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

3(b) of the Rent Ordinance turns a rent increase notice into an itemized disclosure. On or before the date a landlord gives a tenant legal notice of a rent increase, the landlord must inform the tenant in writing which portion of the increase reflects each permitted component: the annual allowable increase and/or a banked amount, if any; certified operating and maintenance or capital improvement costs; a gas and electric or water and bond passthrough; and RAP loan amortization. The timing rule means the breakdown cannot trail the notice; it must arrive with the legal notice or before it.

The itemization requirement means a bare dollar amount is not enough: the tenant is entitled to see how the total was assembled from the permitted categories, which is what lets the tenant check each piece against what the Rent Ordinance allows. 3(b)(5), titled Nonconforming Rent Increases: any rent increase which does not conform with the provisions of this Section is null and void, meaning the nonconforming increase has no legal effect. A tenant whose rent increase arrived without the required written breakdown can petition the San Francisco Rent Board for a hearing. The requirement applies to rent-controlled units with tenants in occupancy, and the Rent Board is the enforcing agency.