Own an LA apartment building? Here’s everything you need to stay compliant and know what your building is worth — the RSO and rent-control rules, Measure ULA, AB 1482 and Costa-Hawkins, eviction and retrofit law, live market data, and the path to a real number when you’re ready to sell. All in one place, kept current.
Two living resources that map every law touching your building. Read these first, then dive into the specific rules below.
LA multifamily is one of the most regulated asset classes in American real estate. Twelve overlapping laws — city, county, state, federal — touch the cash…
The LA City Council passed an RSO rewrite on December 12, 2025. By July 1, 2026, the cash flow model on every pre-1978 LA City apartment building will be…
The Rent Stabilization Ordinance is the single biggest factor in what you can charge, who you can move out, and what your building sells for.
The LA City Rent Stabilization Ordinance covers buildings within Los Angeles with a certificate of occupancy before October 1, 1978 and two or more units.
The LA County RSTPO covers residential rental properties in unincorporated LA County. Since January 2025, it caps rent increases at 60% of CPI with a 0–3%…
LA City RSO — Which Rent Control Rules Apply to Your Property? Most LA multifamily owners think "LA rent control" means one thing. It doesn't. There are at…
The LA City Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) covers buildings within the City of Los Angeles with a certificate of occupancy dated before October 1, 1978 and…
LA City RSO caps your annual rent increases at 3% (through June 2026) or 4% (starting July 2026). For most landlords, those caps are absolute. But a provision…
A hardship adjustment is a formal LAHD process allowing RSO landlords to apply for rent increases above the standard annual cap when current rents fail to…
Primary renovation is a specific LA RSO pathway that allows landlords to undertake major work on rent-controlled buildings with tenant-notice and rent-increase…
LA City's Rent Stabilization Ordinance was rewritten in late 2025 with effective date July 1, 2026. The rewrite was the most consequential change to LA rent…
The 2026 LA RSO rewrite is a substantial revision to the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance — approved by LA City Council in December 2025 and effective…
For LA City pre-1978 apartment buildings, proper RSO registration with the LA Housing Department (LAHD) is effectively required for a clean sale. Buyers verify…
Rent control reduces your sale price. That's the honest sentence most broker websites avoid because it sounds like bad news for sellers. It's bad news.
Even buildings outside LA rent control answer to California statewide caps and exemptions. Know which set of rules applies to you.
AB 1482 is California's statewide rent cap and just-cause eviction law, enacted 2019. Current cap (Aug 2025–Jul 2026): 6.3% (5% + 1.3% CPI). Max cap ever: 10%.
AB 1482 is California's statewide rent cap and just-cause eviction law, enacted in 2019 and still in effect. For the period August 1, 2025 through July 31…
Costa-Hawkins is a 1995 California law that exempts post-February-1995 construction, single-family homes, and condominiums from local rent control ordinances.
Post-1995 refers to buildings with certificates of occupancy dated February 1, 1995 or later — exempt from local rent control under the Costa-Hawkins Rental…
RSO is LA City's local rent stabilization ordinance, applied to pre-1978 multifamily inventory within city limits. Costa-Hawkins is a 1995 state law that…
LA’s "mansion tax" takes a percentage off the top of every sale over the threshold. Understand the bite before you list.
Measure ULA is an LA City transfer tax on real estate sales at $5M+, effective April 2023. Rate: 4% on $5M-$10M sales, 5.5% on $10M+. LA City only — not…
Measure ULA is an LA City transfer tax on real estate sales above a specified dollar threshold. It was enacted by LA City voters in November 2022, went into…
Measure ULA is an LA City transfer tax, passed as a November 2022 ballot measure and effective April 1, 2023. It applies to real estate sales within the City…
When and how you can move tenants out is tightly regulated — and getting it wrong is expensive. Here are the categories, costs, and your options.
Just-cause eviction rules require landlords to state a specific enumerated reason for ending a tenancy. LA City RSO, LA JCEO, AB 1482, and most local…
An at-fault eviction is based on tenant breach — non-payment, lease violation, nuisance, or similar. Does not require landlord to pay relocation assistance.
A no-fault eviction terminates a tenancy for reasons unrelated to tenant behavior — owner move-in, substantial remodel, Ellis Act, or governmental order.
A tenant buyout is a voluntary cash-for-keys agreement where a tenant vacates in exchange for payment. In LA, RSO buildings must follow LAHD Buyout…
Under LA City relocation rules, a qualified tenant is a senior 62+, disabled, or a family with a minor child — entitled to higher relocation assistance amounts…
LA City's Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance prohibits specific landlord behaviors intended to pressure tenants into vacating — including construction…
Tenant buyouts are one of the most powerful exit tools available to LA multifamily sellers — and one of the most commonly executed incorrectly. LAHD (LA…
Relocation Assistance — Which Strategy When? LA RSO-covered landlords who need to vacate units have two primary tools: a voluntary buyout (tenant agrees, signs…
The Ellis Act lets an LA landlord exit the rental business by withdrawing all units from the market. It is legal. It is mechanical. It is also, for most LA…
Generally no — not for the purpose of selling at a higher price. LA City RSO and most LA-adjacent rent control regimes require just cause for eviction, and "to…
Under current LA City and California law, standard LA multifamily tenants do not have a generalized right of first refusal (ROFR) to purchase the building when…
Seismic retrofit deadlines, registration programs, and the enforcement systems that can hold up a sale if they’re not handled.
LA City's Soft-Story Retrofit Program mandates seismic strengthening of pre-1978 wood-frame residential buildings with open ground floors (tuck-under parking)…
LA's mandatory seismic retrofit programs require structural upgrades to certain older buildings. The Soft-Story Program (pre-1978 wood-frame) and Non-Ductile…
Seismic retrofit is the structural upgrade of older buildings to meet modern earthquake resistance standards. Required for many LA soft-story and non-ductile…
REAP is an LA Housing Department enforcement program that places buildings with serious outstanding code violations into mandatory rent escrow. Tenants pay…
The LA soft-story retrofit ordinance requires certain wood-frame apartment buildings with vulnerable ground-floor configurations to be seismically retrofitted.
Yes, but with significant operational and financial consequences depending on where in the retrofit process the building is. Los Angeles's mandatory soft-story…
Once compliance is squared away, these walk through the mechanics of selling a rent-controlled, tenant-occupied LA building.
You sell a rent-controlled LA apartment building the same way you sell any LA apartment building — with tenants in place, rent roll documented, compliance…
Yes — and in LA multifamily, selling with tenants in place is the standard default. The overwhelming majority of LA multifamily transactions close with…
A vacant unit in an LA apartment building is worth more than an occupied one. Every seller knows this, and most of them believe it so completely that they…
Every owner of an LA building with a long-term tenant who runs a business in the unit, or a multi-generational family in a unit, or an heir who has been…
Your tenants' leases transfer to the new owner. Tenancies continue on the same terms. Rents stay where they are. Rent control protections stay intact.
Security deposits transfer with the building. They are not the seller's money to keep at close, and they are not the buyer's money to ignore. California Civil…
Rent is prorated as of the closing date so each party — seller and buyer — keeps the rent attributable to the days they owned the building. The mechanic is…
No, in most cases there is no formal legal obligation to notify tenants that you are selling. Their tenancies are protected by law regardless of ownership…
Yes, but the lawsuit follows the building in ways most owners don't realize until they're at the negotiating table. A pending tenant lawsuit — habitability…
Most LA multifamily sales that go sideways go sideways for the same reasons. Not unusual reasons. Not market-driven reasons. The same six mistakes, repeating…
You don’t have to sell to want to know the number. Live market data and the annual report on where LA multifamily values stand.
LA multifamily in 2026 is a tale of two asset classes. The first is firming up. The second is repricing. Understanding which one you own is the first question…
Three things are true about LA multifamily at the start of 2026. 2025 was the first full year of sustained recovery. Transaction volume is still meaningfully…
Q2 2026 LA multifamily market update from Michael Sterman — the July RSO rewrite, transaction volume, buyer pool, supply pipeline, and what LA apartment…
An interactive map of recent LA apartment-building sales — see cap rates, price per unit, and transaction activity across every submarket.
Whether that’s this year or five years out, start with a real number. Get a free evaluation, or explore the market in your submarket.
No-obligation broker opinion of value on your LA apartment building, from a team that has closed $1.51B across 269 LA multifamily transactions.
Koreatown multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Koreatown building…
Hollywood multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Hollywood building…
Mid-City multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Mid-City building…
Culver City multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Culver City…
North Hollywood multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free North…
Mar Vista multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Mar Vista building…
Palms multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Palms building valuation.
Brentwood multifamily broker Michael Sterman of Marcus & Millichap has closed $1.51B across 269 LA apartment building sales. Get a free Brentwood building…
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