Landlord Atlas

Pomona, California: Rent Stabilization and Eviction Control Ordinance of 2025 (Ordinance No. 4359)

Verified August 17, 2026 All California topics →

Pomona caps rent increases at 5% a year, from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, for rentals that are not exempt.

Cited to Pomona City Code § 30-574 (scope; exemptions; notice of exemption) and 13 more sources · Verified August 17, 2026

The figure is a flat number written into Ordinance No. 4359, which the City Council adopted on November 17, 2025 — it does not move with inflation, and the city does not publish a new percentage each year. Only one increase is allowed in any 12-month period, and an increase a landlord skips cannot be saved for later. Homes first occupied after February 1, 1995, buildings less than 15 years old, and single-family houses, condominiums and townhomes that can be sold separately are outside the ordinance entirely, along with subsidized and income-restricted units and several owner-occupied arrangements; many of those still fall under California's statewide limit of 5% plus inflation, capped at 10%. Covered tenancies can be ended only on listed grounds, no-fault evictions carry relocation payments ranging from $5,926 to $15,377 depending on the tenant and the landlord, and there is no registration requirement or program fee. The ordinance is written to expire on December 31, 2026 unless the City Council votes to fund it further.

Current published figures

Figure Value Applies to Source
Maximum allowable rent increase (covered units) 5% January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026 Official source

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, and set to expire December 31, 2026 unless the City Council votes to keep funding it. The Pomona City Council adopted Ordinance No. 4359, the Rent Stabilization and Eviction Control Ordinance of 2025, on November 17, 2025, and it took effect January 1, 2026 as Division 4 of Article VIII of Chapter 30 of the city code. It replaced the city's two emergency measures — Ordinance No. 4320 of 2022, which capped increases at the lower of 4% or inflation, and Ordinance No. 4329 of 2023 on relocation payments — both of which were repealed the day it took effect. The ordinance says it stays in effect only until December 31, 2026 unless the City Council passes a resolution on or before that date identifying and setting aside money to keep the program running; if the council does not, the rules become inoperative as though repealed. City staff tied that end date to funding, telling the council the program is paid for out of federal recovery money only through December 2026. The Neighborhood Services Department runs the program; there is no rent board.

The rent increase limit

Rent for a covered unit may not be raised by more than 5% above the highest monthly rent charged for that unit in the 12 months before the increase takes effect, and only one increase is allowed in any 12-month period. The 5% is a flat number written into the ordinance — it is not tied to inflation, no yearly recalculation happens, and nobody announces a new figure each year. An increase a landlord chooses not to take is lost; it cannot be saved up and added to a later year. Rent cannot be raised at all while the unit fails the basic habitability standard, and cutting back services such as parking or laundry counts as a rent increase. A landlord who says the cap prevents a fair and reasonable return may ask the city for more through a fair return petition, and may ask to pass through the cost of capital improvements, though a pass-through may not exceed the lesser of 10% of the monthly rent or $100 a month. A landlord who files either petition pays the city's full cost of reviewing it, estimated in advance. An independent hearing officer decides all petitions.

What housing is covered

The rules reach every rental unit in Pomona, including accessory dwelling units, unless the unit falls in one of twelve exempt categories — and an exempt unit is outside the whole ordinance, eviction protections included, not just the rent cap. The exemptions are: buildings first issued a certificate of occupancy after February 1, 1995, a line state law fixes in place; any building issued a certificate of occupancy within the past 15 years; homes that can be sold separately from any other dwelling, meaning single-family houses, condominiums and townhomes; subdivided interests; hotel and tourist stays; nonprofit hospitals, religious facilities, extended care and licensed residential care facilities for the elderly, and adult residential facilities; college and school dormitories; a room in the owner's own home where the tenant shares a kitchen or bathroom; an owner-occupied single-family home where the owner rents out no more than two units or bedrooms; an owner-occupied duplex, so long as the owner keeps living there; units whose landlord receives a federal, state or local housing subsidy, including Section 8 vouchers; and units under a recorded agreement limiting tenant income and rent. Mobile homes are covered by a separate part of the city code instead. An exemption is not automatic: the landlord must file a notice of exemption with the city, before collecting rent for a new tenancy or within 60 days of the start date for an existing one, and a unit whose landlord does not file is treated as covered.

What happens on vacancy

When no tenant is living in a covered unit, the landlord may set the starting rent for the next tenancy at any amount, and the 5% limit then applies to increases after that. The ordinance sets no extra condition on this — it does not bar a reset after a no-fault eviction, and it gives a displaced tenant no right to return at the old rent. State law separately blocks a reset where the previous tenancy ended on the owner's own termination notice or on an owner-noticed change in terms.

Eviction and termination rules

A landlord may end a tenancy in a covered unit only on one of the grounds the ordinance lists, and must also serve the notice properly, refuse rent for any period beyond the terminated term, and file a copy of the eviction court case with the city — including the court name, case number and proof of service — within 10 calendar days of serving the tenant. Tenant-fault grounds are nonpayment after a 3-day notice, an uncured material lease breach, continued refusal of reasonable access, nuisance or damage, and illegal use of the property. Domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking against a tenant or household member cannot be the substantial basis for evicting the victim. No-fault grounds are demolition, permanent removal from the rental market, substantial work costing at least eight times the monthly rent per unit and leaving the unit unlivable for at least 30 days, a move-in by the owner or a listed relative, a resident manager, a tenancy requiring case management, a government order to vacate, and the end of a tenant's eligibility under an agreement with a government agency. An owner or relative must move in within three months and stay at least 12 months, and may use the ground only once per person in each rental complex. A move-in eviction may not be used against a household where a tenant has lived there at least 10 years and is 62 or older or disabled, or where a tenant is terminally ill. Every no-fault eviction requires a relocation payment, made per unit rather than per tenant: $6,164 for a tenant of under three years, $8,074 for a tenant of three years or longer or a household at or below 80% of area median income, and $12,998 or $15,377 on the same tenure lines for a tenant who is 62 or older, disabled, or has a minor dependent child. Small landlords who meet four conditions — a building of four or fewer units, no relocation paid in that building in three years, no more than four units plus one house owned in the city, and an incoming relative who owns no property in the city — pay $5,926 or $11,960 instead. Half is due within 7 days of the termination notice and half within 7 days after the tenant moves out, and the landlord must tell the tenant about the payment when serving the notice. Relocation is not owed where the tenant was warned before signing about a pending conversion, where one resident manager replaces another, where a natural disaster forces the order to vacate, or where another government agency pays as much or more.

Registration and filings

Pomona charges owners of rent-capped units no annual filing and no per-unit fee. A citywide rental listing requirement was written into the draft ordinance and taken out before adoption: the council declined to pass the version containing it in October 2025, and the version that passed in November 2025 has no such requirement. The only filing the ordinance requires is the opposite one — a landlord who believes a unit is exempt must file a notice of exemption with the Neighborhood Services Department, on the city's form, signed under penalty of perjury and backed by documents, and a unit whose landlord does not file is treated as covered. The city acknowledges a filing within 30 days and reviews it within 90, and the acknowledgment is not an approval. Exemptions must be renewed on a schedule the department sets, and a landlord must report within 30 days if the basis for an exemption ends. For any lease starting on or after January 1, 2026, the lease itself must say whether the unit is claimed as exempt and under which category.

Other requirements

A landlord found in violation on a tenant's petition may be fined up to $1,000, with each day counting separately, and the city may also issue citations carrying fines the City Council sets. A tenant may sue in court without going through the city first, a tenant who wins is awarded attorneys' fees and costs, and a violation of the ordinance is a defense to an eviction case. Any agreement to give up rights under the ordinance is void. The city offers voluntary mediation between landlords and tenants through the Housing Rights Center, which started as a one-year pilot on November 1, 2025 and must be used before an eviction is filed in court; it is not a route for deciding rent stabilization disputes. The City Manager may issue regulations that carry the force of law, and the current set adds detail on exemption filings, rent-increase notices, record keeping, and how a fair return petition is judged. Pomona has no rules on security deposit interest, tenant buyout offers, or tenant harassment.

Notes and caveats

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Pomona, California: Rent Stabilization and Eviction Control Ordinance of 2025 (Ordinance No. 4359) (verified August 17, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/california/pomona/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Citations

This page records local law. Statewide rules — 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.