Exemptions

Properties are exempt from AB 1482's rent cap if they meet one of the following criteria:

1. A single-family home or condominium, if the owner is not a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or an LLC with a corporate member — and only if the tenant received written notice that the unit is exempt
2. A property that received its certificate of occupancy within the past 15 years (a rolling window — units become covered as they age)
3. A duplex where the owner lived in one unit as their principal residence at the start of the tenancy and still lives there
4. Housing that is deed-restricted as affordable housing for lower income households
5. Certain government-subsidized housing — meaning housing whose affordability is restricted by the subsidy program itself — and school dormitories
6. Housing covered by a local rent stabilization ordinance, in which case the local law applies: an ordinance adopted before September 1, 2019 takes precedence regardless of whether its limits are stronger or weaker, while a later ordinance applies only if it is more restrictive than the Act

If you rent a single-family home or condominium and never received the written exemption notice, the unit may still be covered by the Act's rent cap even though the property type is otherwise exempt.

A Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher does not make a unit exempt. Vouchers subsidize market-rate tenancies and attach to the tenant, not the housing, so a voucher holder renting an otherwise covered unit has the same rent cap and just cause protections as any other tenant.