The default: no cap, unless a law says otherwise
Absent a specific law limiting it, a landlord can generally set rent at whatever a new lease term or a rent-increase notice states. What the law usually controls is notice — how much advance warning you're owed — not the size of the increase itself. If you're partway through a fixed-term lease, your rent generally can't change until the lease renews or converts to month-to-month; see our guide on raising rent during a lease term for that separate question.
Local rent-control or rent-stabilization ordinances, adopted by individual cities or counties, can cap increases in specific places even where the state itself has no cap. Whether one applies to you is a local question — check whether rent control applies in your area rather than assuming either way.
The three states with a statewide rent-increase cap
Separately from local rent control, California, Oregon, and Washington each have a state law capping how much rent can go up for a continuing tenant over a 12-month period. All three use a formula tied to inflation with a maximum ceiling, not a flat number — and all three have exemptions.
California's cap, exactly as written
Civil Code § 1947.12 caps a rent increase, for an existing tenant, at "5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower," measured against the lowest rent charged for the unit in the 12 months before the increase, over any rolling 12-month period. The same tenant can be hit with no more than two increases within that 12-month period. This cap applies to a continuing tenancy — when a unit turns over and no one from the prior tenancy remains, the landlord can set a fresh starting rent that isn't subject to it.
Exemptions include certain deed-restricted affordable housing, dormitories, housing already under a stricter local rent-control ordinance, buildings that received their first certificate of occupancy within the past 15 years, and certain single-family homes or condos owned by an individual rather than a corporation, REIT, or corporate-linked LLC, with required written notice of the exemption. The law became operative April 1, 2024, and is set to expire January 1, 2030 unless the legislature renews it.
Oregon's cap, exactly as written
ORS 90.323 bars any rent increase during the first year of a tenancy other than week-to-week, and after that requires 90 days' written notice and no more than one increase in any 12-month period. A week-to-week tenancy is treated separately: it needs only 7 days' written notice, with no first-year bar and no frequency limit. The increase itself can't exceed the maximum percentage that ORS 90.324 has the Oregon Department of Administrative Services calculate and publish every year by September 30 — set as "the lesser of ten percent, or seven percent plus CPI," using the West Region Consumer Price Index. Like California, Oregon exempts buildings that received their first certificate of occupancy within the past 15 years, along with certain regulated affordable housing.
Washington's cap, exactly as written
RCW 59.18.700 bars any rent increase during the first 12 months of a tenancy — month-to-month or fixed-term — and after that caps any 12-month increase at "seven percent plus the consumer price index, or 10 percent, whichever is less," using the Seattle-area CPI that the state calculates and publishes each year. The cap doesn't apply once a tenant moves out and the tenancy actually ends, so a landlord can set a new rent freely for the next tenant. If a landlord raises rent past the cap without a valid exemption, the tenant can demand a fix or terminate the lease with just 20 days' written notice and no termination fees, and the landlord can owe damages including up to three months of the unlawful amount plus attorneys' fees. This law is set to expire July 1, 2040 unless renewed.
What to do either way
Whatever your state, you're entitled to advance notice of a rent increase even where there's no percentage cap on the amount — see can my landlord raise rent whenever they want for how notice requirements work generally. Use the rent increase calculator to check an increase against what you know about your state and lease, and consider sending a written response with our rent increase response letter if you want to formally object or negotiate. Honestkey™ reads your uploaded lease for the rent and notice terms that actually apply to you, so you're not guessing at what your landlord can legally do.