Rent control rules in Petaluma, CA — also known as rent stabilization or rent cap ordinances — limit annual rent increases and protect tenants from displacement.
Unincorporated Sonoma County does NOT have a local rent control ordinance. The 2024 Residential Tenancy Protections Ordinance (Ord. 6496) added eviction protections but did not adopt a local rent cap. The only annual rent-increase cap covering most Sonoma County tenants is California's statewide Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482), codified at Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12, which limits increases to 5% + the regional CPI, with a 10% hard ceiling.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.12 caps annual rent increases at 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living for the property's region, or 10% total, whichever is lower, measured over any 12-month period — and no more than two increment events are allowed within that window. Sonoma County uses the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward CPI region for AB 1482 purposes; for the August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026 period the regional cap totals 7.7%, and the prior August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025 cap was 8.8%. Exemptions under § 1947.12(d) include: housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years; deed-restricted affordable housing; dormitories; single-family homes and condominiums owned by a non-corporate, non-REIT, non-LLC-with-corporate-member owner who provides the required AB 1482 disclosure; and owner-occupied duplexes. AB 1482 is operative through January 1, 2030 (§ 1947.12(j)). Sonoma County does not maintain a rent board; disputes are resolved in small claims court or via tenant legal aid.
AB 1482 has no Sonoma County administrative enforcement. A tenant charged an unlawful increase may sue in small claims for restitution under § 1947.12(h), recover the unlawful overage, and raise an affirmative defense in any unlawful detainer based on the excess rent. The 2024 Ord. 6496 separately makes failure to provide required termination/AB-1482 disclosures actionable.
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