Rent Increases and Tenant Rights Under the Rent Control Act

Which Homes Are Covered

The Rent Control Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9653, or RA 9653) covers residential units: houses, apartments, rooms, bedspaces, dormitories and boarding houses used as homes. Hotels and motels are not covered.

The law lets the government extend rent control and set the yearly limit. The National Human Settlements Board, under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), extended it in Resolution No. 2024-01 for 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026, for residential units with a monthly rent of ₱10,000 and below.

Not covered under the resolution:

• units renting for more than ₱10,000 a month;
• new residential units offered for lease;
• rent-to-own arrangements in writing (Section 11 of RA 9653).

As of this writing, no extension beyond 31 December 2026 has been announced. Check the DHSUD website before the new year.

How Much Rent Can Go Up

The limit applies to a tenant who stays in, or renews the lease for, the same unit. For example, on a ₱8,000 monthly rent, a 1% increase is at most ₱80, so the new rent can be up to ₱8,080 in 2026.

• Vacant units. When the unit becomes vacant, the landlord may set the starting rent for the next tenant.
• Student rooms and bedspaces. For boarding houses, dormitories, rooms and bedspaces rented to students, the rent can go up only once a year, even if the full limit was not used.

Advance, Deposit and Paying Rent

For covered units, Section 7 of RA 9653 says:

• Rent is paid in advance within the first five days of each month, unless the contract says otherwise.
• The landlord cannot demand more than one month advance rent.
• The landlord cannot demand more than two months deposit. The deposit must be kept in a bank, and the interest goes back to the tenant when the lease ends.
• The deposit can be kept only to cover unpaid rent, unpaid utility bills, or damage the tenant caused, and only up to the actual amount.

If the landlord refuses your rent. You can deposit it (consign it) with the court, the city or municipal treasurer, the barangay chairman, or a bank in the landlord's name, within one month after the refusal. After that, deposit each month's rent within the first 10 days of the month. Keep a Rent Receipt or deposit slip for every payment.

Legal Reasons for Eviction (Section 9)

A covered tenant can be ejected (evicted) only for these reasons:

1. Subleasing or assigning the unit, or taking in boarders or bedspacers, without the landlord's written consent.
2. Unpaid rent adding up to three months. If you were consigning rent and failed to deposit for three months, that also counts.
3. The owner needs the unit for their own home or for their spouse, children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents (including in-laws in the same line). The lease must have ended, the tenant must get formal notice three months ahead, and the owner cannot rent out the unit to someone else for at least one year after taking it back.
4. Necessary repairs under an order condemning the building (declaring it unsafe). The tenant gets first preference to rent it again after the repairs.
5. End of the lease period.

A sale or mortgage of the property is not a reason to evict (Section 10). Even with a valid reason, the landlord must follow the steps: a written demand, the barangay, then a court case. See how eviction works and our Notice to Vacate template.

What a Landlord May Not Do

• Raise the rent of a covered unit above the yearly limit for the same tenant.
• Demand more than one month advance or two months deposit for a covered unit.
• Evict a covered tenant for a reason not in Section 9, or because the property was sold.
• Throw a tenant out without a court order. Under Article 536 of the Civil Code, a person who wants the property back must go to court if the occupant refuses to leave. Padlocking the unit, removing belongings or cutting off water or electricity to force a tenant out is not a substitute for an eviction case.

Breaking RA 9653 is a crime. Section 13 sets a fine of ₱25,000 to ₱50,000, imprisonment of one month and one day to six months, or both.

Tenants have duties too: pay on time, take care of the unit, get written consent before subleasing, and leave when the lease lawfully ends. Disputes between neighbours in the same city or town usually go first to barangay conciliation. For free legal help, go to the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) or an IBP legal aid office.

Rents Above ₱10,000: The Civil Code

For units not covered by rent control, there is no legal cap on increases. The Civil Code rules on lease and your contract apply:

• Fixed-term lease. The rent agreed in the contract holds for the whole term. The landlord cannot raise it on their own during the term unless the contract allows it, because a contract binds both sides and cannot be changed by one of them alone.
• No fixed term. If the lease has no set period and rent is paid monthly, it is treated as a month-to-month lease (Art. 1687). Either side may end it at the end of a month, and the landlord may offer new terms, including a new rent, for the next month.
• Staying after the lease ends. If the tenant stays on for 15 days after the lease ends and the landlord does not object, an implied new lease starts on the same terms, month to month if rent is monthly (Art. 1670).
• Advance and deposit are whatever you agree on.
• Eviction grounds under Art. 1673: the lease period has ended, non-payment of rent, breaking the contract's conditions, or using the property in a way not agreed that damages it. The landlord still has to go to court.

Write everything down in a Contract of Lease. Landlords can read renting out property for what to put in it.