San Jose Rent Control & Tenant Protections (2026)

The table assumes a market-rate rental inside San José city limits. Every state row remains subject to the rolling 15-year new-housing exemption. San José’s coverage and exemption list identifies the common ARO exclusions. Government-owned rentals, some deed-restricted affordable units, institutional housing, hotels, and other special housing have separate exclusions. An unpermitted rental unit can fall under the local TPO even when its surrounding property type normally would not.

For a house or condo, the state exemption generally requires an owner that is not a real estate investment trust or corporation, and is not an LLC with a corporate member. The lease must also contain the statutory exemption notice when required. A corporate-owned house or condo can therefore be state-covered once it is outside the rolling 15-year exemption. For a duplex, the state owner-occupied exemption requires the owner to have lived in one unit as a principal residence when the tenancy began and to remain there. Neither unit can be an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit for that duplex exemption.

The California Attorney General’s rent-cap chart lists the current 8.6% Santa Clara County limit under “All Other Counties.” The underlying formula is 5% plus the applicable cost-of-living change or 10%, whichever is lower. San José’s 5% local cap controls when the ARO applies because it is more protective.

For a covered ARO apartment, a landlord may impose one ordinary increase of up to 5% during a 12-month period. The percentage is fixed. It does not change with CPI or restart on January 1.

If the lawful monthly rent has been $3,000 for the previous 12 months, the ordinary increase is at most $150, making the new rent $3,150. The ARO does not provide a banked-increase mechanism for unused portions of the ordinary 5%.

Separate petition routes cover fair-return increases and authorized capital-improvement charges. A landlord that has not substantially complied with registration requirements cannot raise the rent on a covered unit, according to the current Apartment Rent Ordinance.

San José generally allows vacancy decontrol. After a genuine voluntary vacancy or qualifying for-cause termination, a landlord can usually set a new initial rent. The local cap then limits later increases during the new tenancy. The vacancy-decontrol section also identifies situations that do not qualify as a valid vacancy.

The TPO covers rent-stabilized units, rental units in multifamily buildings with at least three homes, guesthouse rooms, and unpermitted units. It applies to newer three-unit and larger apartment buildings even though those buildings miss the local 5% rent cap. Certain government-owned and legally restricted affordable rentals are excluded.

The city groups the 13 causes into eight tied to renter conduct and five tied to a landlord decision or condition.

A covered landlord must state at least one cause in the termination notice and send a copy of the notice to the city within three days. The current San José TPO page groups the causes and explains the filing duty.

California’s just-cause statute follows a different clock. It generally starts after 12 months. When another adult is added before an existing renter reaches 24 months, protection starts after every renter has 12 months of occupancy or at least one has 24 months. Civil Code section 1946.2 contains that state timing rule. It does not delay the day-one local TPO protection for a locally covered unit.

The city summarizes the final category as households with school-aged children.

The headline schedule does not operate identically for every notice. Substantial-rehabilitation and owner-move-in terminations use the base amount. Ellis withdrawals follow the separate Ellis rules, and a newer building with no covered ARO units does not receive the base or qualified Ellis payment. Code-order and unpermitted-unit moves use their own relocation provisions. The city’s Ellis Act guidance publishes the schedule, qualifications, notice periods, and right-to-return rules.

When state just-cause law governs instead, a qualifying no-fault termination requires a payment or final-month rent waiver equal to one month of the rent in effect when the notice is issued. A state payment is credited against relocation assistance required by another law.

The two-month exception does not apply when the prospective renter is a service member. Pet, cleaning, key, and similar deposits count toward the limit when they function as security. The California Attorney General’s current security-deposit guidance states the one-month rule and small-landlord exception.

Within 21 days after move-out, a landlord must return the remaining deposit and provide an itemized statement of lawful deductions. Current state law also requires move-out photos before and after deducted repair or cleaning work. For tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2025, the landlord must also have taken photos immediately before or at move-in. Civil Code section 1950.5 contains the current photo, documentation, and return rules.

For a continuing ARO tenancy, San José’s local deposit rule generally prevents a landlord from raising an established deposit during the tenancy, apart from a limited jointly requested process for new housing services.

These are asking rents rather than signed-lease rents. They also do not establish rent-control coverage. Vacancy decontrol explains why a new listing in an older building can start far above the rent paid by a long-term renter in a similar unit.

For broader city context, Niche’s San José profile reports a population of 990,138, a $2,669 median rent across its underlying data, an A- overall grade, an A for public schools and diversity, a C- for crime and safety, and a B+ for commute. Those measures describe the city rather than legal protection for a particular rental.