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Stay informed with the latest real estate insights, property management tips, and market updates from Bessa Properties.
LA Rental Market Update, Q4 2026: Rents, Vacancy, Rates and Rent Caps
LA rental market update for Q4 2026: HUD Fair Market Rents up 14%, Census vacancy for the West, Freddie Mac...
Subletting and Added Roommates: What LA Rental Owners Can Control
What LA owners can do about sublets and added roommates: lease clauses, cure notices, the RSO's 10% added-tenant rule, and...
The California Lease Disclosure Checklist for LA Rental Owners
Every disclosure a California lease needs in 2026, from the flood and Megan's Law notices to shared meters and pesticides,...
Every guide we have written for LA owners
The three most recent posts are above. Everything else is below, grouped by the question it answers. A lot of it is city-specific on purpose: the rules change at the city line, so a fourplex in Inglewood, a duplex in Culver City and a six-unit building in Beverly Hills sit under three different rent programs with three different filing deadlines.
Rent caps, rent increases, and registration
- How rent control works in Los Angeles — Which of the overlapping programs applies to your building, and why the answer usually starts with the certificate of occupancy date.
- Rent increase notices: the 30-day and 90-day rule — Counting the notice period, serving it properly, and the current allowable percentage in each city we work in.
- RSO registration and annual compliance in the City of LA — What the annual registration covers, what a lapse blocks, and which program takes over once you cross the city line.
- The LA County rent registry deadline — Owners in unincorporated County areas register by September 30. The late fee is the small part of missing it.
- Inglewood rent increases, the certificate, and the two-tier cap — Buildings of four units or fewer follow a different formula than five and up. Companion to our Inglewood property management page.
- How much you can raise the rent in Culver City — This year’s percentage, the July re-registration, and what a missed filing does to an increase. Pairs with Culver City property management.
- Raising the rent in Beverly Hills — Chapter 5 or Chapter 6, this year’s 3.6% figure, the Chapter 5 surcharges, and what the notice has to say. See Beverly Hills property management.
Notices, evictions, and ending a tenancy
- How an eviction actually works in Los Angeles — The unlawful detainer sequence from notice to judgment, and the points where owners lose months.
- Ending a tenancy in Culver City — The five at-fault and five no-fault grounds, the city application an owner move-in requires, and what relocation assistance really costs.
- Ending a tenancy in Inglewood — Ten at-fault and four no-fault grounds, relocation owed on every no-fault, and three calendar days to file the notice with the city.
- Ending a tenancy in Beverly Hills — Thirteen grounds, the seven that carry no relocation fee, and why a refused lease renewal is not the free exit it looks like.
- The three-day notice to cure, explained — What counts as a curable violation, how the days are counted, and why so many of these notices fail.
- Tenant buyout agreements — When a buyout is the better route than a filing, the disclosure requirements, and the mistakes that void one.
- Taking a building off the rental market — What an Ellis Act withdrawal starts: the 120-day clock that runs from the filing, the extra year a senior or disabled tenant can claim, and the five- and ten-year limits on bringing the units back.
- Hoarding in a unit: what an owner can actually do — Health and safety, reasonable accommodation, and how to get into the unit lawfully.
- When to bring in a real estate attorney — The situations where a property manager should stop and counsel should start.
Screening, leasing, and renewals
- Tenant screening without stepping on the law — What you may ask, what you may charge, and the written criteria and adverse-action notice that keep a denial defensible.
- Rental application fees — What Civil Code 1950.6 lets you charge each applicant and cosigner, the two lawful screening processes, refund deadlines, receipts, and reusable screening reports.
- Leases negotiated in another language — When Civil Code 1632 requires a full translation of the lease for every signer, the notice at signing, the interpreter exception, and the tenant's right to rescind.
- Tenant requests to install an EV charger — When Civil Code 1947.6 requires you to approve one, the five exemptions, why rent control stopped being one in 2019, what the tenant pays, and the current insurance rule.
- Smoking and vaping rules — What Civil Code 1947.5 lets any owner ban, the Culver City and Beverly Hills multi-unit ordinances, the lease clauses and signs each city requires, and where cannabis and vape pens fit.
- When a tenant can end a lease early — The Civil Code 1946.7 notice for victims of abuse and violent crime, military orders under the SCRA, 24-hour lock changes, what you can charge, and mitigation on every other early move-out.
- Organics recycling rules for apartment buildings — What SB 1383 requires of a five-plus unit building: organics service, container colors, the annual and 14-day tenant notices, waivers and fines in LA, Inglewood, Culver City and Beverly Hills.
- Section 8 vouchers and source-of-income rules — California treats a voucher as income, so refusing one is not an option. How the inspection and payment process runs.
- Pets, service animals, and emotional support animals — Where a pet policy ends and an accommodation begins, and what you can and cannot charge.
- How long a unit sits before it leases — What actually moves days-on-market, and how to read a slow listing before it becomes a slow quarter.
- Pricing through peak leasing season — Why the June to September window rewards a decisive number and punishes a hopeful one.
- Renewal or turnover: what letting a tenant go costs — The line items a vacancy adds up to, set against the increase you were holding out for.
- California security deposit law — The cap, the itemized statement, the deadline, and what may be deducted.
- Move-out inspections, step by step — The pre-move-out inspection right, documenting condition, and keeping deductions defensible.
Lease length and short-term rentals
- The Beverly Hills one-year lease rule — Why a six-month lease is off the table in the city, and what that means for a single house. See Beverly Hills property management.
- Airbnb in Inglewood: what the city allows — A question owners near SoFi Stadium ask often, answered from the city’s own rules rather than the listing sites’.
- Short-term rentals in Culver City — The city still prohibits stays under 30 days and issues no permit to apply for. What is lawful at 30 days and up, and what it triggers.
- Short-term rental rules across Los Angeles — Home-sharing registration, the primary-residence requirement, and enforcement — background for owners weighing it. Bessa manages long-term rentals only.
Buildings, maintenance, and safety compliance
- LAHD code orders, inspections, and REAP — The thirty-day compliance clock, what a General Manager's hearing decides, and how a rent-escrow placement cuts the rent on every unit with an uncorrected violation.
- Soft-story retrofit orders and cost recovery — What the order requires, what the City lets you pass through to rent, and the paperwork that has to come first.
- Wildfire and disaster preparedness — Brush clearance, vents and eaves, tenant communication, and what an insurer looks for after a claim.
- Security cameras: what you can and cannot record — Common areas versus private space, audio recording, notice, and where liability starts.
- The 16-unit rule: when a resident manager is required — California requires a resident manager at 16 units or more. What that role is, and what it is not.
- Building manager or property manager — Two different jobs that owners often buy as one. Which tasks belong to each.
- Adding an ADU to a rental parcel — Feasibility, the permitting sequence, and which rent program the new unit lands under.
- ADU rules in Culver City — How many you can build on a house or a fourplex, the size and parking standards, the 30-day rental floor, and what registration does to the new unit.
- ADU rules in Inglewood — What the city’s 2023 code allows, the sixteen points where HCD says state law reaches past it, and how the rent ordinance treats a new backyard unit.
- ADU rules in Beverly Hills — The September 2026 ordinance: the state-law units, the city’s own ADU and its size limits by area, the incentive ADU on large lots, and the one-year lease rule.
- SB 721 balcony and walkway inspections — The January 2026 deadline has already passed. What the law covers beyond balconies, who is qualified to inspect, and the repair clocks that start once something is found.
- Lead paint in a pre-1978 rental — The federal disclosure a lease needs unless an exemption applies, when a repaint or repair needs an EPA-certified firm, and the dust standard that changed in January 2026.
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms — Where each device goes, the sealed 10-year battery rule, the move-in check, and what happens once a tenant reports a dead alarm.
- Repair requests and habitability — What the 1941.1 list requires, the stove and refrigerator rule for 2026 leases, repair and deduct, entry for repairs, and the 180-day retaliation window.
- Mold in a rental — When visible mold makes a unit substandard, when the repair duty starts, why no test is required, what the disclosure statutes say and when they apply, and who inspects in LA County.
- Bed bugs — The written notice every new tenant gets, vacant units, entry for inspections, the two-business-day findings notice, and retaliation.
- The lease disclosure checklist — Every notice a California lease needs, from owner contact details and the flood notice to shared meters, pest control and demolition permits, plus what LA, Culver City and Inglewood add.
- Subletting and added roommates — What a lease can say, the cure notice before a sublet case, the RSO's 10% rule for an added tenant since February 2026, and the Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills grounds.
- The Megan's Law lease notice — Which leases need it, the exact wording, the safe harbor it gives, and why the website cannot be used to screen applicants.
- Belongings a tenant leaves behind — The 1951.3 abandonment notice, the 15- and 18-day claim notices, storage costs, the $700 rule, and property left after a lockout.
- Rent collection rules — The payment form you must accept, cash after a bounced check, rent from a third party, receipts, late fees under Civil Code 1671, and credit reporting.
- Entering a rented unit — The reasons Civil Code 1954 allows, what a written notice must say, buyer showings on oral notice, emergencies, and the City of LA harassment rules.
Insurance
- Insuring a rental in a hard market — Non-renewals, the FAIR Plan, and how to keep a policy that still pays.
- Whether earthquake coverage pencils — Deductibles are a share of value, not a flat sum. How to think about that on a small building.
Money, taxes, and what ownership costs
- City business tax certificates for rental owners — Who needs one in Beverly Hills, Culver City, Inglewood and Los Angeles, how each city measures the tax, and the renewal deadlines and penalties.
- How property management fees are structured — Percentage of rent, flat fee, leasing fee, and the charges that sit outside all three. Our own flat fee management option is one predictable monthly amount.
- The real cost of managing it yourself — Vacancy days, a mispriced listing, a bad notice, and the hours that never show up on a spreadsheet.
- Repair or improvement: the tax line — Deduct it this year or depreciate it over decades. Where the line sits, with the caveat that your CPA has the last word.
- Bookkeeping and Schedule E — Setting up the books so the year-end return is a printout rather than an excavation.
- 1031 exchanges: timing and rules — The 45-day and 180-day clocks, the qualified intermediary, and what disqualifies a swap.
- Recovering utility costs: RUBS and submetering — What a rent-controlled building allows, what has to be disclosed, and when submetering is worth the capital.
- LLC, trust, or your own name — How you hold title changes your property tax basis, your loan and your city filings, not just your liability. Start with Proposition 13.
Buying, selling, and investing
- Buying your first LA rental — Reading the rent roll, checking the certificate of occupancy, and the diligence items specific to this county.
- Single-family or small multifamily — Different financing, different rent rules, different tenant pool. How the two compare in practice.
- Why the pro forma misses — The line items that get underwritten optimistically, and what the operating statement looks like after a year.
- Syndication basics for accredited investors — How a deal is structured, what the sponsor is paid for, and what an investor is actually buying.
Market updates
Working with a property manager
- What we actually do in a month — The recurring work behind a management fee, written out rather than summarized as “peace of mind”.
- Seven things a bad manager gets wrong — The failures that come up most often, and how to spot them before you sign.
- Switching managers: a 30-day checklist — Notice periods, deposit and key transfer, tenant notification, and what to demand from the outgoing company.
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