Berkeley Rent Control in 2026: Rent Ceilings, Deposit Interest and Relocation

Is your Berkeley unit fully covered, partially covered or exempt?

Berkeley sorts rentals into three levels of protection under the Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Just Cause Ordinance (Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 13.76, renamed from the Good Cause title in 2024). Your level decides whether your rent has a ceiling at all.

Unpermitted units are generally covered. After voters passed Measure BB in November 2024, government-owned and government-subsidized units, such as Section 8 housing, must also be registered with the Rent Board as fully or partially covered. Partially covered tenants may still be protected by state rent increase limits and notice periods.

What is Berkeley's Annual General Adjustment for 2026?

The 2026 Annual General Adjustment (AGA) is 1.0%. Starting January 1, 2026, eligible landlords may raise the rent ceiling of fully covered units by 1.0% for tenancies that began before January 1, 2025, after giving written notice.

• The ordinance sets the AGA at 65% of the increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose region for the 12 months ending June 30, never below 0% or above 5% (BMC 13.76.110).
• A tenancy that started in 2025 is not eligible for the 2026 AGA, because the initial rent was set that year.
• Notice is 30 days for increases of 10% or less and 90 days for more than 10%.
• The Board publishes the next year's AGA on or about October 31, so check the Rent Board site for the 2027 figure once it is announced.

A higher ceiling is not an automatic increase. If your lease sets a lower rent than the ceiling, the lease rent controls until the lease expires. You can look up a unit's registered ceiling in the Rent Board's online Rent Registry.

When can a Berkeley landlord not take the AGA?

According to the Rent Board, a landlord is not eligible for the AGA if any of these apply:

• The unit is not properly registered under BMC 13.76.080, including the vacancy registration form required when a new tenancy begins.
• The landlord has not complied with a Rent Board order or regulation after being ordered to.
• There is an outstanding housing code Notice of Violation from the City, or the landlord has not complied with a Hearing Examiner's decision.
• The landlord has not returned the annual interest on the tenant's security deposit.

A tenant who believes one of these applies files an Individual Rent Adjustment petition for illegally high rent. The petition can also ask for a refund of overcharged rent and overdue deposit interest.

How much interest does a Berkeley landlord owe on your deposit?

Your deposit is held in a fiduciary capacity for your benefit and earns simple interest at the average rate paid on six-month certificates of deposit by banks doing business in Berkeley (BMC 13.76.070). The interest year runs November 1 to October 31. The landlord pays it each December as cash or a rent credit, no later than January 31, and pays the balance when you move out.

Example (hypothetical): a tenant with a $3,000 deposit lived in a fully covered unit all of the November 2024 to October 2025 interest year. At the 0.9% annual rate for December 2025, the landlord owed $27.00. If that tenant moves out on October 31, 2026, the move-out payment for the following 12 months at the Rent Board's 0.6% rate for October 2026 move-outs is $18.00.

1. Find your deposit amount and tenancy start date in your lease or move-in receipt.
2. Check your coverage level; fully and partially covered units both earn interest.
3. Look up the annual and move-out rates on the Rent Board's Security Deposit Interest page.
4. Count the months correctly: the interest year starts November 1, and a first-year payment counts only months since move-in.
5. Ask in writing for any unpaid interest, citing BMC 13.76.070, and keep a copy.
6. If it stays unpaid, file a petition or call a Rent Board housing counselor for help with multi-year amounts.

Late payment has a cost under Rent Board Regulation 704: once January 31 passes without payment, the unpaid interest for the immediately preceding year is figured at a 10% rate, and the tenant may deduct it from rent without first giving notice. The Rent Board's 2026 notice puts it as deducting 10% of the deposit amount from a rent payment. Deposit return itself follows state law; see our guide to a security deposit demand letter in California.

What does Berkeley require for an owner move-in eviction?

An owner move-in is one of the just causes in BMC 13.76.130, but Berkeley adds conditions on top of state procedure. They apply to every unit with just cause protection, including condos, single-family homes and newer buildings.

• The landlord must hold at least a 50% recorded ownership interest.
• Qualifying relatives are limited to a spouse, registered domestic partner, parent or child.
• Relocation of $19,413 is owed to a household that has lived in the unit at least one year, deposited with the Rent Board within 10 days of serving the notice. Low-income, disabled or elderly tenants, households with minor children, and tenancies that began before January 1, 1999 may be owed $6,471 more. These are the Rent Board's 2026 figures.
• The owner or relative must move in within three months and live there for 36 continuous months.
• A household with minor children cannot be evicted for owner move-in if the notice expires while the Berkeley Unified school year is in session.
• Landlords with larger Berkeley holdings face limits on evicting long-term tenants, and longer-term senior or disabled tenants.

If the landlord's stated reason was false or not carried out within two months after you leave, BMC 13.76.150(B) lets the tenant regain possession and recover actual damages, or the greater of $750 or three times actual damages for willful conduct.

What can a Berkeley tenant do about overcharges or lost services?

Fully covered tenants can file an Individual Rent Adjustment petition asking the Rent Board to lower the rent ceiling for illegally high rent, a decrease in living space or housing services, substantial deterioration, or housing code and habitability failures. The same petition can ask for a refund of overcharged rent or overdue deposit interest. A tenant association can also file one petition for common-area problems on behalf of affected tenants.

Outside the petition process, BMC 13.76.150 lets a tenant sue for actual damages when a landlord keeps rent above the lawful ceiling, plus up to $750 on proof of bad faith. The ordinance also lists withholding rent from a landlord who fails to register or overcharges, but withholding can lead to an eviction case over unpaid rent, so it is a step to discuss with a lawyer first.

When unpaid deposit interest or an AGA dispute needs an attorney letter in Berkeley

Berkeley's rules reward exact numbers: several years of unpaid deposit interest at different annual rates, an AGA taken while the unit was unregistered, or an owner move-in notice served without the relocation deposit each come down to dates and amounts. The ordinance also protects you: retaliation within six months of asserting your rights is presumed under BMC 13.76.140.

Through Talk to My Lawyer, a licensed California attorney writes your letter (from your lease, registry record, payment history and your own timeline of events) and then sends it on your behalf to your landlord or property manager. Rent Board housing counselors can explain the rules; whether to petition, sue or negotiate is a question for a lawyer who has seen your documents.