Measure ULA: Only Inside the City of Los Angeles

Measure ULA is an extra real property transfer tax that applies only to property inside the City of Los Angeles, and only above a value threshold. For sales closing after June 30, 2026, the City's Office of Finance applies 4 percent to transactions above 5.4 million dollars and below 10.9 million, and 5.5 percent at 10.9 million or more, on top of the City's base transfer tax and the county's. It does not reach Long Beach, Pomona, Claremont or any other separate city in Los Angeles County, and it does not reach unincorporated county land, whatever the mailing address says.

This article is part of the seller costs, net and California rules section. It describes the tax; questions about how it applies to a specific transfer belong with your escrow officer, a tax professional or an attorney.

What is Measure ULA?

ULA, short for United to House LA, was approved by Los Angeles voters in November 2022. According to the Los Angeles Housing Department, it took effect on January 1, 2023, tax collections on property sales began on April 1, 2023, and the money funds affordable housing and homelessness prevention in the City of Los Angeles, split 70 percent and 30 percent between the two programs. The tax itself is a special real property transfer tax imposed on top of the City's existing transfer tax. People call it the mansion tax, but it is not limited to houses: it applies to any conveyance of real property in the City above the threshold, including apartment buildings and commercial property.

Does Measure ULA apply to my house?

Two questions decide it: is the parcel inside the City of Los Angeles, and is the sale above the threshold?

The boundary. Los Angeles County holds dozens of separate cities and large unincorporated areas, and only one of them is the City of Los Angeles. A mailing address that reads "Los Angeles" does not prove a parcel is inside the City, and a neighborhood name that does not say Los Angeles can be inside it; San Pedro, for example, is part of the City. The preliminary title report and escrow's transfer tax calculation confirm which side of the line the parcel is on. For a parcel that sits partly inside the City, the City's FAQ applies its tax in proportion to the value, or failing that the square footage, inside the boundary.

The threshold. The threshold and the two rates are adjusted every year based on a federal consumer price index. For transactions closing after June 30, 2026, the lines are 5.4 million and 10.9 million dollars; for the year before, the County Registrar-Recorder lists 5.3 million and 10.6 million. Check the City's current page before you rely on either. Per the City's FAQ, a transaction inside a band is assessed at that band's rate, so the rate is applied to the transaction, not only to the part above the line.

Here is where the different Los Angeles County layers apply:

Where the parcel isCounty transfer taxCity transfer taxMeasure ULA

City of Los Angeles, including San Pedro

Yes

Yes, the City's base tax

Yes, above the threshold

Pomona

Yes

Yes, Pomona's own

No

Claremont

Yes

No

No

Long Beach

Yes

Not on the recorder's list of cities that add one

No

Unincorporated county land

Yes

No city

No

The County Registrar-Recorder lists five cities whose transfer tax it collects at recording: Culver City, Los Angeles, Pomona, Redondo Beach and Santa Monica. Only the City of Los Angeles carries ULA. Santa Monica and Culver City have their own tiered city rates, which are a separate matter from ULA. For the Pomona and Claremont lines, see the Pomona city page and the Claremont city page.

How is the ULA tax calculated?

The City's FAQ sets out three parts and one difference between them:

• The base tax. 2.25 dollars for each 500 dollars of value or part of it, which the City describes as a rate of 0.45 percent. It applies to every taxable conveyance inside the City, whatever the price.
• The ULA tax. 4 percent or 5.5 percent, by band, added on top of the base tax.
• The county tax. Collected by the County Registrar-Recorder at recording, as on every Los Angeles County sale.
• The difference. The base tax is calculated on net value, leaving out any loan that stays on the property. The ULA tax is calculated on gross value, including an assumed loan.

The recorder notes that calculating the tax is the document preparer's responsibility, not the recorder's; in a sale, that is escrow. If the City later finds an underpayment, it invoices the balance; an overpayment needs a refund claim with the Office of Finance.

Who pays Measure ULA, the buyer or the seller?

The measure taxes the conveyance, and neither the City's FAQ nor the county's page says which party pays it in the contract. As with the other transfer taxes, the purchase contract assigns it. Because ULA can be a large line, read the cost-allocation section of any offer or purchase agreement on a City of Los Angeles property above the threshold before you look at the price. The full list of seller cost lines is in the pillar, what selling a house costs in Southern California, and what you net, and the escrow and title lines are in escrow and title fees: what sellers usually pay.

Are there exemptions from Measure ULA?

Yes, but they turn on who is buying, not who is selling. The City's FAQ lists qualified affordable housing organizations under Municipal Code section 21.9.14, administered by the Housing Department, and, under section 21.9.15, certain long-established nonprofits below an asset limit, government agencies, entities constitutionally exempt from the City's taxing power, and transactions already exempt from the base transfer tax. A seller cannot claim an exemption on the buyer's behalf; the buyer's status decides it. Whether any exemption fits a particular transfer is a question for an attorney or the Office of Finance.

What ULA means for the two numbers

For most houses the answer is: nothing, because the price is well below the threshold, and the base City tax is the only City line. For a property near or above the threshold, ULA belongs on both net sheets as its own line, because it is due at recording whichever buyer you choose. A cash sale does not avoid it.

Each property gets two numbers in writing: an as-is cash offer and an open-market read, each with the comps, the deductions and the net. The open-market read is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal; if a lender, court or estate needs a certified appraisal, that is referred to Mr. Cali Appraisals. Listing tends to net more when the property is in good condition and you can wait out a market period, because the higher open-market price usually outweighs commissions and carrying costs, and the transfer taxes fall the same way on either path. When the open-market column is higher, the written recommendation says so and you are introduced to a designated local expert, an independently licensed California agent who works that neighborhood. Mr. Cali Offers never lists a house.

For a Long Beach owner the ULA question is simply closed. Long Beach is its own city, so its sellers work with the county tax and their own local rules instead. If the property is a rental, those rules matter more than any transfer tax; see a Long Beach duplex subject to the existing lease vs. cash for keys.

What this looks like in practice

These are the kinds of files that come in, described without names or figures.

• A Long Beach owner who had read about the mansion tax and assumed it applied. It does not; the county line was the only transfer tax on the sheet.
• An heir with a "Los Angeles" mailing address on a house in unincorporated county land. The title report settled the boundary before anyone priced the tax.
• An owner of a small apartment building inside the City whose offer left the transfer tax lines unassigned. The contract had to say who paid them before the nets could be compared.

Next step

Read the cash offer vs. listing comparison, then send the address or call (909) 498-3977. Every transfer tax line, county, city and ULA where it applies, is written out on both numbers. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.

Sources

• City of Los Angeles Office of Finance, Real Property Transfer Tax and Measure ULA FAQ (rates, thresholds after June 30, 2026, calculation, exemptions): finance.lacity.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• Los Angeles Housing Department, United to House LA (ULA): housing.lacity.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• Los Angeles Housing Department, ULA exemptions: housing.lacity.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, Documentary Transfer Taxes, general information (the five cities and the City of Los Angeles thresholds): lavote.gov, accessed October 31, 2026
• California Revenue and Taxation Code 11911 (documentary transfer tax): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed October 31, 2026

Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.