Pomona's Rent Stabilization Ordinance and Selling a Rental

Yes, you can sell a Pomona rental that falls under the city's rent stabilization and eviction control ordinance, and you do not have to empty it first. The ordinance governs rent increases and terminations, not whether the property can change hands, so the buyer takes the rental subject to the existing lease and the city's rules bind the buyer after closing. What the ordinance changes is the price of the alternative: emptying a covered unit requires a just cause and, for a no-fault termination, relocation assistance, which is why selling with the tenant in place often nets more than delivering it vacant.

This article is part of our tenant-occupied rentals knowledge center. The whole sale, lease and deposit included, is in the pillar, selling a rental with tenants in Southern California. This page is the Pomona layer on top of it.

What Pomona's ordinance covers, as the city describes it

The City of Pomona runs a Rent Stabilization Program under its rent stabilization and eviction control ordinance. At the level the city's program describes it, the ordinance does three things that matter to a seller:

• It governs rent increases on the units it covers.
• It requires a just cause to end a covered tenancy.
• It requires relocation assistance when a covered tenancy ends for a no-fault reason.

Which of those rules apply depends on the specific property. That is not a footnote: coverage, exemptions and the current amounts are exactly the details that decide your two numbers, and they belong to the city. This article does not reproduce the ordinance's rent limits, relocation amounts, exemption list or forms. Ordinances are amended, and a figure copied from a secondary summary can be out of date by the time you read it. Confirm each term for your unit with the City of Pomona's Rent Stabilization Program or an attorney before relying on it.

The city's ordinance or the state's Tenant Protection Act?

California's Tenant Protection Act, Civil Code section 1946.2, sets a state-level just-cause floor, and subdivision (i) says how it fits with a city's own rules. A local just-cause ordinance adopted on or before September 1, 2019 governs instead of the state law. One adopted or amended after that date governs only if it is more protective, as the statute defines that, with a binding local finding saying so. A property is never subject to both at once.

So the first question for any Pomona rental is not "how much is relocation?" but "which law covers this unit at all?" The answer can be the city's ordinance, the state act, or neither, if the unit is exempt. The state act's own exemptions, including the single-family exemption that turns on a written notice in the lease, are in the Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482) and a sale. Pomona's exemptions are the city's to state. Ask the program in writing and keep the answer with your sale file.

What a sale changes in Pomona, and what it does not

ItemAfter a sale with the tenant in placeWhere to confirm

The lease

Continues on its terms, with the buyer as landlord

The lease itself

Rent increase limits

The ordinance's rules bind the buyer as they bound you

The city's program

Just-cause protection

Continues; a sale is not one of the state act's listed causes

The ordinance or the state act, whichever governs

Security deposit

Transferred to the buyer or returned, under Civil Code 1950.5

Escrow and an attorney

New owner's details

The buyer must give tenants the owner and rent-payment details within 15 days of taking over (Civil Code 1962)

The statute

Transfer tax

County tax plus Pomona's city tax, collected at recording

Escrow

Two of those lines are Pomona-specific. Pomona is one of five Los Angeles County cities that add a city documentary transfer tax to the county's, and the Registrar-Recorder collects it at recording; escrow calculates it and the offer sheet carries it in the net. The six counties' rules are compared in documentary transfer tax across the six counties. The deposit mechanics are in security deposits when a rental is sold.

Can I evict my tenant in California to sell my house?

Not because you are selling. A change of ownership is not among the just causes the Tenant Protection Act lists, and in Pomona a covered tenancy also answers to the city's ordinance. Delivering a unit vacant means relying on a cause the governing law recognizes, such as an owner move-in or withdrawing the unit from the rental market, and meeting every condition attached to it. Under the state act, a no-fault termination notice that does not strictly comply is void. Under Pomona's ordinance, a no-fault termination carries relocation assistance on the city's terms. The California Courts self-help guide puts the local layer plainly: "Your city or county may have stronger protections," and it tells landlords in cities with their own eviction control laws to get legal advice.

Mr. Cali Offers does not advise on terminations. If you are weighing one, take the lease, the tenant's move-in date and the city's answer on coverage to an attorney before anything is served. For the money side, see relocation assistance: when it applies and what it costs. For a voluntary move-out agreement, see cash for keys: legal, voluntary and often unnecessary.

How the ordinance shows up in the two numbers

A tenant-occupied Pomona rental is worth something different to an investor than the same house vacant, because the city's ordinance governs rent increases and terminations. An investor prices the rent roll and the rules together: the current rent, how far it can move, the lease terms, the condition and the deposits being transferred. An owner-occupant buyer, who could finance more easily and pay more, can only buy the house once it is empty, and getting it empty runs through the ordinance.

The two written numbers put both paths on one sheet. Every figure is a dash here because your numbers come from your unit.

LineSell with the tenant in placeDeliver vacant, then list

Starting value

Investor comps and the rent roll

Owner-occupant comps

Lawful cause to end the tenancy

Not needed

Required under the ordinance or the state act

Relocation assistance

None

-

Rent lost while the unit sits empty

None

-

Turnover and preparation

None

-

County and Pomona transfer tax

-

-

Commissions and closing costs

-

-

Net to you

-

-

The full line-by-line comparison, with the risk lines, is in occupied vs. vacant: pricing the same rental two ways.

When delivering vacant and listing nets more

Sometimes it does, and the written recommendation says so. The open market tends to win in Pomona when:

• The tenant has decided to leave on their own, so the vacancy costs nothing beyond turnover.
• The city confirms the unit is exempt, and the house is one owner-occupants would compete for once it is empty.
• The house is a restored one in a historic district, priced against other district houses rather than the surrounding tracts, where an owner-occupant pays for the restoration and an investor pricing rents does not.
• You have the time to carry the house through the notice period, the vacancy and the listing.

When those hold, you are introduced to a designated local expert, an independently licensed agent who works Pomona. The open-market read is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal.

Pomona's housing and what a buyer looks at

The ordinance is one variable. The house is the other, and Pomona's rental stock is unusually mixed:

• Lincoln Park, Wilton Heights and Hacienda Park. Most houses in the three residential historic districts date from the 1880s to the 1940s, with original systems and raised foundations. Exterior work goes through the city's historic preservation process, which limits what an investor can plan to change.
• South Pomona tracts, south of Holt Avenue. Post-war single-story houses where converted garages and back units are common. A tenant living in a unit that was never permitted is its own question; see back houses without permits: pricing and tenants.
• Phillips Ranch. A hillside planned community built from the 1960s into the 1980s, with HOA dues in some tracts. Dues and any transfer fees go in the net, and the comps come from Phillips Ranch, not the flat side of the city.

Questions to take to the city's program or an attorney

• Is my unit covered by Pomona's ordinance, by the state act, or by neither?
• If the unit is exempt, what does the city need from me to show it?
• What rent increases has the unit had, and were they within the rules that applied?
• If I ended the tenancy for a no-fault reason, what relocation amount and notice would apply?
• Is any notice, petition or dispute with the city open on the unit that a buyer would inherit?

What this looks like in practice

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

• A single-family rental in a South Pomona tract with a long-term tenant in the house and a relative living in the converted garage, where the owner wants both arrangements priced as they are.
• An heir to a Wilton Heights house with a tenant already in it, who needs to know whether the city's rules apply before deciding to sell or keep it.
• A Pomona landlord who owns a second rental in Claremont, where the state act governs instead, and wants the two sales compared under their own rules.

Next step

Pomona shares Claremont's western city line, so a Pomona walkthrough is a short local drive, scheduled around the tenant's notice. Read the Pomona area notes, see how tenant-occupied rentals are handled, or send the address with the unit count and a summary of the lease. Offers come from independent buyers and investors, and both numbers come back in writing. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report. Questions: (909) 498-3977.

Sources

• City of Pomona, Rent Stabilization Program (the city's rent stabilization and eviction control ordinance, coverage and forms): pomonaca.gov (accessed September 26, 2026, as recorded in this site's Pomona area facts; the city's site does not answer automated reads, so it was not re-opened for this article)
• City of Pomona, Historic Preservation: pomonaca.gov (accessed September 26, 2026, as recorded in this site's Pomona area facts)
• California Civil Code section 1946.2 (Tenant Protection Act: just cause, no-fault relocation, local ordinances in subdivision (i), void notices), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1950.5 (security deposits on a transfer of the landlord's interest), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1962 (owner disclosures to tenants; successor owners), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Courts Self-Help Guide, Types of eviction notices for landlords: selfhelp.courts.ca.gov (accessed November 6, 2026)
• Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, Documentary Transfer Tax general information (county rate; Pomona is one of five cities with an added city tax): lavote.gov (accessed September 26, 2026, as recorded in this site's Pomona area facts)

Mr. Cali Offers is not a law firm and does not advise landlords or tenants on terminations, relocation or rent rules; confirm them with the City of Pomona's Rent Stabilization Program or an attorney. 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.