Pasadena Landlords Have Until Saturday to Register Without a Late Fee

Miss the grace period and the $236.54-per-unit Rental Housing Fee grows by 15%, then keeps climbing to 50%.

If you rent out anything in Pasadena, from a single condo to a backyard ADU, and you still haven't registered it with the city, Saturday is your last day to do it without a penalty. Starting Sunday, every unit that's still unpaid gets a late fee added to the $236.54 Rental Housing Fee, and the fee grows the longer the bill sits.

The city's Rent Stabilization Department laid out that clock in a news release from the City of Pasadena on Wednesday. The registration window closed Oct. 31, and a seven-day grace period with no late fees runs through Saturday. After that, the department's Rental Registry page lists these charges per unit on top of the fee for the 2026-27 fiscal year:

• Through Saturday: no late fee.
• Sunday through Dec. 15: 15%, or $35.48 more.
• Dec. 16 through Jan. 29: 30%, or $70.96 more.
• Jan. 30 and after: 50%, or $118.27 more.

The late fee isn't the only cost. Under Charter Article XVIII, the city's rent law better known as Measure H, an owner who misses registration may not be allowed to raise the rent on a rent-stabilized unit, the department's page says. Tenants may also be able to withhold rent until the owner complies, and the owner may be blocked from evicting. That timing matters, because this year's 2.50% allowed increase on stabilized units took effect Oct. 1.

Here's how to finish.

1. Find your APN and PIN. You'll need the property's Assessor Parcel Number and a unique PIN. Both were printed on the letter the department mailed to owners. If you lost it or never got one, call (626) 744-7999, email RentalRegistry@CityOfPasadena.net or book an appointment with staff through the registry site.
2. Register each unit online. Use the Rental Registry portal and have the tenancy details ready: when it started, the current rent, and the date and size of the last increase. A paper form exists, but the department warns it can cause significant delays.
3. Exempt? Register anyway. This is the mistake people make. An owner who lives in the home and got a letter won't owe the fee, but still has to create an account and claim the exemption. Until that happens, the city treats the unit as a rental and may start enforcement.
4. Pay the whole invoice. The city doesn't take partial payments. You can pay online by credit card or e-check, or by check through the mail with the invoice number, parcel number and billing period written on it. The city's page doesn't say whether a postmark counts toward the grace period.
5. Pay in person by Friday. The counter is at City of Pasadena Municipal Services, 100 N. Garfield Ave., Room N106. Its posted hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., so Friday is the last day to pay in person inside the grace period. Bring a copy of your invoice. The Rent Stabilization Department's own office doesn't take payments.
6. Already late? The registry page has a Request for Late Fee Waiver form. It doesn't say what qualifies.

Two more rules from the department: the fee can't be passed on to tenants, and it can't be prorated. It's a bit lower than last cycle's $238, which doesn't help much if you wait. Miss every window, and by the end of January a single unit's $236.54 bill is $354.81.

Source: cityofpasadena.net, retrieved November 5, 2026. Other sources: cityofpasadena.net (2).