Why is getting the rent control status of your unit correct so important? 

Navigating the world of rental property management comes with a maze of legal responsibilities—and one of the most critical factors to understand is whether your property is subject to rent control. For landlords, this isn’t just a legal technicality. Rent control can significantly impact how much you can charge for rent, when and how you can increase it, and even your ability to evict tenants. Failing to understand your property’s rent control status can lead to costly legal missteps, compliance issues, and potential tenant disputes. 

Not Knowing A Units Just Cause Status Can Be Costly

Failing to understand whether a rental unit is subject to Just Cause for Eviction protections can lead to serious legal and financial consequences for owners and managers. Attempting to evict a tenant without proper cause in regulated areas can result in lawsuits, hefty penalties, and damage to a landlord’s reputation. As tenant protection laws expand and evolve, staying compliant becomes more complex — and ignorance of the law offers no protection. Uncertainty around a unit’s status can also delay or derail property sales, as buyers seek assurance that all tenant issues are resolved. For landlords, this makes legal guidance not just helpful, but essential to avoiding costly mistakes and safeguarding their investments.

Why Rent Control Status Matters in Automated Legal Workflows

Joiner’s real estate management platform streamlines critical landlord functions—automating everything from rent increase notices and notices of entry to cure-or-quit and pay-or-quit notices. Each of these documents is generated with built-in legal disclosures tailored to your property’s specific requirements. One key factor that shapes these legal templates? Rent control status. Whether or not a unit is subject to rent control directly impacts what language and requirements must be included in the notices you serve. That’s why accurately identifying rent control status isn’t just important—it’s essential for compliance and avoiding legal risk.

Disclaimer & Legal Guidance

This post is designed to help you assess whether your rental unit falls under rent control by summarizing key aspects of applicable laws. However, it is not a substitute for legal advice. Because rent control regulations vary widely by city and sometimes county —and because a unit not covered by a local ordinance may still fall under California’s statewide rent control and just cause eviction laws (see this post) —it’s important to consult the relevant local statutes or seek advice from a qualified attorney to make a definitive determination.

Joiner partners with BrightWork Law PC, a firm known for delivering efficient, cost-effective legal counsel tailored to the needs of property owners and managers across California. If you are not sure about the status of your unit we recommend that you contact BrightWork or any other law firm.

City of Los Angeles – Units Covered by Rent Control and Just Cause Protections

Los Angeles, California has implemented both rent control and just cause for eviction ordinances which can be found here. 

Units Covered by Rent Control

In Los Angeles the rent control measure covers residential real property except for the following: 

• Single family dwelling units on one property. 
• Housing accommodations in hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes and boarding and rooming houses, provided that at such time as an accommodation has been occupied as the primary residence of one or more of the same tenants for any period more than 30 days such accommodation shall become a rental unit subject to the provisions of this chapter. 
• A dwelling unit in a nonprofit stock cooperative while occupied by a shareholder tenant of the nonprofit stock cooperative.
• Housing accommodations in any hospital; state licensed community care facility; convent; monastery; extended medical care facility; asylum; fraternity or sorority house; or housing accommodations owned, operated or managed by an institution of higher education, a high school, or an elementary school for occupancy by its students.
• Government owned or managed housing. 
• Housing with a certificate of occupancy was issued after October 1, 1978. 
• Certain “luxury housing” which received a certificate of such status. 
• Certain substantially renovated housing, as defined in the Ordinance. 
• Registered affordable housing units. 
• Recreational vehicles, if the tenant has not resided in them for more than nine months continuously. 
• Certain mobilehome parks. 
• Housing involved in the Interim Motel Housing Project. 

Units Covered by Just Cause Protections

The just cause for eviction ordinance applies to all rental housing that has been occupied lawfully and continuously for six months, except for the following: 

• Units subject to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. 
• Transient and tourist hotel occupancy as defined in Subdivision (b) of California Civil Code Section 1940, unless the landlord violates California Civil Code Section 1940.1 to maintain transient occupancy status.
• Housing accommodations in any hospital, asylum, religious facility, extended care facility, licensed residential care facility for the elderly, as defined in Section 1569.2 of the California Health and Safety Code, or an adult residential facility, as defined in Chapter 6 of Division 6 of Title 22 of the Manual of Policies and Procedures published by the State Department of Social Services.
• Housing accommodations in a fraternity or sorority house or any housing accommodation owned and operated by an institution of higher education, a high school, or elementary school for occupancy by students.
• Housing accommodations in which the tenant shares bathroom or kitchen facilities with the owner who maintains their principal residence at the residential real property.
• A dwelling unit in a nonprofit stock cooperative while occupied by a shareholder tenant of the nonprofit stock cooperative.
• Housing accommodations in limited equity housing cooperatives, as defined in California Civil Code Sections 817 and 817.1, when occupied by a member tenant of the limited equity housing cooperative.
• Housing involved in the Interim Motel Housing Project. 
• Housing accommodations in a nonprofit facility that has the primary purpose of providing short term treatment, assistance, or therapy for alcohol, drug, or other substance abuse and the housing is provided incident to the recovery program, and when the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at its inception.
•  Housing accommodations in a nonprofit facility that provides a structured living environment that has the primary purpose of helping homeless persons obtain the skills necessary for independent living in permanent housing and when occupancy is restricted to a limited and specific period of time of not more than twenty-four (24) months and when the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at its inception.
• Occupancy in a housing accommodation leased by or otherwise paid for by a government entity or agency with the primary purpose of helping homeless persons obtain temporary or transitional housing.
• Housing accommodations owned and operated by the Los Angeles City Housing Authority, or housing accommodations owned, operated, or managed by any other government unit, agency, or authority and which are specifically exempted from municipal regulations on evictions by state or federal law or administrative regulation, or housing accommodations specifically exempted from municipal regulations on evictions by state or federal law or administrative regulation.