Updated August 16, 2026
Beverly Hills is not the deregulated market its reputation suggests. The city maintains its own rent stabilization program covering most multifamily built before 1995, with an annual cap, registration requirements and just-cause protections — administered by the city, entirely separately from Los Angeles. What Beverly Hills does not have is Measure ULA, and on a larger transaction that single fact is worth more than most of the operating differences combined. This is a broker's plain-English explainer, not legal advice; confirm any specific building with the City of Beverly Hills.
Measure ULA — the LA City transfer tax that adds 4.0% of gross price above $5.4 million and 5.5% above $10.9 million — does not apply in Beverly Hills. It is a City of Los Angeles tax, and Beverly Hills is its own city.
On a $9 million building that is roughly $360,000 that stays in the transaction. On a $12 million building at the higher tier it is around $660,000. That is not a rounding difference; on many Beverly Hills assets it exceeds the entire brokerage cost of the sale.
It is also a genuine competitive advantage for a Beverly Hills asset over an otherwise comparable LA City one, and it belongs in the net proceeds conversation from the first meeting rather than being discovered at closing.
Assuming there is no rent control at all. The most common error. A pre-1995 Beverly Hills building is very likely covered, and an increase taken at a rate the program does not allow is a rollback exposure a buyer will find.
Assuming LA City rules apply. They do not. Not the RSO formula, not the 2026 rewrite, not the LA relocation schedule, not the LAHD filing requirements. Every one of those is a different city's rule.
Letting registration lapse. As with every stabilized jurisdiction, current registration is what makes an increase defensible. A buyer's diligence starts there.
Sellers. Confirm coverage and registration before you price, and put the ULA exemption in the net sheet explicitly — it is one of the few genuinely good pieces of news in a seller's cost stack and most owners do not know it applies to them.
Buyers. Verify the increase history against the Beverly Hills cap in force in each year, not against the LA City schedule, and confirm registration status as part of underwriting.
Is Beverly Hills rent controlled?
Yes, for most pre-1995 multifamily, under the city's own rent stabilization program. The perception that it is unregulated because it is an affluent city is simply wrong, and it costs owners money when they act on it.
Does Measure ULA apply here?
No. ULA is a City of Los Angeles tax. On a sale above the $5.4 million threshold that distinction is worth 4% of the gross price, and above $10.9 million it is 5.5%.
What is the current allowable increase?
The last published cycle, July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, was 3%. That window has expired, so confirm the current figure directly with the city — annual caps reset and a stale number in a notice creates exactly the kind of exposure buyers price against.
Do LA City relocation amounts apply to a no-fault termination here?
No. Beverly Hills has its own relocation provisions under its own program. Applying the LA City schedule — currently $10,650 to $26,550 per tenant depending on profile — to a Beverly Hills building is a jurisdiction error in both directions.
Two facts do most of the work in a Beverly Hills sale, and they pull in opposite directions. The building is probably rent stabilized, which owners tend not to expect. And the sale is outside Measure ULA, which owners tend not to know. Establish both before pricing, because one of them constrains the rent roll and the other one hands back a six-figure sum at closing.
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