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.
Union City Rent Control and Just Cause Ordinance Applicability
Union City, California has implemented rent review and just cause for eviction ordinances which can be found here.
In Union City the just cause measure covers residential real property except for the following:
- Housing units owned by any government unit, agency, or authority, including, but not limited to, any division or department of a local, State, or Federal government.
- Dwelling units in hotels, motels, and lodging rooming house, and boardinghouses, as long as the tenant(s) in a given dwelling unit do not reside in that unit for more than thirty consecutive days. Terminating a tenancy or requiring an occupant to move, or to check out and reregister before the expiration of thirty days’ occupancy is prohibited if a purpose is to avoid the effects of this chapter.
- The entirety of a single owner-occupied residence, when the owner-occupant rents or leases two or fewer bedrooms.
- Dwelling units in nonprofit cooperatives owned, occupied, and controlled by a majority of the residents.
- Certain government managed or subsidized low income housing.
- Housing accommodations in any nonprofit hospital, convent, monastery, extended care facility, asylum, residential care or adult day health care facility for the elderly which is licensed for such purpose where such license is required.
- 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.