Renting Out an ADU in the SGV: Which Rent Rules Apply

The short answer

If you rent out an ADU in the San Gabriel Valley, two questions decide your rules. Is the ADU covered? Is your main house covered?

State law, AB-1482, answers both for most of the SGV. It has two rules. The rent cap limits how much you can raise the rent. The eviction rule means you need a reason the law allows to end a tenancy.

These are the state rules. Your city or county may add its own, listed below.

For a new backyard ADU, the 15 years start on the date of its certificate of occupancy, the city's final sign-off that it can be lived in. Your city's building department can tell you the date.

Living in the main house only lifts the eviction rule if you rent out no more than two units or rooms in total. A junior ADU counts the same as an ADU.

Your main house

With an ADU on the lot, your house usually can't be sold on its own. So it can't use the state's house exemption. If you rent the house, both rules apply, unless the house itself is less than 15 years old.

If you live in the ADU and rent out the house, the rent cap applies to the house. The law doesn't clearly say whether the eviction rule does. Ask an attorney.

If your city has its own rules

• Pasadena: renting out an ADU can make your whole lot count as multi-family. Then any rented unit built before February 1995 can fall under the city's rent cap, the main house included. Rented ADUs must be registered every year, at $236.54 per unit for 2026–27.
• Altadena and other county areas: a rented ADU gets the county's eviction rule. It gets the county's rent cap only if its certificate of occupancy is dated on or before Feb. 1, 1995. You register it every year, at $30 per unit for 2026–27. A house alone is exempt from the county cap, but a house and a rented ADU may count as two units on one lot. If your house is that old, ask DCBA how your lot counts.
• Baldwin Park: the city's rules don't mention ADUs. Ask the city's rent office before you rent one out.
• Pomona: the city has its own rule, set to end Dec. 31, 2026 unless the council funds it. Ask the city whether it covers your ADU.
• Every other SGV city, such as Alhambra, Arcadia, El Monte, Monterey Park, and West Covina: we found no local rent rule as of October 2026, so state law applies. Your city hall can confirm.
• City of LA (not in the SGV): its rules are different. See the City of LA ADU guide.

Questions the law leaves open

• Garage conversions. The law doesn't say whether a converted garage starts a new 15-year clock. Ask your city's building department for the certificate date, then ask an attorney.
• Junior ADUs. A junior ADU built inside the house may not get its own certificate of occupancy. Ask your building department.
• Selling the ADU as a condo. State law lets a city allow this. We haven't found an SGV city that does yet.

If you rent an ADU

• Is your rent capped? Under state law, an ADU 15 years old or more is capped, and a newer one isn't. Ask the owner or the city's building department for its age. Before you refuse to pay any part of an increase, call the office for your area.
• Can you be asked to leave without a reason? Possibly. If the owner lives in the main house and rents out no more than two units, the state eviction rule doesn't cover you. The owner still has to give you proper written notice, and Pasadena's and the county's rules may still protect you.
• Not sure? Call the office for your area below. The free help lines at the bottom are for renters.

Who to contact

• These offices answer questions for free.
• State law and county areas: LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA). There's no state rent board, so DCBA is the closest official source. Phone: (800) 593-8222. Email: rent@dcba.lacounty.gov. Website: dcba.lacounty.gov/rentstabilizationprogram. County registration: rentregistry.dcba.lacounty.gov.
• Pasadena: Rent Stabilization Department. Registration is at the Rental Registry Portal. Phone: (626) 744-7999. Email: rentstabilization@cityofpasadena.net. Website: cityofpasadena.net/rent-stabilization.
• Baldwin Park: rent stabilization program. Email: rso@baldwinparkca.gov. Phone: (626) 960-4011, ext. 462. Website: baldwinpark.com/399.
• Pomona: ask the City of Pomona.
• Stay Housed L.A. (renters). Free legal help for LA County renters who qualify. Phone: (888) 694-0040. Website: stayhousedla.org.
• Housing Rights Center (renters and owners). Free housing counseling across LA County. Phone: (800) 477-5977. Website: housingrightscenter.org.