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.
Oakland Rent Control and Just Cause Ordinance Applicability
Oakland, California has implemented a rent control and just cause for eviction ordinance which can be found here.
Units Covered By Rent Control
In Oakland the rent control measure covers any “any dwelling unit, including joint living and work quarters, and all housing services located in Oakland” including “vehicular residential facilit[ies]” (essentially motor homes, travel trailers, truck campers, or camping trailers) that are rented or offered for rent for living or dwelling purposes, whether rent is paid for the recreational vehicle and the lot upon which it is located, or rent is paid for the lot alone. The exceptions to this are for the following:
- Government subsidized or managed housing.2.
- Accommodations in motels, hotels, inns, tourist houses, rooming houses, and boarding houses, provided that such accommodations are not occupied by the same tenant for thirty (30) or more continuous days.
- Housing accommodations in any hospital, convent, monastery, extended care facility, convalescent home, nonprofit home for the aged, or dormitory owned and operated by an educational institution.
- Dwelling units in a nonprofit cooperative, owned, occupied, and controlled by a majority of the residents.
- Dwelling units which were newly constructed and received a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 1983. Except that this exemption does not apply to a vehicular residential facility, or any newly constructed dwelling units that replace covered units withdrawn from the rental market under the Ellis Act. To qualify as a newly constructed dwelling unit, the dwelling unit must be entirely newly constructed or created from space that was formerly entirely non-residential.
- Certain buildings exempt under prior rehabilitation regimes.
- Dwelling units exempt pursuant to Costa-Hawkins (California Civil Code § 1954.52).
Units Covered by Just Cause Protections
The just cause for eviction measure covers any “any dwelling unit, including joint living and work quarters, and all housing services located in Oakland” including “vehicular residential facilit[ies]” (essentially motor homes, travel trailers, truck campers, or camping trailers) that are rented or offered for rent for living or dwelling purposes, whether rent is paid for the recreational vehicle and the lot upon which it is located, or rent is paid for the lot alone. The exceptions to this are for the following:
- Rental units in any hospital, skilled nursing facility, or health facility.
- Rental units 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 where the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at its inception.
- Rental units in a nonprofit facility which 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 where occupancy is restricted to a limited and specific period of time of not more than twenty-four (24) months and where the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at its inception.
- Rental units in a residential property where the owner of record occupies a unit in the same property as their principal residence and regularly shares in the use of kitchen or bath facilities with the tenants of such rental units. For purposes of this Section, the term owner of record shall not include any person who claims a homeowner’s property tax exemption on any other real property in the State of California.
- A unit that is held in trust on behalf of a developmentally disabled individual who permanently occupies the unit, or a unit that is permanently occupied by a developmentally disabled parent, sibling, child, or grandparent of the owner of that unit.
- A rental unit or rental units contained in a building that was newly constructed and received a certificate of occupancy within the past ten (10) years. This exemption applies only to permitted rental units that were newly constructed from the ground up and does not apply to units that were created as a result of rehabilitation, improvement, or conversion of existing residential or commercial space.