Petaluma, CA Rental Property Rules: Rent Increase Notice (2026)

040(F) sets a flat ninety-day written notice period for any rent increase given under subsections B, C or E of the section, covering the annually posted CPI-based increase, an administration-fee pass-through, or an owner-requested increase above the normal cap. 050(B) fills out what that notice must contain when the increase exceeds the automatic annual limit: the dollar amount and percentage of the increase, documentation of unavoidable cost increases or capital improvements supporting it, a summary of the owner's net operating income for the preceding twenty-four months, the identity of other affected tenants, the address and phone number of the clerk (the city manager or a designee who administers the program), and a copy of the official arbitration petition form.

If the proposed increase exceeds the automatic cap, the notice must state in capital letters that arbitration is automatically required by operation of law. 050(D) makes the ninety-day notice a precondition to collecting any increase at all: an owner who fails to serve the required notice or supporting information cannot collect that increase from the tenant, and the failure is itself a defense in any action the owner brings to recover the space or the increase, though the owner may cure the defect by giving proper notice before pursuing collection or possession.

This ninety-day mobilehome notice period is distinct from the general residential rent-increase notice under state law, Civil Code Section 827, which applies to ordinary apartment and house tenancies rather than mobilehome spaces.