San Jose Rent Control

[Armand Farr]

Hey guys, I'm looking at buying a multi-family house hack in SJ and wanted to get some clarity on the rent control laws:

1. Does the 5% max rent increase (8% if substantially rehabbed) apply to ALL SJ apartments or just those build prior to a certain year?

2. Is the 5% max rent increase annual or by period? Meaning, could I raise rents on a tenant every month in a month-to-month lease?

3. Can I terminate a tenant's month-to-month lease for the purpose of me moving myself into one of the units (hence househack)?

Thanks for the help!

[Account Closed]

1. Does the 5% max rent increase (8% if substantially rehabbed) apply to ALL SJ apartments or just those build prior to a certain year?

- 5% max rent increase annually with up to 8% increase includes capital improvement pass through. Rent control is only applicable to 3+ unit buildings built prior to September 17, 1979. Duplexes are exempt.

2. Is the 5% max rent increase annual or by period? Meaning, could I raise rents on a tenant every month in a month-to-month lease?

- 5% max rent increase annually. If you skipped raising rent one year, you could raise rent up to 10% the next year (every 2 years). If you didn't raise rent nor did you do a capital improvement pass through, you could also raise rent plus capital improvement pass through up to 17% in year 2.

3. Can I terminate a tenant's month-to-month lease for the purpose of me moving myself into one of the units (hence househack)?

- I believe San Jose hasn't passed "just cause eviction" so yes, you can. If you serve a 60-day notice, the tenant may appeal with the Housing Department. If you serve a 90-day notice, then there's no appeal. You may want to send an email to the CSJ Housing Department to confirm about just cause eviction. However, it's justify in your scenario so more than likely you'd win. The CSJ is more landlord friendly than other cities north of us. 

Best of luck.