Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Canoga Park is in Los Angeles. Most of the City of Los Angeles is a rent control city. You need to contact Los Angeles Rent Control and determine whether your rental increases are appropriate, or violate the rent control ordinance.

I think it is legal, perhaps subject only to any local rent-control ordinances. Think about a car dealer or an oriental rug merchant. Everybody knows you get what you bargain for in those places. All real estate (***) is considered "unique" which might be a further justification for different pricing. Some locations are better than others. Maybe the garage is extra. Maybe the deal terms are different - longer term, escalation after six months, etc.

[Footnote (***) to real-estate experts reading this: Yes, I know there are some scattered cases that have not applied this old legal principle in denying specific performance re near-identical condominiums, but the principle that all real estateis unique is still more-or-less intact.]

Mr. Whipple is correct that subtle differences in near-identical properties can make them have different values. In addition, the value of any interest in real estate, whether lease or purchase, is set by the market at the time of transfer. So even truely identical properties my have different values at different times. That does not make the price charged when the market is high illegal just because an identical property goes for a lower price when the market is off. If I sold my house in 2005 I would have gotten a lot more for it than I can today. If I buy a new 2011 car today, first one off the line, I will pay a lot more for it than someone will pay for an identical car, equally brand new, in January 2011. Does that entitle me to a refund? Of course not. So as long as your rent increases are legal under the applicable rent control, you choice is to keep paying, or look into moving somewhere you can get a better deal.