Santa Monica Landlord-Tenant Rules

Rent stabilization: Santa Monica's elected Rent Control Board sets a maximum allowable rent (MAR) for each controlled unit and a General Adjustment (GA) each September. The GA is 75% of the change in the Los Angeles-area CPI for the year ending in March. The September 1, 2026 GA is 2.6%, capped at $70 a month for units with a MAR of $2,674 or more. To take the GA, the tenancy must have begun before September 1 of the prior year and be properly registered, all registration fees and penalties must be paid, the property must have no uncorrected health, safety or housing citations, and the tenant must get at least 30 days' written notice. Owners may also pass through limited property-tax surcharges (capped at the lowest of the prorated amount, 4% of the 2026/2027 MAR, or $35 a month) and half of the $240 per unit annual registration fee ($10 a month). Controlled units are all residential rentals except those the Board has exempted, such as units built after the Charter Amendment was adopted, owner-occupied buildings with three or fewer units, and transient hotel rooms. Single-family homes are covered only as provided in Charter Sec. 1815.; Just-cause eviction: For controlled units, a landlord may serve an eviction notice or sue only on a listed ground. The grounds: nonpayment; a material and substantial lease breach that continues after written notice to cease; nuisance, substantial damage or substantial interference that continues after written notice; conviction for illegal use of the unit; refusing to sign a renewal on materially the same terms; refusing access after written notice; an unapproved subtenant at lease end; owner or relative move-in; demolition or removal with all City permits; and Ellis Act withdrawal. A tenant may not be evicted for subletting one-for-one to replace a departed roommate when the landlord unreasonably refused (or did not answer a written request within 14 days). Owner move-in rules: the owner must hold at least 50%; the move-in is barred if the owner or a relative already occupies a unit or a comparable unit is vacant; the occupant must move in within 60 days and stay two years; and the notice must name the person moving in. Owner move-in is barred against tenants who have lived in the unit five years and are 62 or older or disabled, or who are terminally ill, unless the incoming owner or relative also qualifies. A spouse, child or registered domestic partner who has lived in the unit for a year may stay when the tenant dies or is incapacitated. Retaliatory evictions are barred. Units under the Housing Policies Charter Amendment also require just cause.; Relocation assistance: Landlords must pay a permanent relocation fee when a tenant must move because of an Ellis Act withdrawal, an owner or relative move-in, or demolition or other removal of the unit. Amounts from July 1, 2026 (higher amount if the household includes a senior, a person with disabilities or a minor): single $20,500 ($21,450); one bedroom $28,300 ($30,200); two or more bedrooms $39,350 ($41,900). The fee must be placed in escrow before the termination notice is served and is due within five days after the tenant moves out. The tenant can ask for early payment to a third party, such as a mover. The landlord must give a City-form Notice of Tenant Relocation Assistance and Statement of Rights. Tenants cannot waive relocation rights. When a unit is temporarily uninhabitable, temporary relocation per diems for 2026 are $405 a day per household for a hotel, $43 a day per person for meals, $2 a day for laundry, and $40 (cat) or $73 (dog) a day for pets.; Lockouts/harassment: The Tenant Harassment Ordinance prohibits landlords from doing any of the following in bad faith: cutting off or failing to provide housing services; failing to make required repairs or to finish them diligently; abusing the right of entry; verbal abuse or threats of physical harm; using fraud, intimidation or coercion to make a tenant leave (for example baseless eviction threats, threats to report immigration status, or a fraudulent owner move-in); discrimination, including based on source of income; baseless eviction notices or lawsuits; interfering with quiet enjoyment or privacy; refusing lawful rent; unlawful rent increases, including increases within six months after a failed eviction or after a tenant complaint; and retaliation. Violations are misdemeanors (up to $1,000 and six months in jail). Any person, including the City, may sue for actual damages or statutory damages of $1,000 to $20,000 per offense, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees, punitive damages and injunctions. A violation is also a defense to an eviction. The City's Tenant Protection Ordinance separately bars self-help evictions such as changing locks or shutting off utilities.