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Published July 15, 2026
Inglewood landlords must register every rental between Jan 5 and Mar 31, 2026 or face monthly penalties and a possible tax lien.
If you own a rental in Inglewood, you must register it with the city's Long Term Rental Division between January 5 and March 31, 2026 and pay the $184 per unit Annual Program Fee, unless the unit's rent falls below 70% of Fair Market Rent, which zeroes out the fee but not the registration itself. Miss the window and the city adds monthly penalties starting April 1, with a property tax lien as the backstop.
Inglewood's Housing Protection Ordinance casts a wider net than most owners expect. It is not just apartment buildings. Under the ordinance, you must register annually if you own any property with two or more units on a single parcel, or a single family home or condo held by a Company, Corporation, LLC, LP, REIT, or similar entity. Mixed use buildings with a residential component are included too. So if your rental LLC holds a single family house on a quiet Inglewood street, you are in scope even though a next door neighbor who owns their rental personally is not.
Registration runs through the city's online Residential Registry System, and it is not a one time task. You use the same portal to report rent increases, tenancy terminations, new tenants, and changes of ownership, and to submit tenant notices within three days of service.
The 2026 registration period opens January 5 and closes March 31. The standard fee is $184 per unit for the year. The fee adopted by the City Council is actually $206, but the city is currently charging $184 because the $22 portion tied to the future Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program has not been implemented yet. Section 8 tenancies pay a reduced $92 per unit. If a unit's rent is already below 70% of the area's Fair Market Rent, the system calculates that automatically and waives the fee entirely, but you still have to file. Owners may pass through up to 50% of the fee to tenants, but only if the fee was paid in full by the deadline, the tenant is not rent subsidized, and the owner serves a 30 day notice of the pass through first. Skip any one of those steps and the pass through right is gone for that cycle.
Buy a rental property in Inglewood and the ordinance gives you 30 days from the purchase date to register it, regardless of where that falls relative to the January to March window. Escrow closing in June does not mean you wait until the following January. Property managers who inherit a new client mid year should treat this as a day one task, not a line item for the next annual cycle.
Registration is not considered complete, and the city will not issue a registration certificate, until the property owner and any managing company hold a valid city Business Tax Certificate, the registration statement is accurate and complete, and every fee owed has been paid. Fall short of the March 31 deadline and the city begins assessing monthly penalties on April 1. The ordinance also backs enforcement with the ability to place a lien against the property, tied to the county property tax roll, for unpaid registration fees and penalties. Registration itself is governed by Inglewood Municipal Code section 8-126, and an unregistered landlord loses core rights in the meantime: the city's position is that without a valid registration you cannot raise rent, demand or accept rent, advertise the unit, or evict a tenant.
Most of the calls we get about this come from owners who bought a property through an entity for liability protection and did not realize that decision alone triggers annual registration, even for a single unit. Others assume that because their Redondo Beach or El Segundo rentals are not on any registry, Inglewood works the same way. It does not. Inglewood is one of the few South Bay cities with its own standalone residential registry layered on top of the county and state rent rules, so an address a few blocks apart can carry very different paperwork obligations.
If you hold any Inglewood rental in an LLC, corporation, trust with corporate elements, or similar structure, or if you own a duplex or larger, check your registration status now rather than in March. Confirm your Business Tax Certificate is current, since the registry will not clear without it. If you bought a property mid year, count 30 days from closing and register immediately rather than waiting for the next annual window.
If you would rather not track city by city registries, fee windows, and pass through notices yourself, that is what we do at Schofield.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with a licensed professional before you act.
Last verified: July 2026.
Topics: compliance, Inglewood, rental registry, landlord licensing, South Bay
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Schofield Properties is a family run property management company at 323 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245. We have managed the South Bay since 1972 and personally oversee about 186 doors today. Book a call to talk about your property.
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