Registration Fees

What is a registration fee?

The Rent Control registration fee finances the services provided to administer the Rent Control Law. The current registration fee is $156 per unit per year. Registration fee bills are mailed to property owners each year by July 1. Payment is due by August 1.

Property owners who pay the annual registration fees on time may, with proper written notice, recover the registration fee from tenants at the rate of $13 per month beginning September 1. This monthly surcharge can be added to a tenant’s rent in addition to the Maximum Allowable Rent.

What kind of units qualify for a waiver of the registration fee?

The Rent Control Board may waive the registration fee for units occupied by very low-income tenants who are either senior citizens or disabled, except where otherwise prohibited in Regulation 11200. Additionally, fee waivers are available for some owner occupiers, some single family homes and condominiums, and units occupied by tenants with rents subsidized by a state or federal program.

For eligibility criteria including required documentation, please read Waivers for Registration Fees and Surcharges.

What happens after a waiver is granted?

Once a waiver is granted, owners will no longer be charged for that unit. If the registration fee has already been paid for the year, a prorated refund will be issued to the property owner. Owners cannot collect registration fees from tenants with current fee waivers. The collection of registration fees where a waiver has been granted may be considered excess rent.

To verify whether or not a unit has a registration fee waiver, please contact the Rent Control Board.