San Jose Residential Lease Agreement
Generate a residential lease agreement that complies with San Jose's local ordinances — including rent control rules, just-cause eviction requirements, and mandatory disclosures that go beyond California state law.
San Jose Residential Lease Agreement
San Jose, California
Local Ordinances
San Jose Lease Requirements
What San Jose's local ordinances require that California state law does not.
Landlords of units covered by the San Jose Apartment Rent Ordinance (ARO) must register each covered unit with the City of San Jose Rent Stabilization Program and pay the annual registration fee; unregistered landlords may not serve a valid rent increase notice, and tenants may withhold any increase until registration is complete.
Landlords must provide every tenant in an ARO-covered unit with a copy of the ARO Summary (a City-prepared plain-language summary of tenant rights and ARO rules) at the commencement of the tenancy and upon request; failure to provide the summary at move-in is a violation subject to City enforcement.
Before serving any eviction notice for a no-fault reason (including Ellis Act withdrawal or substantial rehabilitation), landlords must file a Notice of Intent to Withdraw or Demolish with the City's Rent Stabilization Program and simultaneously serve tenants with both the eviction notice and the City's relocation assistance schedule.
Landlords must maintain the unit in compliance with the San Jose Housing Code and respond to written habitability complaints within a reasonable time; the City's Code Enforcement Division conducts proactive inspections of ARO-covered buildings, and outstanding violations may preclude approval of rent increase petitions.
Any capital improvement petition or operating expense petition submitted to the ARO hearing officer must include documentation of the landlord's actual costs, evidence that improvements were completed and approved by the City's Building Division, and certification that no outstanding code violations exist on the property.
Restrictions & Limits
Annual rent increases for ARO-covered units (buildings with three or more units built before September 7, 1979, not exempt under Costa-Hawkins) are limited to the annual allowable increase set by the ARO board, which is CPI-linked and capped at 5%; for 2024, the ARO board set the allowable increase at 3.0%.
Evictions of ARO-covered tenants require one of 12 enumerated just cause grounds under the ARO, including non-payment of rent, material lease violation, nuisance, owner move-in, rehabilitation requiring tenant vacation, and Ellis Act withdrawal; lease expirations alone do not constitute grounds for eviction.
For Ellis Act withdrawals from the San Jose rental market, landlords must pay relocation assistance of two months' rent per household at the time of the notice; this is in addition to any relocation required under California state law and must be paid before the tenant is required to vacate.
Under Costa-Hawkins, vacancy decontrol applies to ARO-covered units — when a tenant voluntarily vacates, the landlord may set the rent for the next tenancy at market rate; once a new tenancy begins, subsequent increases revert to the ARO annual cap.
Landlords may not impose rent increases more than once per 12-month period for ARO-covered units; any increase above the annual ARO allowable amount requires filing a landlord petition, and the increase may not be collected until the ARO hearing officer issues a written approval.
Notice Requirements
San Jose ARO landlords must provide at least 30 days' written notice for rent increases up to the allowable ARO amount (60 days if 10% or more), must serve a 3-day notice to pay or quit for non-payment, must give 60 days' notice for owner move-in evictions, and must simultaneously pay two months' relocation assistance when serving Ellis Act withdrawal notices.
FAQ
San Jose Lease FAQ
Common questions about renting in San Jose.
Does the San Jose ARO cover my apartment?
The ARO generally covers rental units in buildings with three or more units where the building's certificate of occupancy was issued before September 7, 1979, and which are not otherwise exempt (e.g., units sold to a bona fide purchaser after January 1, 1996 under Costa-Hawkins). Single-family homes and condominiums are generally exempt from the rent increase cap but may still be subject to just cause eviction protections under California's AB 1482. You can verify ARO coverage by entering your address at the San Jose Rent Stabilization Program website (sanjoseca.gov/rent).
How much can my landlord raise my rent each year?
For ARO-covered units, the maximum annual increase is the allowable percentage set by the ARO board each year (CPI-linked, capped at 5%); for 2024, the board set the allowable increase at 3.0%. The landlord may petition for a higher increase based on documented capital improvements, increased operating costs, or a fair return claim, but the higher amount cannot be collected until the ARO hearing officer approves it in writing. For units covered only by AB 1482 (California statewide), the cap is 5% plus local CPI, not to exceed 10%.
What relocation assistance am I owed for an Ellis Act eviction?
If your landlord withdraws the building from the rental market under the Ellis Act (California Government Code §7060), San Jose requires payment of two months' rent as relocation assistance under the ARO, in addition to any relocation assistance required by state law. This payment must be tendered at the time the eviction notice is served. Tenants who are elderly (62 or older), disabled, or have minor children are entitled to extended notice periods (up to one year) before being required to vacate under California state law, and the San Jose ARO does not reduce these state protections.
What are the owner move-in eviction rules in San Jose?
Under the San Jose ARO, a landlord may evict a tenant so that the landlord or a qualifying family member can occupy the unit as their principal residence, but the landlord must serve 60 days' written notice (not the standard 30 days), the owner or family member must actually move in within 90 days of the tenant vacating and reside there for at least 36 consecutive months, and the landlord may not re-rent the unit to anyone else within that period. Violation of these conditions entitles the evicted tenant to actual damages, three times the monthly rent per month of wrongful re-rental, and attorney's fees under the ARO.
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