Living in Orange County, CA.
For the majority of years that I lived in California, I lived in L.A. County.
I can’t make any kind citable claim about the landlord/renter laws in L.A. County, but I know that, from years of living there, it always seemed like there were laws about rent increases.
After my initial lease was up in the couple of different apartments I lived in, I would get a very formally drafted notice from the landlord, complete with plenty of legalese, explaining the rent increase. I was always given more than 30 days notice, and the rent increase was always a very particular figure- like a something point something per cent. It wasn’t some neat round number that I would expect if the landlord had just decided on his own how much he wanted to increase it.
The notice I got always came in a very proper looking form, and the percentage increase was always that same very particular figure, so I always assumed it was on the up and up- and in fact regulated by local law.
The first apartment I lived in in Orange County was in an apartment complex. At the end of the lease they always offered another lease, at no rent increase, with the option being to go month to month with a rent increase. We would sign on for another lease and never dealt with a rent increase at that particular property.
Now we’re at the end of the year at this new apartment, a single building privately owned. The landlord wants to raise the rent, wants us to sign a new lease at the higher rate, and has only given us 5 days notice before rent is due (he e-mailed us on the 26th, wanting the increase to take effect on the 1st).
The amount of the rent increase seems a little steep.
Also, the short notice doesn’t seem right.
So, where do I go to find out what County or City regulations might regulate this? Is there a particular government agency I can call?
City of San Clemente, Orange County, CA