How to Register a Pasadena Rental Before the Oct. 31 Deadline

The fee is $236.54 per unit, and homeowners who got a city letter but rent nothing should still claim an exemption.

Pasadena landlords owe $236.54 for every rental unit by Oct. 31, and the office that runs the city's rental registry will be closed that day and the day before.

The city's Rent Stabilization Department set out the deadline in a release posted Wednesday on cityofpasadena.net and asked owners to file and pay early. No late fees will be charged through Nov. 7. Starting Nov. 8, they kick in, and they grow the longer the bill goes unpaid.

Most Pasadena rentals are covered, according to the city's Rental Registry page. That includes rented single-family homes, condos, ADUs, junior ADUs and units in buildings with two or more units. The requirement comes from Measure H, the rent stabilization measure that took effect in December 2022 as Charter Article XVIII.

You're wondering whether any of this applies if you live in your house and rent nothing out. It does if the city mailed you a registration letter. The registry FAQ says the city will treat that home as a rental, and can start enforcement, until the owner logs in and claims an exemption. Owner-occupants don't pay the fee, but if they got a letter, the city says they should log in and claim an exemption.

The fee covers the fiscal year from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027. It's down from $238.00 last year. The city says landlords can't pass it on to tenants and can't prorate it.

Late fees are a share of that $236.54, charged per unit, on the schedule posted on the registry page:

• Nov. 8 to Dec. 15: 15%, or $35.48
• Dec. 16 to Jan. 29, 2027: 30%, or $70.96
• Jan. 30, 2027, and after: 50%, or $118.27

The late fee isn't the biggest cost. The registry page lists a 2.50% allowed increase for rent-stabilized units, in effect from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2027. The FAQ says an owner who hasn't registered a rent-stabilized unit may not raise the rent at all. It also says tenants may be able to withhold rent and the owner may be blocked from evicting. The city posts a form for requesting a late-fee waiver.

Here's the order the city lays out:

1. Find your letter. You'll need the Assessor Parcel Number and the PIN the department mailed to owners. If you lost it or never got one, call (626) 744-7999.
2. File any exemption first. The department wants exemption applications in before anything else, so staff can rule on them. Fully owner-occupied units, units kept off the market all fiscal year and units a qualifying relative lives in rent-free are among those excused from the fee. They still have to be registered.
3. Enter each unit. Keep the lease handy. The portal asks for the move-in date, the starting and current rent, the last increase, the deposit and how many people live there, among other things.
4. Pay the invoice in full. The city doesn't accept partial payments. You can pay by credit card or e-check online. You can pay in person at Municipal Services, 100 N. Garfield Ave., Room N106, weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., if you bring the invoice. Mailing a check works too: put the parcel number, the invoice number and the billing period on the check, tuck in the slip from the bottom of the invoice, and send it early to City of Pasadena, RSD, PO Box 7115, 100 N. Garfield Ave., Room N106, Pasadena, CA 91109-7215. The Rent Stabilization Department's own office doesn't take payments.
5. Get help if you're stuck. After Thursday's morning session, the last free walk-in help is Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to noon, in the first-floor conference room at 199 S. Los Robles Ave. You don't need an appointment. Bring your registry login and current details for each unit. If you can't make it, book a one-on-one appointment online or at (626) 744-7999, or email RentalRegistry@CityOfPasadena.net.

That Oct. 29 session is the last walk-in session. The department's office is closed Oct. 30 and 31, and the deadline falls on the 31st, a Saturday.

Source: cityofpasadena.net, retrieved October 22, 2026. Other sources: cityofpasadena.net Rental Registry.