Policies: Regulations

View Regulation(PDF, 33KB)

Purpose: To inform the landlord and tenant community how the Rent Program will respond to notices of rent increases where the rent increase applies to a rental unit not exempt under State Law; takes effect after September 1, 2019; and exceeds 2.8% of the Base Rent.

View regulation(PDF, 208KB)

Implements provisions of the Rent Ordinance concerning rent registration, payment of program fees, and exemption procedures for units not exempt from rent control under state law ("fully regulated" units), including:

• When registration statements must be filed and required information
• Annual program fee payment requirements
• Exemption requests
• Annual notices to landlords and tenants concerning the Annual General Adjustment, registration information reported by the landlord, and Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling
• Landlord’s failure to meet registration and fee payment deadlines
• Procedures concerning petitions challenging the Base Rent, Household Services Included with Rent, and Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling

View Regulation(PDF, 187KB)

Guidance concerning:

• Grounds for Downward Rent Adjustments
• Calculation of corresponding Downward Rent Adjustment
• Effective date of rent reductions
• Termination of a Downward Rent Adjustment
• Time limits
• Tenant’s notice of housing service reduction
• Overlap of grounds for a Downward Rent Adjustment
• Remedies

View Regulation(PDF, 329KB)

Purposes:

• To define more specifically which dwelling units in the Section 8 Program are exempt from all or some provisions of the Rent Ordinance
• To clarify, in context of the Section 8 Program, what constitutes the landlord’s acceptance of rent for purposes of waiving the landlord’s right to pursue eviction for a tenant’s failure to pay rent
• To clarify the circumstances under which a landlord is obligated to make relocation payments to a tenant in a rental unit in the Section 8 Program and, if those payments are to be made, the amount thereof.

View Regulation(PDF, 200KB)

Implements provisions of the Rent Ordinance concerning rent registration, payment of program fees, and exemption procedures for units exempt from rent control under state law ("partially regulated" units), including:

• Initial registration statement requirements
• Reporting transfers of ownership
• Annual program fee payment requirements
• Exemption requests
• Landlord's failure to meet registration and fee payment deadlines

View Regulation(PDF, 207KB)

Includes the following:

• Requirements for notifying the tenant and Rent Program of a rent increase that includes a banked Annual General Adjustment
• Example increase
• Clarification that landlords may file a petition for an Upward Rent Adjustment

View Regulation(PDF, 1MB)

Guidance concerning:

• Rent adjustments for adding and removing tenants in rental units that are not exempt from rent control under State Law.
• When a new occupant of the rental unit becomes an additional tenant.
• Entering into a revised rental agreement to include the additional tenant.

View Regulation(PDF, 176KB)

Purpose: To clarify the processes to be followed when a landlord owes Temporary Relocation Payments to a tenant following a governmental agency's order to vacate a rental unit as a result of Health or Safety Conditions or of Substandard Conditions.

View Regulation(PDF, 202KB)

Purpose: To clarify the circumstances where the use of the Owner Move-In provisions are appropriate and to aid a Hearing officer or a court in interpreting such provisions

View Regulation(PDF, 369KB)

Guidance concerning:

• Definition of an SRO
• When an SRO will be deemed to have “cooking facilities” and “bath facilities”
• Program fees for SROs, other rental units not subject to rent control under state law, and shared primary residences

View Regulation(PDF, 309KB)

Guidance concerning:

• Definition of a “prospective tenant” as that term is used in Section 6-58.25, Alameda Municipal Code (AMC)
• Materials that must be provided to a prospective tenant as set forth in Section 6-58.25, AMC

View Regulation(PDF, 74KB)

Guidance concerning:

• Definitions for the purpose of implementing Ordinance 3326 concerning Rents at Floating Home Marinas
• Registration procedures for landlords of Floating Home Marinas

View Regulation(PDF, 187KB)

Clarifies rules involving local rental protections and their expiration following the termination of the City's Declaration of Local Emergency on October 18, 2022, including:

• Permissible rent increases, including the use of "banked" Annual General Adjustments that landlords were prevented from imposing during the moratorium on rent increases
• Resumption of "no fault" terminations of tenancy based on Owner Move-In or an approved Capital Improvement Plan
• Affirmative defense to an eviction action for nonpayment of rent due to a "substantial loss of income" arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for repayment under local and state law
• Restoration of base rent following a temporary reduction in rent
• The repeal of COVID-19 Urgency Ordinance Regulations 20-01 and 20-02

Additionally, Attachment 1 provides examples of the permissible use of "banked" amounts.

View Regulation(PDF, 252KB)

Implements the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) provisions of the Rent Ordinance and CIP Policy, consistent with Ordinance 3361 , passed in 2023, while reflecting the intents and purpose of Ordinance 3250, passed in 2019. It includes regulations concerning:

• What qualifies as a Capital Improvement
• When an application for a CIP must be field
• Calculation of the amount landlords may charge tenants to recover the cost of the improvements
• Required notices to tenants
• Supporting documentation
• Limitations on Pass Throughs
• Tenant financial hardship exemptions
• Relocation payments to temporarily displaced tenants
• Appeals & Hearings

View Regulation(PDF, 198KB)

Clarifies when the exemption to certain provisions of the Rent Ordinance will apply when a certificate of occupancy has been issued after February 1, 1995.

View Regulation(PDF, 192KB)

Purpose: Implementing regulations concerning conditions for taking AGA rent increases. 

View Regulation(PDF, 172KB)

Purpose: To inform the landlord and tenant community how the Rent Program will respond to notices of invalid rent increases that apply to rental units not exempt under State Law: 

• Rent increases effective on or after April 1, 2025
• Rent increases effective between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2025
• Rent increases effective on or before December 31, 2019

View Guidance(PDF, 112KB)

Memo from City Attorney’s Office setting forth guiding principles as to what factors or criteria a Hearing Officer should consider when considering a landlord’s petition for an Upward Rent Adjustment