Six California cities vote on rent rules Tuesday, from new caps to an outright repeal

Voters in six California cities decide on rent rules Tuesday, November 3. Two cities, Redwood City and San Pablo, could adopt new caps on rent increases. Salinas could repeal the one it has. Santa Monica, Berkeley, and Cudahy are voting on changes to rules already on the books.

Every measure works inside limits set by the state. California's statewide cap, known as AB 1482, generally holds annual increases to 5% plus local inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower. Local caps can go further, but a separate state law, the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, generally bars cities from capping rents on homes built after February 1, 1995, and on most single-family homes. That's why the 1995 date shows up in several of these measures.

Redwood City's Measure E is the biggest change on the ballot. It would cap annual increases on multifamily buildings built before February 1, 1995, at 60% of local inflation, with a 5% maximum, according to the city attorney's analysis. It would also roll covered rents back to what tenants paid on October 29, 2025, extend just-cause eviction rules to most rentals, including single-family homes, and raise relocation payments for no-fault evictions to four times HUD's monthly fair market rent or $12,000, whichever is greater. The ballot question puts the cost of running the program at $5 million to $11 million a year, paid for with fees on landlords. The California Apartment Association is campaigning against it, and Redwood City's mayor called it "poorly written policy" in a statement to ABC7. Typical rent in Redwood City was a record $4,301 in September, up 9.3% from a year earlier and 34% since 2021, according to RentDataNow data built on the Zillow Observed Rent Index.

San Pablo's Measure S, a citizen initiative led by the tenant group Rising Juntos, would be tighter still. The city attorney's analysis says it would cap increases at 60% of regional inflation, with a 3% maximum, and roll rents back to what was charged on July 1, 2025. KQED reported it would cover multi-unit buildings built before February 1, 1995, as well as some mobile home rentals. The city estimates it would cost $1.08 million to $2.36 million a year and take 3.2 to 7.9 full-time staff. In San Pablo, the median renter household earned $72,087, and about 56% of renters paid 30% or more of their income on housing, according to Census data for 2020 to 2024.

Salinas is voting on the opposite question. A yes vote on Measure H would repeal four city laws, covering rental registration, rent stabilization, just-cause eviction, and tenant anti-harassment. A no vote keeps them. The city council passed the repeal 5-2 in June 2025, but a referendum kept it from taking effect and sent it to voters. The current cap limits increases on covered units to 2.75% or 75% of inflation, whichever is lower. Typical rent in Salinas hit a record $2,530 in September, up 5.8% from a year earlier, and about 54% of renters there pay 30% or more of income.

The other three cities already have rent control. In Santa Monica, where 72% of households rent, Measure GG updates rent board rules and lets the registration fee cap rise with inflation. Measure RR would bar evictions for unpaid rent when a tenant owes less than one month of the average fair market rent HUD sets for the city's zip codes. Measure VV would extend eviction protections to tenants in single-family homes and condos. An earlier proposal to bar evictions when tenants add new occupants was replaced and is not on the ballot. Berkeley's Measure X would bar raising rent by more than 10% in a year and change some exemptions and tenant association rules. In Cudahy, where about 86% of households rent and about 61% of renters pay 30% or more of income, Measure H would require a public vote to raise the city's 3% cap and a two-thirds council vote for other changes.

Outside California, the biggest rent-control question of the year is already settled. Massachusetts' highest court took a statewide measure off the ballot in June, which we covered in our report on the ruling. At least two Maine towns, Standish and Oakland, are voting on rent rules for mobile home park lots. For how rent control already works in one California city, see our story on a San Francisco rent-control case. We'll update this story with results.

Sources

• Redwood City Measure E ballot question and city attorney's impartial analysis, San Mateo County Elections

• City of San Pablo, November 3, 2026 ballot measures, including the Measure S impartial analysis (August 19, 2026)

• Salinas Ordinance No. 2687 and Rent Stabilization Ordinance No. 2681

• City of Santa Monica, Measures GG, RR, and VV

• City of Berkeley, November 2026 impartial analyses

• Los Angeles County, final measures appearing on the ballot, for Santa Monica and Cudahy

• ABC7, Redwood City voters to decide on rent control with Measure E

• California Apartment Association, Redwood City measure qualifies

• US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, tables B25003, B25070, and B25119

• RentDataNow city rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, September 2026