A little less than half of California residents rent their homes or apartments. Although many people choose to rent due to the costs of owning a home, renting can also be expensive. In fact, California has some of the highest rents in the country, responsible for seven out of the top ten expensive cities to rent in the United States. Many residents are considered rent-burdened, with 30 percent or more of their monthly income going to pay their rent. California does have a rent control law that some renters are fortunate enough to benefit from, but as a recent lawsuit shows, the law can frustrate landlords required to obey the law, and this can cause a great many landlord/tenant disputes.

San Francisco Lawsuit

The lawsuit involved a couple renting an apartment in San Francisco. The city has some of the highest rents in the state, with the rent for a two-bedroom apartment averaging $3,500. The couple filed the lawsuit in May 2015, accusing their landlord of subjecting them to months of harassment and erratic behavior. The landlord had purchased the property about a year before the lawsuit was filed.

According to the details of the lawsuit, the husband originally moved into the building in 1994. The two-bedroom apartment was under rent control, so this meant the rent could only be raised 1.5 percent each year. While the husband’s rent had only increased about 30 percent over the past 25 years, San Francisco’s rental average for a two-bedroom has increased more than 250 percent.