Tenancy: just cause termination: rent increases.

Assembly Member Kalra's tenant protection legislation proposes significant changes to California's rent control and just cause eviction requirements, lowering the maximum allowable annual rent increase from 5% plus inflation (capped at 10%) to 2% plus inflation (capped at 5%). The bill eliminates the current exemption for single-family homes and condominiums from these regulations while maintaining exemptions only for qualifying mobilehome properties.

The legislation makes permanent the state's existing rent control and just cause eviction protections by removing their January 1, 2030 sunset date. Under current law, landlords must demonstrate just cause, such as failure to pay rent or breach of lease terms, before terminating tenancies of residents who have occupied a unit for 12 months or more. The bill preserves these just cause requirements while expanding their application to previously exempt properties.

For tenants displaced through no fault of their own, such as when an owner moves into the unit or substantially remodels it, the bill maintains requirements that landlords provide relocation assistance equal to one month's rent or waive the final month's rent. The legislation also preserves provisions allowing owners of affordable housing developments to set initial market rents once rental restrictions expire, provided they comply with tenant protection requirements.

The Attorney General and local city and county attorneys retain authority to enforce these provisions through civil actions. Tenants can seek damages, including up to triple damages for willful violations, along with attorney's fees when landlords fail to comply with the rent increase limits or just cause requirements.