Rent control laws often do more than just limit the amount of

rent landlords may charge. Some of these laws also restrict the circumstances

under which landlords may terminate month-to-month rental agreements or not renew leases. Rent control comes in two basic forms. “Vacancy decontrol” protects only the current tenant by ending rent restrictions when the tenant moves out. “Vacancy control” regulates rent over the long term, keeping rent restrictions in place even when a new tenant moves in.

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In most rent control areas, landlords may raise rent as much as they want when one tenant moves out and a new one moves in. This feature, called “vacancy decontrol” or “vacancy rent ceiling adjustment,” means that rent control applies to a particular rental unit only as long as a particular tenant (or tenants) stays there.

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When a tenant voluntarily leaves or, in some cities, is evicted for a legal or “just” cause (discussed below), the rental unit is not subject to rent control again until the landlord sets the new (and presumably higher) rent. In short, new tenants in a “vacancy decontrol” city shouldn’t expect to pay the same rent as the prior tenant.

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In addition to built-in annual increases, most rent control boards allow landlords to petition for a rent hike based on an increase in operating costs, such as higher taxes or expenses due to remodeling or bringing the building up to code. Some laws allow landlords to “bank” annual increases and apply them all at once later.