Inglewood Rent Control in 2026: No Certificate, No Rent

Inglewood landlords must register every unit by October 1, cap increases at 8.8% (4 units or fewer) or 3.8% (5+), and pay relocation starting at 3x rent. Here's what goes on top of AB 1482.

In Inglewood, you can't legally collect rent until you have a piece of paper from the City. Not a building permit. Not a business license. A registration certificate.

Without it you can't raise the rent, you can't evict, and you can't even advertise the unit.

Yesterday I covered AB 1482, California's statewide rent control. That's the floor. Every day in this series I take one city and ask one question: is it just the state law here, or is there more on top? In Inglewood, there's a lot more on top.

First, are you really in Inglewood?

Inglewood is an incorporated city and it writes its own rules. But an Inglewood mailing address doesn't always mean the City of Inglewood. Parts of the 90304 ZIP code, like Lennox, are unincorporated LA County. Different government, different rent rules.

Check the parcel, not the envelope.

Register every year by October 1

If your units are covered, you register them with the City every year, on or before October 1.

• There's a per-unit fee. Pay it on time and you can pass half of it through to the tenant, spread over twelve months. Pay it late and you eat the whole thing.

• You have to serve a copy of the registration certificate on your tenant.

• When you raise the rent, you record that increase in the City's online Residential Registry.

No certificate means no rent increase, no eviction, and no collecting rent. With October 1 a few days out, this is the one to act on now.

The four-unit line

Inglewood has two rulebooks, and the dividing line is four units.

Same city, maybe the same street, and it's 8.8% on one building and 3.8% on the one next door. If you're choosing between a fourplex and a fiveplex, that difference belongs in the math before you write an offer.

In both tiers you get one increase a year, not the two AB 1482 allows, with a 30-day notice. Units renting below 80% of Fair Market Rent can apply to the City for an extra 2% (4 or fewer units) or 5% (5 or more), still capped at 10%.

Where the state and the City overlap

Some Inglewood properties are also covered by AB 1482. For increases from August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027, the state cap in LA County is 8.7%. On a small building where both apply, the stricter number may be the one that controls. My own caution is to go with 8.7%, and this is exactly the kind of thing to run past your attorney before you serve a notice.

Exempt from the cap is not exempt from everything

Under Costa-Hawkins, the state law, the City can't cap rents on:

• Single-family homes

• Condos

• Units first certified for occupancy after February 1, 1995

• New construction within the last 15 years

Deed-restricted affordable housing and an owner-occupied home renting just one unit are also outside the cap.

Here's the trap. Inglewood's just cause and relocation rules can still reach properties the rent cap doesn't touch, and AB 1482 may still apply too. Don't assume. Ask.

Just cause: you need a reason

To end a tenancy in Inglewood you need a reason the ordinance allows.

At fault: not paying rent, breaking the lease and not fixing it after a chance to cure, nuisance, refusing lawful access.

No fault: you or a close relative moving in, taking the unit off the market, demolition with permits, a government order.

One reason that's gone: substantial remodel. Inglewood took it off the list in 2021, even though state law still allows it.

Relocation: the number that changes the deal

Under AB 1482, a no-fault move-out costs one month's rent. In Inglewood it starts at three times the monthly rent, paid within 15 days of serving the notice. Then you add:

• $2,000 if minor children live in the unit

• A tenure amount: $2,000 (2 to 4 years), $3,000 (5 to 10 years), $5,000 (11 or more years), or $7,500 for a senior or disabled tenant

Say the rent is $2,500 and the tenant has been there six years. That's $7,500 plus $3,000, or $10,500. Under state law alone it would be $2,500.

If you're buying in Inglewood, that exposure belongs in your offer. Go down the rent roll and price it unit by unit. Use the City's current Relocation Calculation Sheet for exact figures.

Buyouts and harassment

Cash for keys is allowed, with rules:

• A written disclosure of the tenant's rights

• 30 days for the tenant to change their mind

• A payment at least equal to the relocation amount

• The agreement filed with the City within three days

Harassment is off the table: cutting services, ignoring repairs, entering without proper notice, any kind of pressure. Willful violations can bring tripled damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and misdemeanor exposure.

Your Inglewood checklist

• Confirm the parcel is really in the City of Inglewood

• Register and pay fees by October 1 every year

• Serve the registration certificate on every tenant

• Know your tier: 4 and under, or 5 and up

• One increase a year, 30-day notice, log it with the City

• Before anyone moves out, price the relocation and call your attorney

I put all of this on a one-page handout. If you own in Inglewood and want a copy, call or email me and I'll send it over.

Next up

So, Inglewood. Just the state law? No. A lot more on top.

Tomorrow: the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

This article and video are for general educational purposes only and are not legal, tax, or financial advice. Tony Self is a licensed California real estate broker (DRE #01906720) with Harcourts Hunter Mason Realty, not an attorney, and reading this does not create a client relationship. Local rules change and the City updates its amounts. Figures are current as of September 2026. Confirm current figures with the City of Inglewood Housing Protection Department and a California landlord-tenant attorney before raising rent, serving a notice, or offering a buyout.

Sources

• Inglewood Municipal Code, Chapter 8, Articles 9 and 10

• City of Inglewood, Allowable Rent Increases (7/1/2026 to 6/30/2027)

• City of Inglewood, Relocation Calculation Sheet

• AB 1482 bill text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482