Kendra Sherman said she wasn’t sure what to expect when her apartment building in El Cajon was sold last year.
The 53-year-old single mother has been living in the same three-bedroom unit for a decade. And as a full-time medical office assistant, she said she has adapted to the regular, predictable rent increases over the past few years. But that changed when it came time to renew her lease this summer.
The new owner said her rent was going up more than $300 a month — an increase of over 14%. That’s almost twice as high as state law allows.
Sherman isn’t alone. Other tenants living in units with the same owner said they have also experienced increases in the past year that exceed the cap set by state law. One tenant, who inewsource agreed not to identify over concerns of retaliation, said their rent went up earlier this year by $350 a month — a 16% increase.
The law exempts some properties from the rent cap, but those exemptions don't appear to apply here, according to a review by inewsource and two housing attorneys.
When contacted by phone, the owner, Eddy Wibowo, appeared to not know that state law limits rent increases for most properties. He did not comment further.
This is not an isolated issue. It’s just one example of a problem that attorneys and advocates say is widespread in jurisdictions with few local tenant protections.
inewsource reporting over the past 18 months has uncovered tenants at all income levels facing rent increases that exceed the cap set by state law. And in San Diego County, the only recourse for tenants who feel they have been wronged is to hire an attorney. For tenants like Sherman, the increase in rent means she can’t even save enough to move to a cheaper apartment.
“I need help, this is wrong,” she said. “It’s not like I’m going to call the police or something. It’s like who do I contact, who can I tell this to?”
Sherman said she contacted the Legal Aid Society, one of the few resources in San Diego County for free legal assistance, and has been working with a representative. But the demand for services is far greater than the nonprofit's resources, and Sherman doesn’t know what will come of it.
She’s already feeling the effects of the increase, she said.
“Gas and electric is through the roof. … We’re sitting here boiling through the summer (because) there’s no extra budget for the gas and electric bill,” Sherman said, adding that “some things are going on credit cards that shouldn’t go on credit cards.”
Meanwhile, she’s afraid her landlord, Wibowo, will move on with business as usual, refusing to address her claims unless compelled to do so.
“It’s scary,” she said. “My anxiety is through the roof with this thing.”
‘Where’s my voice?’
Passed in 2019, the California Tenant Protection Act limits how much landlords can raise the rent in a 12-month period. It set a 10% maximum cap, or 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, whichever is lower. Every year, that calculation is determined in April and the change takes effect Aug. 1.
In San Diego County, the most a landlord can increase the rent is 8.6% — that cap will remain in effect until the next adjustment in August 2025.
How to calculate a rent increase
Take the new rent and subtract the old rent from it. Then, divide that amount by the old rent. In the example below, a tenant received notice their rent was increasing from $2,150 to $2,500.
$2,500 – $2,150 = $350 / $2,150 = .1627 or a 16.3% increase
There are some exemptions, including certain single family homes and condos. But the cap applies to most rental properties in California older than 15 years, including housing rented by Section 8 voucher holders, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Whether voucher holders are protected has been a real sticking point across the state. An inewsource investigation revealed half of the county’s six public housing agencies, which are responsible for managing millions of dollars in federal money to help low-income families pay rent, weren’t checking whether rent increases exceeded the cap set by state law.
Since then, housing agencies with the city and county of San Diego, as well as Oceanside, have changed policies to ensure compliance. Officials with three other public housing agencies — in Carlsbad, Encinitas and National City — said they were already checking to ensure landlords follow the state’s law.
After inewsource’s reporting, nearly 30,000 low-income families across San Diego County now have been promised the same protections from excessive rent increases guaranteed to other California tenants.
But the problem is much broader, affecting tenants like Sherman who don’t have any form of rental assistance or the backing of a government agency tasked with protecting her.
When it came time to renew her lease in June, the new property owner raised the rent and tacked on fees for water and trash that were explicitly covered by her rent in her prior lease. Attorneys refer to these breakouts as “junk fees” — added costs for existing services that could push rents well over the limit.
Sherman’s landlord, Wibowo, owns at least three multifamily rental properties in San Diego County. Every indicator suggests tenants in his properties should be protected by state law: Each building was constructed more than 15 years ago without low-income tax credits, and none of them appear to be restricted for affordable housing.
inewsource spoke with two housing attorneys and both said the properties appear to be covered by the law.
But tenants living in two of his buildings described similar events: After Wibowo took over, he raised the rent hundreds of dollars a month, exceeding the cap set by state law. When confronted about the increase, Wibowo told tenants he had to bring the property closer in line with the market.
One tenant, who also didn’t want to be named over fears of retaliation, said they thought their $300 increase was illegal but didn’t have the time, money or energy to fight it.
Sherman felt compelled to fight back. After confronting her landlord about the increase, the two exchanged a series of text messages. In them, Wibowo lowered the amount she would pay for “rent” to match the 8.6% cap but increased what she would owe for trash, water and “facilities.” In the end, though, he was still asking for the same amount every month.
She didn’t know what else to do.
“This is like an overcharge; this is too much and I can’t sit in silence for this,” Sherman said. “Where’s my voice? Who am I going to tell?”
She saw previous inewsource reporting on rent increases and decided to reach out.
Earlier this month, in a brief phone conversation, Wibowo, who has an active real-estate license on file with the state, appeared to not understand that state law limits rent increases and said he would call inewsource back. Efforts to reach him since then — including phone calls, text messages, an email and a home visit — went unanswered.
Other cities offer solutions
Tenants living in rent-controlled cities, such as Santa Monica or Berkeley, have a far different — and more affordable — option to fight rent increases they believe are illegal.
Rather than hiring an attorney and going to court over a rent increase, tenants can file a petition with a local government office that has the authority to adjust rents and award refunds.
The Berkeley Rent Board formed in the ‘80s to implement the city’s rent ordinance, which, among other things, caps rent increases at 65% of the area’s inflation. So, this year, landlords in Berkeley can only raise the rent 1.9% on rent-controlled units.
Tenants and landlords can file petitions with the rent board for up or down adjustments, depending on the circumstances. The board has averaged 125 rent adjustment petitions every year for the past decade, and most of them are from tenants requesting a reduction, according to a staff member.
If a refund is awarded to a tenant and a landlord doesn’t pay, the tenant can start using that refund against the rent owed — meaning they can withhold rent until the debt is satisfied.
In a recent interview with inewsource, staff with the Berkeley Rent Board said this kind of protection reduces displacement by giving people a chance to stay in areas they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford, and levels the playing field for property owners and tenants. This way, tenants don’t have to address issues of rent and substandard housing while also fighting an eviction. And, officials said, it also leads to fewer violations.
But it took decades of commitment in Berkeley to get here, including political will and community buy-in.
“While people challenge the edges of (rent control), the concept is pretty much ingrained,” said Matt Brown, who works as the board’s general counsel. “It’s been here for 44 years now, and so people understand that there are rights and people understand that there are responsibilities.”
