Housing Services in Berkeley Rentals: Protecting Flexibility with Separate Agreements

Under Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the treatment of housing services, such as parking, storage, and laundry, depends on whether the rental unit is fully covered (subject to rent control and eviction protections) or partially covered (subject only to eviction protections).

What Are Housing Services?

Housing services include any benefit provided to the tenant in connection with their housing, such as:

• Parking

• Storage

• On-site laundry

• Use of common areas

If these services are provided as part of the tenancy, either written into the lease or provided informally and without charge, they may become protected components of the tenancy.

Fully Covered Units: Services Become Locked In

For fully covered units, housing services are regulated alongside the rent. Once a service is included in the lease or routinely provided for free:

• It becomes part of the rent-controlled tenancy.

• You cannot unilaterally remove it or begin charging for it.

• Even informal or undocumented services (e.g., free parking or laundry) may be protected.

Removing a service or charging for it without the tenant’s consent can be treated as an illegal rent increase.

Partially Covered Units: More Flexibility After the Fixed Lease Term

In partially covered units, landlords have more flexibility regarding services and rent, but they still may not unilaterally change the terms of an active lease. This includes removing or charging for housing services. However:

• After the lease ends or transitions to a month-to-month agreement, landlords may propose changes (including service fees or removal).

• These changes should be made clearly and in writing in any new or revised agreement.

Best Practice: Use Separate Agreements

To preserve long-term flexibility, landlords should consider offering amenities like laundry, parking, and storage through separate written agreements, distinct from the lease. This allows for:

• Clear boundaries between core tenancy and optional services

• Easier removal or adjustment of services in the future

• Less risk of Rent Board interpretation that a service is part of rent

Caution: These agreements must be genuinely separate. If the Rent Board believes the service is essential or was implied as part of the tenancy, they may still consider it protected.

Implied Housing Services: When Silence Becomes Consent

In Berkeley, a housing service doesn’t need to be mentioned in the lease to become a protected part of the tenancy. If a tenant regularly uses a service — such as parking, laundry, or storage — and the landlord allows it without raising an objection, the service may be considered “implied” under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance.

If a service is not excluded in the lease and the landlord fails to address it, the tenant’s continued use implies that it is included in the tenancy.

Once implied, the service becomes a regulated housing service, meaning:

• The landlord cannot remove it or begin charging for it without the tenant’s written consent.

• Doing so may be treated as an illegal rent increase or unlawful reduction in housing services, even if the service was never agreed to in writing.

• This risk is especially high in fully covered units, where housing services are tied to the rent ceiling.

To avoid this, landlords should either expressly exclude optional services in the lease or offer them through separate, written agreements that make clear they are not included in rent.

Protect Yourself with Clear Lease Language

To prevent the Rent Board from treating informal or temporary amenities as protected housing services, it’s essential to clarify what rent does not cover. The BPOA lease template includes a provision that does exactly this:

Facilities and Services Not Included: The Premises do not include, and Rent is not paid in consideration of the use of any of the following, if applicable: laundry room, storage areas, yard, parking space, garage or lot, common area watering faucets or spigots, planters in hallways, garden areas, sidewalks, alleyways, patios, or balconies (even if the primary access point is from within the Premises), cable, satellite or internet. Rent does not include these services or use of the facilities here described as part of services provided to Resident. Owner has no obligation to provide these services or facilities as part of this Agreement. The providing of these services and facilities does not serve as a waiver of this clause.

This language ensures that tenant use of these features does not automatically convert them into regulated housing services. Even if the landlord permits access informally, the Rent Board is less likely to view the service as implied if the lease makes clear that rent is not being paid in exchange for it.

For added protection:

• Use explicit exclusions in your lease (like the BPOA form),

• And offer optional amenities (such as parking or laundry) through standalone (separate) agreements.

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