Rent Adjustment Program

The mission of the Rent Adjustment Program is to promote community stability, healthy housing, and diversity for Oakland residents, while preventing illegal rent increases and evictions, and ensuring a fair return for property owners.

Contact Us

ADVISORY NOTICE: The City of Oakland's phone systems are currently down. Please contact us via email at RAP@oaklandca.gov to speak to a RAP staff person. RAP strives to return all emails within a forty-eight-hour timeframe.

ADVISORY NOTICE: Some functionality of the Rent Adjustment Program website is currently unavailable. At this time, petitions cannot be completed through the online portal. For property owner petition forms, click here. For tenant petition forms, click here. Once completed, the forms can be submitted to the Rent Adjustment Program via mail to 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313, Oakland, California 94612 or via email to rap@oaklandca.gov.

Additionally, the Rent Adjustment Program public database is currently unavailable. If you would like information regarding the status of an already-filed petition, please contact the assigned analyst or email hearingsunit@oaklandca.gov.

CPI Announcement Update: The City Council has adopted an amendment to change the formula used to calculate the annual allowable rent increase to 60% of the change in CPI, or 3%, whichever is lower. Effective August 1, 2022, the new annual CPI rent increase is 3%.

California Assembly Bill 2179, which extended the State's Eviction Moratorium, expired June 30th. However, this law did not preempt Oakland’s Emergency Moratorium, which continues to prohibit most evictions, rent increases beyond the CPI (such as banking or for capital improvements), and late fees on covered units until the City Council lifts the local emergency. For questions about how the end of the State's moratorium might affect you, contact a RAP Housing Counselor at 510-238-3721 or RAP@oaklandca.gov.

Key Services

News and Updates

Aug 19, 2022

Rent Registration in Oakland

The Oakland City Council has adopted a requirement to establish a rent registry for all units subject to the RAP Program Fee. As of July 1, 2023, owners of these units will be required to report rent and tenancy information to RAP. They will then be required to confirm or update their units’ tenancy information annually by March 1.

May 04, 2021

RAP Eviction Portal Now Live

The City of Oakland Rent Adjustment Program's Eviction Portal is now open! The public may view citywide eviction data and trends and property owners may file copies of eviction notices within 10 days after it is served on the tenant.

Resources

Important COVID-19 Information Guide to Oakland Rental Housing Laws Housing Laws and Regulations Learn More About Allowable Rent Increases Guidebook to Oakland ADUs Reports and Data Workshops Rent Adjustment Program Forms & Notices for Tenants Rent Adjustment Program Forms & Notices for Property Owners

Topics

Understanding Evictions in Oakland Rent Adjustment Program Fee and Exemptions Appointed Rent Board

Rent Adjustment Program Annual Report Video

Press the play button below to watch the Rent Adjustment Program's Annual Report Video for fiscal years 2018-19 & 2019-20. To view the full PDF document of the Annual Report, click here.

About

ABOUT THE RENT ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM

The Oakland City Council adopted the Rent Adjustment Program Ordinance (OMC Chapter 8.22) in 1980. This ordinance sets the maximum annual rent increase based on the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase and handles rent adjustments for claims of decreases in housing services and handles other rent-related matters. The purpose of this program is to foster fair housing for a diverse population of renters and enforce the Rent Adjustment Ordinance set out by the City of Oakland.

Contact Us

Since March 2020, we have moved our services from in-person to online. Please read the information below carefully to find the best way to contact us.

By Phone

Phone: (510) 238-3721

The Rent Adjustment Program’s Housing Counselors are available by phone Monday through Thursday, 9:30am to 4:30pm to answer any RAP or housing-related questions you might have. Topics can be, but are not limited to, tenant and property owner issues and concerns, Oakland rental housing laws, or how to file petitions or responses with RAP. Calls are generally limited to 10 minutes per person.

By Email

If you would prefer an email response, you can email us. RAP strives to return all emails within a forty-eight-hour timeframe.

Contact a RAP Housing Counselor: rap@oaklandca.gov. Please include in your email: your full name, your telephone number, and your address.

Hearings Unit: If you have issues or questions relating to your pending case, you must contact your Case Analyst directly. If you do not know who your Case Analyst is, you can email hearingsunit@oaklandca.gov to find that information, or you can look up your case information here.

Petition and Response Review/Filing: You have the option to schedule an appointment for review of your petition or response before filing. To schedule an appointment for review, email rap@oaklandca.gov. If you do not want your petition or response reviewed and are ready to file, please submit your petition or response to hearingsunit@oaklandca.gov .

Eviction Notices: To file eviction notices online, click here. Eviction notices may also be scanned and submitted via email to evictionnotices@oaklandca.gov.

By Mail

Address: 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313, Oakland, CA 94612

Due to the Shelter-in-Place Order, we are no longer accepting in-person petition and related materials. All new petitions and petition-related documents can be submitted by mail to the address above.

Ellis Act Cases

All documents for Ellis Act cases must be mailed to 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313, Oakland, CA 94612. For more information on Ellis Act cases, click here.

Online Petition Filing

We also offer an online portal where you can fill out and submit your petitions and all petition-related forms online. Click here to access the portal.

Request a Form

General forms can be found on our website. For property owner forms, click here. For tenant forms, click here. If you cannot find the RAP form that you are looking for, you can email the Rent Adjustment Program at rap@oaklandca.gov to obtain it.

Request a Document/Public Records Request (PRR)

To request documents related to a case, you can either complete the Request for Copies form and email it to rap@oaklandca.gov or make a Public Records Request (PRR) here. Please note that all PRRs are public information. You can look up certain information related to cases through the RAP database.

Join the Email List

If you would like to receive emails about upcoming events or updates from the Rent Adjustment Program, please sign up! Please use the link below to add your name and email to our list for future updates.

Join the RAP email list!