Existing & Expanded Renter Protections, Plus Changes Being Considered

Published on August 23, 2023

Over 40% of the City’s residents are renters. The City Council continues to support programs and resources for tenants and landlords in our community.

Recently, renter protections were expanded. Lowering the security deposit limit for unfurnished rental units in Palo Alto to one and a half times (1.5x) the monthly rent helps reduce the total move-in costs for a renter and goes beyond the State security deposit limit (which sets the limit at 2x the monthly rent). The City Council approved extending just cause eviction protections to more renters in our community than currently covered under State law. And, while State eviction protections end in 2030, they made Palo Alto protections permanent. These changes went into effect July 20, 2023.

City Council also lowered the amount of time a renter has to be in a property to qualify for renter protections from one year (the State requirement) to 6 months. This change goes into effect on September 21, 2023.

Palo Alto has additional, long-standing rental requirements such as requiring landlords to offer one-year leases and to provide financial relocation assistance for no fault evictions on properties with 10 units or more.

A new community update shares more about the City’s existing protections and requirements, what’s new, and other protections under consideration later this summer. 

Read the Full Community Update