Not in the City of LA? Here’s What That Means for Your Tenant Rights in 2025

Living in Los Angeles County but not within the actual city limits of Los Angeles? You’re not alone, and your legal protections as a tenant may be very different than what most LA renters assume. While the City of LA enforces the well-known Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), tenants outside that boundary live under a patchwork of local and state laws that range from fairly strong to almost nonexistent.

Understanding which rules apply to your unit is not just academic. It affects how much your rent can be raised, whether your landlord needs a reason to evict you, and whether you’re entitled to relocation money or have a legal defense if you’re forced out. This is not just about knowing your rights, it’s about knowing your jurisdiction. Because in LA County, geography is law.

The State Law: AB 1482 Is the Floor, Not the Ceiling

Let’s start with what applies everywhere in California unless a local law overrides it: AB 1482, also known as the Tenant Protection Act of 2019. If you rent a unit in California, and there’s no local ordinance giving you more protection, this is your baseline.

AB 1482 limits rent increases to 5% plus the local inflation rate, with a maximum of 10% per year. It also prevents landlords from evicting tenants who have lived in a unit for more than 12 months unless they have “just cause”, either fault-based (like nonpayment of rent or breach of lease) or no-fault (like an owner move-in or major renovation). In no-fault cases, landlords must offer one month’s rent in relocation assistance or waive the last month’s rent.

But these protections come with a long list of exceptions. If your unit is a single-family home or condo owned by an individual, it’s likely exempt, unless your landlord failed to include a specific notice in your lease. New construction (built within the last 15 years), government-subsidized housing, and certain short-term arrangements also fall outside AB 1482’s reach.

So, even under state law, plenty of tenants are left exposed. That’s why it matters whether your city or the county has enacted additional protections.

Unincorporated LA County: A Quietly Strong Set of Tenant Protections

If you’re not inside a city at all, if you live in an area like East Los Angeles, Lennox, Valinda, or parts of Florence-Firestone, you’re in unincorporated LA County. And that means you’re covered by the Los Angeles County Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections Ordinance, which in many ways goes beyond what AB 1482 offers.

For tenants in buildings constructed before February 1, 1995, the classic “rent-stabilized” stock, the County limits rent increases to just 4% per year (subject to change based on inflation). This is often much lower than the cap allowed under AB 1482, making it one of the more tenant-friendly regimes in the region.

The County’s ordinance also enforces “just cause” eviction rules with more procedural guardrails than AB 1482. For example, landlords must provide detailed written notices, use specific language, and follow relocation assistance formulas based on the tenant’s income, age, disability status, and length of tenancy. Evictions for owner move-ins or renovations are allowed, but only under strict requirements, and landlords often trip over those procedural details.

If your unit was built after 1995, AB 1482 generally controls rent increases, but the County still enforces just cause eviction rules and anti-harassment provisions. That means even tenants in newer buildings have some legal tools to push back against abusive or retaliatory landlords.

Many unincorporated tenants don’t know these protections exist, and many landlords hope to keep it that way. But these rules are enforceable, and county agencies will investigate complaints if properly filed.

Inside the Cities of LA County: A Jurisdictional Patchwork

Once you step into one of the 88 incorporated cities within LA County, the rules can change dramatically. Some cities have enacted their own rent control ordinances and eviction protections, while others offer tenants little more than what AB 1482 requires. Here’s where that gets complicated.

Take Inglewood, for example. The city passed its own rent stabilization law that covers units built before 1995, caps rent increases, and imposes strict just cause eviction rules. Landlords in Inglewood must register their units, pay fees to the city, and follow a specific relocation payment schedule for no-fault evictions.

Pasadena, after years of tenant advocacy, passed Measure H in 2022, establishing a rent control board and capping rent hikes based on a city-calculated formula. It also created an enforcement mechanism, giving tenants a direct channel to challenge unlawful increases and illegal evictions.

Then there are cities like Santa Monica and West Hollywood, long known for their rigorous rent control systems. These cities predate even AB 1482, with rent rollback provisions, highly restrictive eviction rules, and formal hearing processes for disputes.

But not every city offers this kind of protection. In places like Long Beach, Downey, Whittier, and West Covina, there is no local rent control. No local eviction protection. No required relocation pay. These cities largely default to AB 1482, and if your unit is exempt under that law, because it’s a single-family home, a new build, or something else, you may have almost no legal shield.

Tenants often assume that “California is tenant-friendly,” but the reality is: unless your city has acted, your protections may be thin.

So What Should Tenants Actually Do?

First, get clear on where you live. Look up your address and determine whether you’re in a city or in unincorporated LA County. Don’t guess, use the County Registrar or GIS system. Too many tenants assume they’re in LA City when they’re not, or think they’re in unincorporated territory when they’re inside city lines.

Next, pull your lease and identify the year your building was built. That’s going to determine whether rent stabilization applies under either the County ordinance or local city law.

Then check whether your landlord has claimed an AB 1482 exemption. If they have, or if they’ve raised rent more than 10%, demand documentation. Many landlords either don’t understand the law or think their tenants won’t. If they’ve failed to provide the correct disclosures, they may have lost their exemption rights entirely.

Finally, start documenting everything. Take photos of any habitability issues. Save every communication. Keep a rent ledger. Because when things get ugly, when the eviction notice shows up, or the rent gets hiked 30% overnight, the tenants who win are the ones who come to the table with proof.

The Bottom Line: Don’t Assume, Confirm

In LA County, tenant protections are not uniform. The City of Los Angeles may get the headlines for its RSO and relocation payouts, but strong protections also exist in less obvious places, like unincorporated county areas or progressive cities like Inglewood and Pasadena. At the same time, vast swaths of the county remain under-regulated, and tenants in those areas may have to rely solely on state law or push for policy change.

Landlord-tenant law in California isn’t just complex, it’s tactical. And the biggest tactical error tenants make is assuming the law protects them without understanding which law applies. If you want to stay in your home, or make a clean break with compensation, start by knowing your map.