Pasadena Rent Stabilization Department Sets Sept. 8 Workshop to Walk Landlords Through Rebuilt Rental Registry Portal

Pasadena rental property owners can get a guided look at the city’s rebuilt Rental Registry portal at the Rent Stabilization Department’s annual Rental Registration Workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, the city announced Thursday.

The workshop, at the department’s office at 199 S. Los Robles Ave., First Floor Conference Room, will cover the 2026 registration cycle, which opened Sept. 1 and runs through Oct. 31, and will demonstrate the updated portal that guides owners through registration in five steps, according to a news release from the city. Owners may attend in person or online through Zoom at Bit.ly/MonthlyRSDWorkshops, and Spanish interpretation will be available for both.

The session is an educational group demonstration, not a walk-in registration clinic, the city said. Staff will not complete registrations or provide individual help during the workshop.

Topics will include who must register residential rental properties and units, registration dates and deadlines, the five-step process, how to navigate the portal, the information owners should have on hand before they begin, and registration fees, payment options and potential late fees.

The rebuilt portal is intended to make it easier for owners to enter property and unit information, review required details and complete their registration, and it lets users save their progress and return later before completing the final step, according to the release.

Owners who need one-on-one help completing their registration are being directed to seven walk-in sessions, where Rental Registry staff can guide them through the process and address account-specific questions. Owners should bring their account login information and the most current information about their rental units. The sessions are:

— Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2 to 5 p.m., Robinson Park Recreation Center, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave.

— Monday, Sept. 21, 2 to 5 p.m., Victory Park Recreation Center, 2575 Paloma St.

— Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2 to 5 p.m., Robinson Park Recreation Center.

— Thursday, Oct. 8, 9 a.m. to noon, Rent Stabilization Department office, 199 S. Los Robles Ave.

— Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2 to 5 p.m., Rent Stabilization Department office.

— Thursday, Oct. 22, 9 a.m. to noon, Rent Stabilization Department office.

— Thursday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to noon, Rent Stabilization Department office.

Owners must complete their registration and pay the annual fee of $236.54 per unit by Oct. 31. A seven-day grace period runs through Nov. 7, during which outstanding registrations can be completed without a late fee. Beginning Nov. 8, incomplete registrations will be assessed a late fee in addition to the annual fee, the city said.

The fee is slightly lower than the $238 per unit the city charged in the 2025 cycle, the first year in which the Pasadena Rental Housing Board applied late fees for noncompliance. The board approved the $238 fee in August 2025, a sharp increase from the $214.71 blended fee that had covered the registry’s first two cycles, as the program worked through a budget deficit and lagging compliance, the Pasadena-Foothills Association of Realtors reported at the time.

The registry and the fee are required under Charter Article XVIII, the rent stabilization measure Pasadena voters approved as Measure H in November 2022. All residential rental properties in the city must be registered. Units exempt from the charter, such as owner-occupied units and units unavailable for rent, are not charged the fee, and the fee cannot be passed on to tenants or prorated, according to the department’s Rental Registry page.

The consequences of missing the deadline go beyond late fees. Under the charter, owners who fail to register may not raise rents on rent-stabilized units and may be prevented from evicting a tenant, and tenants may have the right to withhold rent until the owner comes into compliance, the department says.

Registration can be paid online by credit card or e-check through the portal; in person by check, cash, credit or debit card at the Municipal Services office, 100 N. Garfield Ave., Room N106, weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.; or by mail. Payments are not accepted at the Rent Stabilization Department office, and partial payments are not accepted, according to the city’s Sept. 1 announcement opening the cycle.

Separately, the board’s 2.5 percent Annual General Adjustment for rent-stabilized units takes effect Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027, replacing the 2.25 percent cap in force for the past year.

For more information about the Rental Registry, registration requirements or the complete walk-in assistance schedule, visit Bit.ly/RentRegistryPasadena. For registration assistance, contact the Rent Stabilization Department at (626) 744-7999 or RentalRegistry@CityOfPasadena.net.