Riverside County’s maximum allowable rent increase rises to 8.1% for any increase taking effect between August 1, 2026 and July 31, 2027.
That is up from 7.5%. If you own residential rental property in Riverside County — or in San Bernardino County, which shares the same index — this is the number that governs every rent increase you serve for the next twelve months, unless your property is exempt or sits under a local ordinance.
One warning before the details: Riverside’s figure is the one most often reported wrong. Nearly every statewide “California rent cap” roundup either omits Riverside or quietly substitutes Los Angeles’s number. If you have been working from a general California guide rather than a Riverside-specific source, there is a real chance you have been using the wrong cap.
The Short Answer
| Maximum allowable increase | 8.1% |
| Applies to effective dates | August 1, 2026 – July 31, 2027 |
| Formula | 5% base + 3.1% Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario CPI |
| Prior year cap | 7.5% (5% + 2.5% CPI) |
| Statutory authority | Cal. Civil Code § 1947.12 (AB 1482) |
| Hard ceiling | 10%, regardless of CPI |
| Counties covered | Riverside and San Bernardino |
The cap applies per 12-month period, not per increase. You may raise rent twice within a 12-month window, but the combined increase cannot exceed 8.1%.
Why Riverside Is Its Own Number
California’s Tenant Protection Act sets the maximum annual rent increase at 5% plus the year-over-year change in the regional Consumer Price Index, never exceeding 10%. The 5% base is fixed by statute. The CPI input resets every August 1.
Riverside County falls within the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario CPI region. Two things about that region matter:
It is measured in March, not April. The statute’s default is the April-to-April change, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish an April figure for the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario area. Where no April number exists, § 1947.12 permits use of the March figure instead. Riverside and San Diego are the two California regions that work this way; Los Angeles and Orange County use April.
It is not a variant of Los Angeles. The Inland Empire index moves independently, and this year it diverged sharply. The March-to-March change came in at 3.1%.
5% + 3.1% = 8.1%.
Riverside vs. Other Southern California Regions
| Region | Cap, 8/1/2026 – 7/31/2027 |
| Riverside & San Bernardino | 8.1% |
| San Diego County | 8.2% |
| Orange & Los Angeles Counties | 8.7% |
| Core Bay Area counties | 8.8% |
| Remainder of California | 8.6% |
Riverside currently has the lowest AB 1482 cap in Southern California. If you own across county lines, you cannot apply one number portfolio-wide — a landlord using the Los Angeles figure on a Riverside property is over-cap by 0.6 points.
The Date That Matters Is the Effective Date — Not the Notice Date
The applicable cap is determined by the date the increase takes effect, not the date the notice was served.
An increase taking effect on or after August 1, 2026 may use 8.1%, even if the notice went out in July. But an increase taking effect on or before July 31, 2026 is still limited to 7.5%, no matter when you drafted the notice or that the higher figure had already been published.
The trap runs in a specific direction when the cap rises. The 8.1% number became public in May, well before it became operative. A notice served in June 2026 for a July 1 effective date that used 8.1% was an over-cap demand — the ceiling that month was 7.5%.
If you have notices in flight, match each one to its effective date, not to today’s number.
Running the Math
Multiply current rent by 1.081 to find the maximum lawful new rent.
| Current Monthly Rent | Maximum Increase | Maximum New Rent |
| $1,600 | $129.60 | $1,729.60 |
| $1,900 | $153.90 | $2,053.90 |
| $2,200 | $178.20 | $2,378.20 |
| $2,500 | $202.50 | $2,702.50 |
| $2,900 | $234.90 | $3,134.90 |
| $3,400 | $275.40 | $3,675.40 |
Two practical cautions:
Round down, not up. Rounding a $2,378.20 ceiling to $2,380 is a $1.80 over-cap demand. Trivial in dollars — but the statute contains no de minimis exception, and liability attaches to the demand.
Count increases already taken in the last 12 months. If you raised rent 4% in February 2026, you have 4.1% of headroom left in that window, not a fresh 8.1%.
Is Your Property Even Covered?
The 8.1% cap applies only to covered units. Several categories are exempt:
- New construction. Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years. This is a rolling exemption — as of 2026 it reaches buildings completed in 2011 or later, and it moves forward every year. A building exempt three years ago may be covered today. Re-verify annually.
- Single-family homes and condominiums, but only if (1) the property is not owned by a corporation, a REIT, or an LLC with at least one corporate member, and (2) the tenant received the statutorily required written exemption notice. Without the notice, the exemption does not apply regardless of ownership structure.
- Owner-occupied duplexes, where the owner has occupied one unit as their principal residence since the tenancy began.
- Deed-restricted affordable housing, dormitories, and certain owner-occupied share arrangements.
The single-family exemption deserves particular attention in the Inland Empire, where single-family rentals make up a larger share of the market than in coastal counties. The required notice language must be delivered properly, and for tenancies entered into or renewed after July 1, 2020 it generally must appear in the lease itself. Corporate and LLC ownership is common in this market, and an LLC with a corporate member does not qualify. Owners who assume the exemption applies without confirming both the ownership structure and the notice are the ones who end up litigating it.
Exempt Does Not Always Mean Uncapped
One caveat worth knowing. During a declared state of emergency, Penal Code § 396 makes it unlawful to increase rental prices by more than 10% — and that applies to exempt properties, which otherwise have no ceiling at all. The housing provision runs for 30 days following a proclamation unless extended.
Riverside County is not currently listed among the jurisdictions under active price gouging protections, but this county sees wildfire and storm declarations regularly, and the protections attach immediately on proclamation. If you are raising rent on an exempt property by more than 10%, confirm there is no active declaration before you serve. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services maintains the current list.
Local Ordinances: What Riverside County Does and Does Not Have
Here the Inland Empire picture differs sharply from coastal Southern California, and the distinction is worth stating plainly.
No city or unincorporated area in Riverside County has general rent control for conventional apartments in the way Santa Ana or Los Angeles does. For most Riverside County rental housing, AB 1482 is the whole of the rent cap analysis.
But three categories of local regulation do exist, and two of them catch landlords out.
Mobilehome park rent stabilization is widespread
Riverside County has one of the largest concentrations of mobilehome park rent stabilization in California. If you own or operate park spaces, AB 1482 is not your governing law.
- Unincorporated Riverside County — Ordinance No. 760, effective March 20, 1996, administered by the County. Park owners are entitled to an annual increase equal to 100% of the applicable CPI in effect at the time of the notice. Annual increases do not require an application to the County, but registration obligations apply.
- City of Riverside — Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.75, applying to all mobilehome parks within city limits. For space rents not governed by a lease with a term greater than one year, annual increases may not exceed 80% of the CPI for the prior 12-month period ending August 31. The operative CPI figure is formally adopted by the City Council each September under RMC § 5.75.040 — so the number changes on a September cycle, not August, and you need the Council-adopted figure rather than the raw BLS number.
- Palm Desert — mobilehome space rent stabilization limiting increases to 75% of CPI.
- Other cities. A number of additional Riverside County cities have adopted mobilehome park ordinances over the years. Coverage and formulas vary, and ordinances are amended. Verify the specific city before serving notice on a park space; do not assume the county ordinance applies inside city limits, or that a neighboring city’s formula carries over.
Palm Springs has actual residential rent control
Palm Springs is the exception to the “no general rent control” rule, and it is the most consequential local ordinance in the county.
The Palm Springs rent control ordinance began as a 1980 voter initiative and has been amended by initiative three times since. Its current features include:
- Rent increases limited to 75% of the CPI increase
- One increase per year maximum
- Coverage extending to mobilehome spaces and certain older residential units
- Mandatory annual registration and fees, with rent increases prohibited while a property is unregistered
- Enhanced tenant damages where a property is in violation
- Waivers of tenant rights under the ordinance are invalid
- A hardship petition process before the Rent Review Commission for owners seeking a fair return
- Vacancy decontrol on covered units except mobilehome park spaces
Two points deserve emphasis. First, as with Santa Ana’s ordinance, an increase can fail for reasons unrelated to the percentage — an unregistered property cannot lawfully raise rent even at a correctly calculated figure.
Second, and directly relevant if you are heading toward an unlawful detainer: for a covered residential unit, the Palm Springs municipal code requires the landlord to allege substantial compliance with the ordinance in the complaint for possession. That is a pleading requirement, not merely a substantive one. A complaint that omits the allegation is vulnerable regardless of the merits of the underlying default.
Just cause ordinances are starting to appear
Riverside County cities have historically not layered local just cause requirements on top of AB 1482, but that is beginning to change. The City of Perris is reported to have adopted an ordinance in January 2026 addressing just cause eviction protections beyond state law.
We flag this rather than summarize it, because local ordinances of this kind are frequently amended between adoption and codification. If your property is in Perris — or in any Riverside County city where you have not checked in the last twelve months — confirm the current codified text and operative date before serving any notice. This is the fastest-moving part of the analysis.
Notice Requirements
The rent cap and the notice statute are separate obligations. Civil Code § 827 requires:
- At least 30 days’ written notice where the increase, combined with any other increases in the prior 12 months, totals 10% or less.
- At least 90 days’ written notice where the increase exceeds 10%.
Because the statewide cap can never exceed 10%, covered units will effectively always fall in the 30-day category. Exempt properties can lawfully exceed 10% — and those increases require 90 days.
Local ordinances may impose additional notice content requirements. Notice must be served in a legally sufficient manner; add five days if serving by mail.
Were Your Past Increases Lawful? Prior-Year Caps and Why They Still Matter
The cap resets every August 1, and each increase is measured against the cap in force on its effective date. An increase served in 2023 is judged by the 2023–2024 number, not today’s.
Riverside’s series has been unusually volatile, which makes this table more important here than in neighboring counties:
| Effective Dates | Riverside & San Bernardino Cap | CPI Input |
| August 1, 2022 – July 31, 2023 | 10% | ceiling applied |
| August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024 | 8.9% | 3.9% |
| August 1, 2024 – July 31, 2025 | 9.3% | 4.3% |
| August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2026 | 7.5% | 2.5% |
| August 1, 2026 – July 31, 2027 | 8.1% | 3.1% |
Note the 2024–25 to 2025–26 transition: the cap fell 1.8 points in a single year, from 9.3% to 7.5%. That is the sharpest single-year drop in any Southern California region during this period. A landlord who took 9.3% in the 2024–25 window and assumed a similar figure remained available the following year over-increased by nearly two points.
The 10% figure in 2022–2023 reflects the statutory ceiling rather than the formula. Inflation ran high enough that 5% + CPI exceeded 10% across every California region that year, so the hard cap governed everywhere. A landlord who took 10% then was within the law; one who assumed 10% remained available in 2023–2024 was not, because the cap that year was 8.9%.
These are Riverside–San Bernardino figures and they are not interchangeable. In the 2025–26 window, Riverside was 7.5%, Los Angeles and Orange County were 8.0%, and San Diego was 8.8%. A landlord who audited a Riverside rent history against a general California table showing 8.0% or 8.8% would conclude an unlawful increase was lawful.
This table begins with the 2022–23 window. Because rent cap claims are generally subject to a three-year limitations period, earlier increases are usually outside the window of live exposure. If you have a specific concern about an increase predating August 2022, that needs individual review rather than a table.
Mobilehome park spaces and Palm Springs properties require a separate audit against the applicable local schedule, which runs on a different calendar and a different formula.
Why an Old Over-Cap Increase Is Not a Closed Issue
Three consequences follow from an unlawful past increase, and the second and third are the ones that surprise people.
1. Direct exposure for the overage. The tenant may have a claim for the amount collected above the lawful maximum, discussed in the next section.
2. It corrupts the base rent going forward. Civil Code § 1947.12 measures the allowable increase against the lowest gross rental rate charged during the preceding 12 months. If a prior increase was unlawful, the argument follows that the lawful base was never the inflated figure — and every increase stacked on top of it compounds the original error. A single bad increase in 2023 can make subsequent, individually reasonable-looking increases unlawful too. Compounding runs in the wrong direction here.
3. It can defeat an unlawful detainer. This is the practical risk that matters most. A three-day notice to pay rent or quit must state the amount of rent actually due. If the rent demanded includes an unlawful overage — even a small one — the notice overstates what is owed and is subject to challenge as defective. Landlords have lost otherwise-strong nonpayment cases on exactly this point, then started over with a corrected notice while arrears kept accruing.
Given how often Riverside’s cap is misreported, this is a live risk in this county specifically. If you are preparing to serve a notice on a long-term tenant, audit the rent history first. Discovering a 2024 miscalculation in your own files is inconvenient. Discovering it in a tenant’s answer is expensive.
How Far Back Does Liability Reach?
For rent cap claims, a tenant generally has three years from the date the cause of action accrued. Because liability can attach each time an over-cap payment is demanded or accepted, the practical reach can extend to the earliest over-cap payment still inside that window rather than to the date the increase was first served.
A further wrinkle: the enhanced remedies described below arrived with SB 567 and took effect April 1, 2024. Increases predating that date are governed by the prior framework, under which the primary consequence was that the excess was simply not owed. Whether and how the newer remedies apply to conduct that began before April 2024 but continued after it is a fact-specific question, and one worth asking a lawyer before you decide an old increase is safely behind you.
Running a Rent History Audit
For each unit with a tenancy predating August 2025:
- Determine which scheme applies — AB 1482, a mobilehome park ordinance, or the Palm Springs ordinance — for each year of the tenancy.
- Pull every rent increase notice served during the tenancy, with its effective date.
- Match each one to the Riverside cap in force on that effective date using the table above — not the cap in force when the notice was drafted, and not a statewide or Los Angeles figure.
- Confirm the unit was covered in each of those years. The 15-year new-construction exemption rolls forward annually.
- Check for stacking. Two increases inside one 12-month window must total no more than that window’s cap. Local ordinances typically permit only one.
- For park spaces and Palm Springs units, verify registration and compliance status for each year an increase was taken.
- Recalculate the lawful base rent forward from the first defective increase, if you find one.
- Decide on remediation before you serve anything new.
Self-correcting is almost always cheaper than being corrected. It also removes the defect from any notice you serve afterward.
What Non-Compliance Costs
Since SB 567 took effect in April 2024, the penalties for exceeding the cap are considerably sharper than they used to be.
An owner who demands, accepts, receives, or retains rent above the maximum allowable amount may be liable to the tenant for:
- Injunctive relief
- Damages equal to the amount by which the payment exceeded the lawful maximum
- Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, at the court’s discretion
- Up to three times the excess amount, on a showing that the owner acted willfully or with oppression, fraud, or malice
The Attorney General, and the city attorney or county counsel where the unit is located, may also enforce the rent cap provisions and seek injunctive relief. Tenants have up to three years to bring a claim.
Note the structure carefully: liability attaches to demanding an over-cap rent, not only to collecting one. A defective notice can create exposure before a single dollar changes hands.
A point of some comfort for owners who got the number wrong in good faith: the treble damages provision requires a showing of willfulness, oppression, fraud, or malice. An honest miscalculation is not that. But the base damages, the attorney’s fees exposure, and the effect on any pending unlawful detainer do not depend on intent at all.
Compliance Checklist for August 1
- Confirm you are using the Riverside figure. 8.1% — not Los Angeles’s 8.7%, not San Diego’s 8.2%, not a statewide number.
- Determine which scheme governs. Mobilehome park space? Palm Springs? A city with a recent ordinance? Those override the state cap.
- Confirm coverage. Is the unit exempt? If you’re relying on the single-family exemption, verify both the ownership structure and the notice in the lease file.
- If the unit is exempt, check for an active emergency declaration before increasing by more than 10%.
- Check the effective date. Increases effective on or before July 31, 2026 are still capped at 7.5%.
- Subtract prior increases taken in the last 12 months.
- Audit the rent history on any tenancy predating August 2025, and verify the current rent is a lawful base before you build on it.
- Round down.
- Serve proper notice — 30 days minimum for covered units, plus mailing time, plus any local content requirements.
- Document everything. Keep the calculation, the notice, and proof of service together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the maximum rent increase in Riverside County for 2026? 8.1% for any increase taking effect between August 1, 2026 and July 31, 2027, on properties covered by California’s Tenant Protection Act. This is calculated as the statutory 5% base plus the 3.1% Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario CPI change.
Is the Riverside cap the same as Los Angeles or San Diego? No. Los Angeles and Orange County are 8.7% and San Diego is 8.2% for the same period. Riverside has its own CPI region and currently the lowest cap in Southern California. Using another region’s figure is the most common error we see in this county.
Does the same cap apply in San Bernardino County? Yes. Riverside and San Bernardino counties share the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario CPI region, so both are at 8.1%.
Why did the Riverside cap go up from 7.5% to 8.1%? Regional inflation rose. The formula is fixed at 5% plus regional CPI. The Inland Empire CPI input increased from 2.5% to 3.1%, raising the cap by the same 0.6 points.
Why is Riverside measured in March instead of April? The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish an April CPI figure for the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario area. Where no April number exists, Civil Code § 1947.12 permits use of the March figure. Riverside and San Diego are the two California regions that work this way.
Is there rent control in Riverside County? Not for conventional apartments in most of the county. Palm Springs has a residential rent control ordinance covering certain older units and mobilehome spaces. Many Riverside County cities and the unincorporated county have mobilehome park rent stabilization ordinances. Everywhere else, AB 1482 governs.
What are the rent rules for mobilehome parks in Riverside County? They depend on location. Unincorporated Riverside County allows 100% of CPI under Ordinance No. 760. The City of Riverside limits certain space rent increases to 80% of CPI under RMC Chapter 5.75, on a September adoption cycle. Palm Desert limits increases to 75% of CPI. Other cities have their own ordinances. Verify the specific jurisdiction.
What were the Riverside rent caps in prior years? 10% for August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023; 8.9% for August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024; 9.3% for August 1, 2024–July 31, 2025; and 7.5% for August 1, 2025–July 31, 2026. Each increase is measured against the cap in force on its effective date.
I used the Los Angeles number by mistake. What happens now? Three things are in play: potential liability for the overage, the risk that the current rent is not a lawful base for future increases, and the possibility that a pay-or-quit notice stating the inflated amount would be defective. Have the rent history reviewed before serving any new notice.
How far back can a tenant sue over an illegal rent increase? Generally three years from when the claim accrued, though the analysis is fact-specific — particularly for increases predating April 1, 2024, when the current remedies took effect.
Talk to a Riverside County Landlord Attorney
Rent cap compliance is arithmetic until it isn’t. The wrong regional figure, mobilehome park ordinances, Palm Springs registration requirements, newly adopted city ordinances, and inherited rent histories are where a defensible increase becomes a disputed one — and where a defective notice can undermine an unlawful detainer months later.
If you have questions about a specific increase, a tenant disputing one, or a notice you’ve already served, contact our office for a consultation.
This article is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Rent cap figures reflect published CPI data as of July 2026 and are subject to annual reset. Local ordinances change; verify current municipal requirements before serving notice.
