New Reimbursement Policy Regulation

Published on March 13, 2025

The City of Alameda Rent Program has introduced Rent Control Ordinance Regulation 25-01(PDF, 172KB), aimed at ensuring compliance with rent control laws while balancing fairness for both landlords and tenants. The new regulation, effective April 1, 2025, outlines steps for landlords to correct invalid rent increases without facing excessive penalties.

The policy update comes after two community workshops held on December 10 and 18, 2024, where over 40 participants gathered to discuss proposed changes to the reimbursement policy for invalid rent increases. To gather additional input, the City launched an online feedback form in January, 2025, which was shared with over 3,000 newsletter subscribers and workshop attendees. Within 30 days, the form received 72 responses, with 71% of respondents supporting the proposed update.

The new regulation introduces a revised approach to violations that occur moving forward,  and seeks to clarify the specific steps for addressing invalid rent increases based on when they occurred:

• New rent increases with effective dates on or after April 1, 2025: Landlords must reset the rent to what the Annual General Adjustment (AGA) would have permitted at the time the increase took effect and reimburse tenants for any rent paid in excess of that corrected amount.
• Older rent increases: For rent increases with effective dates that predate the new regulation, landlords must still follow the policy that was in place at the time. In most cases, this means landlords must reset the rent to the last valid rent amount prior to the invalid increase and provide full reimbursement for all excess rent collected. This requirement maintains consistency with the Rent Program’s long-standing enforcement practices. 

Once the Landlord has addressed and corrected an Invalid Rent Increase and reimbursed or provided a Rent credit (if either is applicable) to the tenant, a landlord may serve notice of a new rent increase that complies with the Rent Ordinance and State Law requirements.

For any questions, please contact Rent Program staff.