(A) Increases in rent on residential real property in the city may not exceed the lesser of 3% or 60% of the most recent 12-month increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward Area published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only one rent increase in any 12 month period is permitted. A reduction in housing services is an increase in rent.
(B) Division (A) of this section shall apply to all rent increases occurring on or after August 23, 2022.
(1) In the event that a landlord has increased the rent by more than the amount permissible under division (A) between August 23, 2022 and the effective date of this Rent Stabilization chapter, the applicable rent on the effective date of this Rent Stabilization chapter shall be the rent as it existed on August 23, 2022 plus the maximum permissible increase authorized under division (A) of this section and applicable state law, if any.
(2) A landlord has no duty to refund otherwise lawful rent received prior to the effective date of this Rent Stabilization chapter in excess of the amount authorized by this section.
(C) The 12 month period referenced in division (A) of this section shall begin on the date of the last rent increase regardless of whether the last increase occurred prior to the effective date of the Rent Stabilization chapter.
(D) The City Council finds that the limited retroactive effect enacted by divisions (B) and (C) of this section are necessary to counteract any rent increases imposed in anticipation of the adoption of rent stabilization in the city and to more fully effectuate the legislative and public purposes of this Rent Stabilization chapter.
(Ord. 2219-C-S, passed 10-11-22; Am. Ord. 2227-C-S, passed 6-27-2023)