Rent Control: How to Raise Rent in Oakland

Wondering how to raise the rent for your rental property in Oakland? If it is subject to the city’s rent control laws, here are some of the important things you’ll need to know.

Provide Written Notice
Like any rent increase, you need to give a written 30-day notice to the tenant that you’re changing the terms of the rental contract. That notice must let the tenant know how they can contact you, how they can contact the rent board, and how much their rent will be raised. It also needs to reflect the original rental amount that they had been paying, so they can see how much of an increase they will face.

Amount of Increase
In any rent controlled property, the amount of your increase has to be based on the Consumer Price Index, or the CPI. The amount you can increase your rent will be published each year by the city of Oakland. it is typically between one and three percent depending upon the economy. Use that amount to calculate your increase, and include it in your written notice to the tenant. Learn more about calculating the City of Oakland’s CPI and allowable increases.

Capital Improvement Pass Through
Another way to raise rent in Oakland is to do a capital improvement pass through. When you make capital improvements to your property, you can pass along up to 10 percent of the cost of those improvements to your tenants. To effectively raise rent this way, you’ll need to specify the number of years the increase will span, and the depreciation amounts that will be included. Make sure you provide all this information when you’re raising your rent this way.

If you have any questions on increasing rent on your rent controlled properties, please contact us at MSB Property Management. We can help you with any Oakland and Walnut Creek property management questions.