Anyone who receives a rent-increase notice should first determine whether their rental unit is covered by state or local protections and how much their landlord is legally allowed to increase the rent.
KEYT News Channel 3 will continue to follow Santa Barbara's efforts to establish permanent rent stabilization.
