Understanding California Rent Control

[Justin Dao]

Hey BPers,

I wanted to better understand California rent control. I've read a summary of AB 1482, the 2019 California Tenant Protection Act, but just had a hypothetical question I wanted to ask to make sure I'm understanding it.

Say I was buying a condo, newer construction (~2017), which had a "grandfathered" tenant who was paying $1000/mo in rent. Since the condo meets both exemptions (condo + built in the last 15 years) for rent control and "just cause" for evictions, would I legally be able to increase the tenant's rent to market rate, say $4000/mo, after their lease was up? As I understand it, I could also choose not to renew their lease and then raise the rent to market rate for the next tenant.

Just wanted to ask, thanks in advance!