Local rent control, in plain English.

The Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance, called LARSO, covers most apartments in buildings with two or more units that were first occupied before October 1978. It is run by the Los Angeles Housing Department.

Under LARSO your landlord can raise the rent once a year, and only by a set amount that is tied to inflation. The exact percentage is published by the Housing Department each year. A raise above that amount, on a covered unit, is not legal.

LARSO also limits the reasons a landlord can use to end your tenancy. This is called just cause, and it applies even if your lease has ended and you are month to month.

Santa Monica has one of the oldest and strongest rent control laws in the state, run by its own elected Rent Control Board. Most buildings built before April 1979 are covered.

West Hollywood covers most multi-unit buildings built before July 1979, with tight annual caps and strong just-cause rules. Pasadena passed its own rent control in 2023, run by the Pasadena Rental Housing Board.

Each city sets its own yearly cap and its own list of covered buildings. The most reliable way to know if you are covered is to look your address up with that city office.

Start with three questions. Is my building covered by a local rent control law. Has it been a full year since my last increase. Is the increase larger than the cap that city set for this year.

If the building is covered and the raise is above the cap, or it came less than a year after the last one, that is a strong sign something is wrong. Keep the notice, the envelope it came in, and any text or email about it.