Long Beach Never Had Rent Control, But Ending a Lease Can Still Cost You $4,500

Published July 25, 2026

Long Beach never had local rent control; AB 1482 is the only cap that has ever applied here. But the separate Just Cause ordinance still requires relocation payments on no fault terminations, and the deadline is short.

Long Beach never had local rent control. That surprises owners who remember Chapter 8.97, the old Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance the city repealed in December 2019. That law paid displaced tenants relocation money, up to $4,500, but it was never a cap on rents. The only cap that has ever applied here is the state law AB 1482. So the rent side of the story is simple. What is not simple, and what still costs owners real money, is a separate law: the Just Cause for Termination of Tenancies ordinance (LBMC 8.99), adopted March 10, 2020. It still requires you to pay relocation money on a no fault eviction, and the payment is due fast, reportedly within 15 calendar days of the notice, so missing it can undo the whole termination.

Two different laws, and only one is still on the books

This is the part that trips people up, so I want to be precise about it. Long Beach used to run a Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance, Chapter 8.97. It required relocation assistance of up to $4,500 for tenants displaced through no fault of their own. It was a relocation rule, not a rent control law. The city repealed it in December 2019 after deciding the state law AB 1482 already gave tenants stronger protection. When 8.97 went away, nothing that looked like local rent control went with it, because there was none to begin with. AB 1482 has been the operative cap the whole time.

So the "no more Long Beach rent rules" story people tell each other is only half true. There is no local rent cap, and there never was one. What is very real is the second law. Chapter 8.99, the Just Cause ordinance, was adopted in March 2020, after 8.97 was already gone. It governs why and how you can end a tenancy, and it carries its own relocation obligation that has nothing to do with the repealed assistance ordinance.

I have watched owners find this out at the worst possible moment, which is after they have already served a notice. The good news is that it is very knowable in advance. The rules are written down and they are not complicated once you separate the two laws in your head.

What the Just Cause ordinance actually asks for

Just Cause laws split terminations into two buckets. There is at fault, meaning the tenant did something like stop paying or seriously break the lease. And there is no fault, meaning the tenant did nothing wrong and you are ending the tenancy for your own legitimate reason: you want to move a family member in, you are doing a substantial remodel, or a government order forces the unit empty. No fault is the bucket that triggers a relocation payment.

According to a local property management analysis of the 2026 rules, a standard no fault termination such as an owner or relative move in reportedly requires relocation assistance equal to one month's rent, at the rent in effect when the notice is served. For a substantial remodel, the city's own substantial remodel page states the owner must waive the last two months of rent or pay $4,500, whichever is greater. That is a meaningfully bigger number, and it reflects that a remodel displacement is harder on a household.

Two details matter more than the dollar amounts. First, timing. The property management summary reports the payment is due within 15 calendar days of serving the notice. That is a short window, and it is not the kind of thing you want to be arranging after the fact. Second, the remodel path requires that you already hold the approved building permits before you serve, that copies of those permits go into the tenant's notice, and that the city receive a displacement notice for the affected residents. You cannot serve first and permit later.

I am flagging the one month figure and the 15 calendar day clock as reported on purpose. Those come from a property management summary of the ordinance rather than from the city's own posted text, so before you rely on a specific number for a specific unit, confirm it against the current ordinance language with a licensed professional. The remodel amount and the permit sequence come straight from the city. The structure is solid. The precise digits on the standard no fault payment are worth verifying the week you act.

What this means for your building

If you own in Long Beach and you are thinking about a no fault move, here is the plain readout.

The relocation payment is a real, budgeted cost, not a maybe. Treat one to two months of that unit's rent as a line item the moment a no fault termination is on the table, and have the funds ready before you serve anything. The deadline reportedly runs from the notice date, not from the move out, so the clock starts earlier than most people assume.

Sequence is everything on a remodel. Permits first, then the displacement notice to the city, then the tenant's notice with the permits attached, then the payment inside the reported 15 calendar day window. Doing those steps out of order is how a clean project turns into a wrongful eviction problem.

And this is the one that stings: the city says an owner who intentionally issues an invalid termination notice under Chapter 8.99 can be liable for a civil penalty of $15,000, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The word that matters there is intentional, so this is not an automatic fine for an honest slip. But an owner who ignores the payment or serves out of sequence is exactly the kind of conduct that gets read as intentional. The downside of treating the boring 15 calendar day step as optional is not a warning letter. It is a number with four zeros and a lawyer attached.

None of this makes a Long Beach building a worse hold. It is a good asset in a city people want to live in, and these rules apply to everyone who competes with you. It just means the paperwork rewards owners who plan the exit as carefully as they planned the purchase.

Common questions

Long Beach never had rent control, so do relocation payments still apply?

Yes. The old Chapter 8.97 was a relocation assistance rule, not a rent cap, and the city repealed it in December 2019; the state law AB 1482 has been the only cap that ever applied. Relocation on no fault evictions lives in a different law, the Just Cause ordinance (Chapter 8.99), adopted in March 2020. That one is still in force, so a no fault termination still triggers a relocation obligation.

How fast do I have to pay relocation after serving a no fault notice?

Sources describing the current ordinance indicate the payment is due within 15 calendar days of serving the notice, and that missing the deadline can make the eviction invalid. Because that is a short and consequential window, confirm the exact current deadline with a licensed professional before you serve, and have the money staged in advance.

Is the payment the same for an owner move in and a remodel?

No. A standard no fault such as an owner or relative move in is reported as one month's rent, while for a substantial remodel the city says the owner must waive the last two months of rent or pay $4,500, whichever is greater. The remodel path also requires the approved permits in hand, copies of those permits in the tenant's notice, and a displacement notice filed with the city before the notice goes out.

Last verified: July 25, 2026. The repeal of Chapter 8.97, the $4,500 figure, the substantial remodel amount, and the $15,000 penalty for an intentional violation are drawn from the City of Long Beach; the standard no fault amount and the 15 calendar day deadline are drawn from a property management summary of the 2026 rules and are described here as reported rather than confirmed. This is general information for property owners, not legal advice. Confirm any ordinance number, amount, deadline, or penalty under LBMC 8.99 with a licensed professional before acting.

Kellie

Schofield Properties

323 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245

Topics: market, long-beach, south-bay, regulation, evictions

Back to the Schofield Properties blog

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.