Understanding Your 2025 Notice of Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling

Tenants in fully covered units should have received their 2025 Notices of Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling this week. Your Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling is the maximum allowable rent that can be charged for your unit. Landlords may charge less than the rent ceiling but cannot charge more. Please note your 2025 Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling does not include the 2026 Annual General Adjustment.

This notice is informational, not a binding certification, and includes the following:

1. Your Annual Lawful Rent Ceiling.
2. The start date of your tenancy.
3. The number of occupants permitted within the rent ceiling.
4. The housing services included in the rent ceiling.

This information is reported to the Rent Board by your landlord and maintained in the Rent Registry. If all information listed on your notice is correct, no action is needed.

If information is incorrect, please help prevent rent overcharging by reporting inaccuracies to the Rent Board.

How to Report Inaccuracies in Your Notice of Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling

If information on your notice appears incorrect or out of date, here’s what to do:

1. If your tenancy start date is correct and you are paying more than the Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling, you may be entitled to a refund of the excess. You will need to contact a Housing Counselor to understand your next steps.
2. If your tenancy start date and/or your listed housing services are incorrect, your rent ceiling may be out of date. You can email a Vacancy Registration Form with the correct rent and/or services and a copy of your written lease agreement to rentregistry@berkeleyca.gov.

If Your Unit Is Government Subsidized

Depending on the type of government subsidy you receive you may be responsible for only a portion of your Apparent Lawful Rent Ceiling. If you have questions about what portion of the rent you are responsible for, you can contact the Berkeley Housing Authority.

Tenancy Start Dates for All Government Subsidized Units Will Be 12/20/2024

For tenants in government subsidized units, your tenancy start date reflects the date when Measure BB required government subsidized units to register with the Rent Board, not the date you started renting your unit. In your Apparent Lawful Rent Notice, your tenancy start date will be listed 12/20/2024.

Learn More

You can learn more about what a rent ceiling is and how it is calculated on our Rent Ceilings web page. If you have further questions, you can contact a Housing Counselor.