REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
Who needs to register?
If you are a property owner with three or more residential rental units, you must register your rental property with the City of Palo Alto unless the base rental rate for any unit on the property includes access to healthcare or related services. Non-residential properties, non-rental properties, and residential rental properties fewer than three residential units are NOT required to participate in the Rental Registry Program at this time.
All multi-family properties and duplex or single-family properties with three or more rental units are required to register.
How do I register?
Click on the Access Portal button on the project webpage at /rentalregistry. This will lead you to the Registration Portal page. The registration period begins on October 1, 2024, and will close on January 15, 2025. The portal will not be active before October 1.
Is there a registration fee?
The fee for this program year has been waived but will take effect at the start of the next open registration period in Fall of 2025. The Rental Registry Fee will be published as part of the City's annual municipal fee schedule update in August 2025.
Is there a penalty fee if I do not register my units?
Property owners who fail to register their required rental units will be cited an Administrative Penalty Fee of $50 per unit after closure of the first annual open registration period in January 2025. Property owners must come into compliance with the program by registering all required units and pay the applicable citations to avoid additional citations and/or delinquency fees.
Do I need to report any other rental-related events that happen throughout the year?
Property owners are required to report certain events via the online portal as they occur over the course of the year. Specifically, property owners must report any of the following within ten (10) calendar days:
• Any increase in rent
• A notice to quit is sent to a renter
• An unlawful detainer complaint is filed
• An eviction
Can we file for Rental Registry Program exemptions?
All properties with three or more residential rental units are required to register their units starting this year, unless the base rental rate for onw or more units on the Property includes access to healthcare or related services (see following FAQ for more details). If you do not have three or more residential rental units on your property and you received an official registration notice via USPS mail in error, please notify staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov.
Do long-term care and similar healthcare facilities need to register their units?
Such facilities only need to register units that 1) include private living, cooking, sleeping and bathing facilities for each household or resident and 2) do not include access to healthcare or related services in their base rental rates or required community entry fees. If you received a registration letter for your property via USPS mail, but believe that your property may not be required to register based on these criteria, please contact staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov to complete the required affidavit and avoid potential penalty fees.
REGISTRATION LETTERS
I did not receive a registration letter but think I may be required to register this year; what do I do?
Please email staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov with your property address and APN to confirm whether a registration letter was sent to the mailing address on file for your property. If it was not, then you are not required to register this year and will not be fined for non-compliance but may be required to register in the future. If a letter was sent but you did not receive it (i.e. it was returned to the city or sent to an outdated mailing address), staff will provide you with a new registration letter via either email or USPS mail (depending on your preference) so that you can comply with the program this year, as required.
I did not receive a registration letter would like to proactively register my residential rental units this year; what do I do?
Please email staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov with your property address and APN to request a registration letter for your property and to voluntarily participate in this program.
UNIT COUNTS AND DEFINITIONS
How do you define a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program?
A unit is a private living space with its own cooking, sleeping and bathing facilities. A unit may be rented to one or more individuals.
Do owner-occupied units count towards the total number of units on a property? Do these units need to be registered in the online portal annually?
Yes, owner-occupied units count towards the total number of residential rental units on the property since these units may or may not continue to be occupied by an owner in the future and are therefore considered part of the city’s overall rental housing stock. These units also need to be registered annually via the online rental registry portal.
Do vacant units count towards the total number of units on a property?
Yes, vacant units (whether or not they are currently listed for rent) count towards the total number of residential rental units on the property since these units may or may not continue to be vacant in the future and are therefore considered part of the city’s overall rental housing stock. These units also need to be registered annually via the online rental registry portal.
Do rented rooms need to be individually registered?
No, rented rooms do not need to be registered. However, the units containing the rented rooms may still need to be registered if they are located on a property with three or more residential rental units.
Do rented rooms that share cooking, sleeping, and/or bathing facilities with the landlord need to be individually registered?
No, the individually rented rooms do not need to be registered. However, the unit containing the rented rooms may still need to be registered at this time if it is located on a property with three or more residential rental units.
Is an ADU considered a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program?
Yes, but an ADU only needs to be registered at this time if it is located on a property with three or more residential rental units.
Is a JADU considered a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program?
If a JADU shares bathing facilities with the primary unit, it does not need to register as a separate unit . If it has its own bathing facilities, then it is considered a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program and must register if it is located on a property with three or more residential rental units. Palo Alto requires all JADUs to have their own cooking facilities.
Do ADUs and JADUs count towards the total number of units on a property?
ADUs and JADUs that do not share bathing facilities with the primary unit count towards the total number of units on a property.
Do I need to register my units if I own three or more residential rental units spread across various one- or two-unit properties? No. If you own multiple one- or two-unit rental properties, you do not need to register these units at this time. You only need to register units located on a property with three or more residential rental units.
REGISTRATION PROCESS
I received an automatic email after I submitted my rental registry application online stating that the application was incomplete and/or the number of units I entered does not match the county assessor’s records. What does this mean, and do I need to do anything about it?
If you registered a different number of units than the county assessor’s current records show for a particular property, your registration application will be flagged as a potential unit discrepancy case for staff review. In these unit discrepancy cases, our staff asks for your patience while we conduct the necessary research to confirm the correct unit count for the property.
If the number of units registered matches the research staff conducts, staff will manually mark the registration complete, and you will receive another automatic email to confirm this. If the staff is not able to confirm the unit count based on our own research, we may reach out to you for further information or to offer you an affidavit to complete that indicates the correct number of units currently on the property. We ask that you reply in a timely manner if staff does reach out to you. Staff will do their best to resolve these unit discrepancy cases as quickly as possible over the coming weeks and months, but please do not worry if you don’t hear from us right away.
Rest assured that your property is considered compliant with the rental registry program based on your initial submittal and that you will not be fined a penalty fee, even if we are not able to resolve your unit discrepancy ahead of the posted registration deadline.
What if I don’t have the exact data that the rental registry program is asking for as part of the registration process available at this time?
Please provide estimates or best guesses for required fields for which you do not have detailed data available. You may also utilize the “N/A” or “Unknown” checkboxes for certain fields as shown in the forms on the online registration portal. Please do your best to locate detailed data for these fields in future registration years.
What if I need help registering online?
With the start of the registration period, October 1st, 2024, technical support will be available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, via phone at 650-459-0138. A chat feature is available at the online registration portal Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Staff is also also offering three in-person training sessions for property owners during the open registration period. These sessions will be held at the Community Meeting Room, City Hall Ground Floor on October 22, Tuesday, 4-6PM, November 18, Monday, 12-2PM and January 8 2025, Wednesday, 4-6PM. All attendees must sign-up ahead of time by emailing us at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov.
It is recommended to avoid data entry using a mobile device.
Are there paper versions of the annual registration forms available?
Yes, paper forms are available at the Development Center located at 285 Hamilton Avenue, across the street from City Hall. However, Rental Registry Program participants are encouraged to complete the forms using the online portal, if possible. Public computers are available at City libraries and in-person portal trainings will be offered on October 22, November 18 and January 8 (please see the City Calendar for details).
I have questions... Who should I ask?
Email any questions or comments to staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov.