Pasadena, California: Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (Measure H)

The cap comes from Measure H, the Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment voters approved in 2022, which sets the yearly figure at 75% of Los Angeles-area inflation, rounded to the nearest quarter percent, with no saving of skipped increases. Single-family homes, condominiums, and newer buildings sit outside the city cap, though most newer buildings fall under California's statewide limit of 5% plus inflation (10% maximum) once they are more than 15 years old. Nearly every rental in the city, including houses and condominiums, may be ended only on eleven listed grounds, with relocation payments for no-fault evictions, and landlords must register covered units each year by October 31 and pay a per-unit fee that cannot be passed to tenants.

Current published figures

These figures change on a published cycle; each row states the window it applies to and links the source that published it. Confirm the current figure at the source before acting on it.

What is in force

In force today. Pasadena voters approved Measure H, the Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment, on November 8, 2022; it took effect December 22, 2022 as Article XVIII of the Pasadena City Charter and is administered by the Pasadena Rental Housing Board with the city's Rent Stabilization Department. Voters amended the article on March 5, 2024 and again on November 5, 2024 (Measure PR). In December 2025 the California Court of Appeal upheld the measure overall but held two pieces unenforceable under state law — a relocation payment owed when a tenant leaves because of a large rent increase in a unit outside the rent cap, and a pre-eviction warning notice for nonpayment of rent — and the California Supreme Court declined to review that decision on April 1, 2026, making it final.

The rent increase limit

One rent increase is allowed per 12 months, on at least 30 days' written notice, for units under the rent cap. The Rental Housing Board announces the allowed percentage, called the Annual General Adjustment, by September 1 each year, and it applies from October 1 through the following September 30. The figure is 75% of the change in the Los Angeles-area consumer price index over the 12 months ending in March, rounded to the nearest quarter percent, and cannot go below 0%. An increase not taken during its October-to-September window is lost; it cannot be saved for a later year. Rents are measured from a base rent — the rent in effect on May 17, 2021, or the starting rent of a later tenancy — plus increases lawfully taken since, and rents above that level must be rolled back. Larger increases require a fair-return petition to the Rental Housing Board.

What housing is covered

The rent cap reaches most apartments and other multi-unit rentals first occupied before February 1, 1995. Single-family homes and condominiums, and buildings first occupied after that date, are outside the rent cap — a line state law fixes in place — but they remain covered by the article's eviction protections. Fully outside the article are hotel and rooming-house stays under 30 days, hospitals and licensed care facilities, college dormitories, treatment-program housing, nonprofit tax-credit housing, government housing that state or federal law exempts, a room rented in the owner's own home where the tenant shares a kitchen or bathroom, and a homeowner's temporary rental of their own single-family home for 12 months or less. Inclusionary and density-bonus units fall outside the rent cap to the extent state law allows, and so do tenancies assisted under Section 8, Continuum of Care rental assistance, or a similar program that sets the tenant's share of the rent from household income, for as long as that assistance applies and the rent stays within the program's payment standard. All of them keep the eviction protections (§ 1804(b)(2)–(3)).

What happens on vacancy

When a tenant leaves voluntarily or is evicted for a reason the tenant is responsible for, state law lets the landlord set a new starting rent at any amount; the cap then applies to the new tenancy, and the landlord may not add on costs that arose before the new tenancy began. The rent may not be reset after no-fault terminations such as an owner move-in, and a tenant displaced for repairs, a government order, or a withdrawal from the market has a first right to return at the old rent.

Eviction and termination rules

A landlord may end a tenancy in nearly any Pasadena rental, including single-family homes and condominiums, only on one of eleven grounds listed in the charter, split between tenant-fault grounds (nonpayment, uncured lease violations, nuisance, illegal use, refusing a like-term renewal, denying access, an unapproved subtenant) and no-fault grounds (owner or close-relative move-in, substantial repairs needing at least 30 days of vacancy, withdrawal of the whole property from the rental market, government order). Owner move-ins require a person owning at least half the property, occupancy within 60 days for at least 36 months, and cannot displace tenants of 5 or more years who are 60 or older, disabled, or terminally ill. No-fault terminations require relocation payments set annually by the Rental Housing Board and paid half within 10 days of the notice, plus a notice of intent filed with the board 30 days before the notice is served, and every termination notice must be filed with the board within 3 days of service.

Registration and filings

Owners of covered rentals — both rent-capped units and units covered only by the eviction protections — must register every unit with the Rent Stabilization Department each year by October 31, update the registry within 30 days of any rent change, tenancy start or end, or sale, and pay an annual per-unit rental housing fee that the board sets each spring and that may not be passed on to tenants. Rent may not be raised, and evictions may be defended, while a unit is unregistered or the fee is unpaid.

Other requirements

Security deposits may not be increased during a tenancy, and landlords must pay tenants annual interest on deposits at a rate the Rental Housing Board sets each October, due by January 31. Tenant buyout offers must follow the board's disclosure form, tenants may cancel a buyout within 45 days, and the signed agreement must be filed with the board. Landlords must give a board-issued notice of the charter at the start of each tenancy and with every rent-increase notice, and post it at the building in English and Spanish.

Notes and caveats

• How the city cap and the state cap fit together — units under Pasadena's rent cap are exempt from California's statewide rent cap because the local limit is stricter. Buildings first occupied after February 1, 1995 fall under the statewide cap of 5% plus inflation (at most 10%) once their certificate of occupancy is more than 15 years old. Buildings newer than 15 years, and most individually owned single-family homes and condominiums, sit outside both caps — but Pasadena's eviction protections still reach them.
• State law fixes the coverage line — the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act guarantees landlords a market-rate reset between tenancies, keeps most separately owned single-family homes and condominiums outside local rent caps, and bars the city from capping rents in buildings first occupied after February 1, 1995; the charter applies those limits by reference.
• Two provisions set aside by the Court of Appeal — in December 2025 the California Court of Appeal held that state law overrides two parts of the charter: § 1806(b)(C), which requires a landlord to pay relocation assistance when a tenant in a unit outside the rent cap leaves because of a rent increase above 5% plus the annual adjustment, and the requirement in § 1806(a)(1) of a written warning notice before an eviction for nonpayment of rent. The rest of the measure, including the tenant-majority Rental Housing Board, was upheld. The California Supreme Court denied review on April 1, 2026, so the decision is final. Both provisions still appear in the published charter text, and no replacement regulation has been adopted. Section 1811(o) gives the Rental Housing Board, and not the City Council, the power to adopt replacement regulations where a court holds part of the article unenforceable.
• Rent rollback to May 2021 levels — for tenancies that began on or before May 17, 2021, the lawful rent starts from the rent charged on that date plus the annual adjustments actually taken since; higher rents must be rolled back and overpayments refunded, and the Rent Stabilization Department provides rollback-request and rent-withholding forms.
• Two levels of coverage — the rent cap applies to pre-1995 multi-unit rentals, while the eviction protections, registration, security-deposit interest, and buyout rules apply to nearly all rentals in the city, including single-family homes and condominiums.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Pasadena, California: Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (Measure H) (verified August 16, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/california/pasadena/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (August 16, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

• Updated, October 1, 2026 — Pasadena: the 2.25% Annual General Adjustment period ended September 30, 2026; the figure in force is 2.5% for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, cited to the department's dated announcement. Glendale and Chula Vista: the federal fiscal year 2027 Fair Market Rents that set relocation amounts are stated as in effect since October 1, 2026.
• Correction, September 20, 2026 — Pasadena, California: the note on the December 2025 Court of Appeal decision now names the two charter provisions set aside — § 1806(b)(C), relocation assistance when a tenant outside the rent cap leaves after a rent increase above 5% plus the annual adjustment, and § 1806(a)(1), the written warning notice before an eviction for nonpayment — and states that both still appear in the published charter text and no replacement regulation has been adopted (§ 1811(o) gives that power to the Rental Housing Board); the earlier statement that the board was expected to adopt conforming regulations had no source. The coverage sentence on subsidized tenancies now follows § 1804(b)(2)–(3), including Continuum of Care and similar income-based programs while the rent stays within the program's payment standard. The 2.5% annual general adjustment for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 is cited to the department's August 31, 2026 announcement.

Citations

• Pasadena City Charter Art. XVIII, § 1803 (definitions incl. base rent, covered rental unit) · (b), (c), (d) (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena City Charter Art. XVIII, §§ 1804–1805 (exemptions; partial exemptions) · § 1804(a)–(b), § 1805 (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena City Charter Art. XVIII, § 1806 (just cause for eviction; relocation; security deposits) · (a)(1)–(11), (b), (f), (k) (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena City Charter Art. XVIII, §§ 1807–1809 (stabilization of rents; annual general adjustment; initial rents) · § 1808(a)(1)–(4), (b)–(e); § 1809(a)–(c) (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena City Charter Art. XVIII, § 1810 (tenant buyout notification program) (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena City Charter Art. XVIII, §§ 1811–1812 (Rental Housing Board; rental housing fee; rental registry) · § 1811(a), (l)(1); § 1812(b) (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena Rent Stabilization Department — rent stabilization overview (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena Rent Stabilization Department — rental registry and rental housing fee (verified 2026) Official source
• California Apartment Assn. v. City of Pasadena (Cal. Ct. App., 2d Dist., Div. 7, No. B329883, filed Dec. 18, 2025) · Disposition (verified 2026) Official source
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12 (statewide rent cap and its local-ordinance exemption) · (a), (d)(3)–(d)(5), (o) (verified 2026) Official source
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.2 (statewide just cause; deference to local ordinances) · (i)(1), (n) (verified 2026) Official source
• Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1954.50–1954.535 (Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act) · §§ 1954.52(a), 1954.53(a) (verified 2026) Official source
• Pasadena Rent Stabilization Department — Annual General Adjustment for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 (announced August 31, 2026; Rental Housing Board action of June 18, 2026) · Charter Art. XVIII, § 1808(a)(1) (verified 2026) Official source

This page records local law. Statewide laws — deposits, notice periods, late fees, entry, evictions — live on the California hub, and the state-level position on local rent regulation appears there with its own citations and verification date.