San Jose Mun. Code Chapter 17.23 § 17.23.840
Establishment of base year operating expenses in the absence of expense records (San Jose Apartment Rent Ordinance and Tenant Protection Ordinance)
Operative Text
If Base Year Operating Expense information is unavailable, the Landlord shall submit a request to the City to accept the Petition without complete Base Year Operating Expense information in a manner consistent with the standards in the Regulations. In the absence of Base Year Operating Expense information, it shall be presumed that Operating Expenses have increased by the same percentage as the CPI-U since the Base Year, except that data or rate information or other sources of cost information may be considered in estimating the level of particular Operating Expenses in the Base Year. Information on increases or decreases in costs between the Base Year and the Current Year may be introduced by the Landlord, Tenant or members of the Tenant Household, City staff, and/or the Hearing Officer.
San Jose Municipal Code § 17.23.840 addresses situations where a landlord filing a rent petition cannot produce records of their base year operating expenses. When those records are missing, the rule establishes a default assumption: operating expenses are treated as having grown at the same rate as the CPI-U (a standard consumer price index) since the base year. This presumption is not absolute — relevant data, rate information, or other cost sources can be used to estimate what specific expenses actually were, and any party involved in the hearing may introduce evidence about how costs changed between the base year and the current year.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under § 17.23.840, a landlord who cannot locate base year operating expense records must formally request that the City accept the petition despite that gap, following the standards set out in the applicable Regulations. Compliant operators typically document their outreach efforts to locate missing records before submitting such a request, and they gather whatever available rate data, utility records, or other cost information might help establish a more accurate picture of base year expenses. Because the CPI-U presumption applies by default in the absence of records, landlords who believe their actual cost increases differed from that index generally present supporting documentation at the hearing.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Section § 17.23.840 gives tenants and members of the tenant household the right to participate in the evidentiary process when a landlord's base year expense records are missing. Because the rule allows any party — including tenants — to introduce information about cost changes between the base year and the current year, tenants have a recognized role in challenging or supplementing the default CPI-U presumption. Tenants who receive notice of a petition filed under these circumstances may wish to review the applicable Regulations, contact the San Jose Housing Department, or reach out to a local tenant-rights organization to understand how that participation works in practice.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated September 3, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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