New Laws Affecting Rental Properties

Brief summaries of recent changes to Rent Board Regulations, and new state and local laws affecting rental properties.

Recent Rent Board Regulation changes

Regulation 1146 - 2024 Annual General Adjustment Order. Dated October 23, 2023

Appendix C, Chapter 12 - US Department of Housing and Urban Development Lower Income Limits. Dated July 20, 2023

Appendix B, Chapter 12 - US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Information. Dated July 20, 2023

Regulation 883 – Amended to allow waiver of penalties when a property owner discovers that they failed to pay registration fees through their inadvertence and promptly makes full payment of registration fees as set out in subsections H through L. Amended May 18, 2023.

Regulation 884 – Amended to grant the Executive Director authority to forward certain waiver requests to the Board for discretionary review and for a final decision. Amended May 18, 2023.

Regulation 1266 - Updated self-labor rates with current Consumer Price Index information. Updated January 19, 2023.

Recent state or local law changes

New Registration Requirements for Partially Covered Units

Measure MM (passed by Berkeley voters in 2020) requires rented single-family homes, rented condominiums, and newly constructed rental units to be registered with the Rent Board. These units are exempt from rent control, but not from the good cause for eviction requirements. Registration generally includes an annual fee and the filing of registration forms. The Registration requirements do not apply to landlords who only own a single-family home and who will be temporarily absent from it for not more than two years, provided they live in the home for one year before renting it out, and the period of absence is specified in the lease.

ADU Exemption

Measure MM also clarified that the full exemption for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) only applies to properties that contain one single-family home, and one ADU.

Increased Ellis/OMI Payments

The standard relocation assistance payment to tenants for Ellis Act and Owner Move-in (OMI) evictions increased to $18,011, and the additional payment for low-income, disabled, elderly, families with minor children, or tenancies that began prior to 1999 increased to $6,003.