Los Angeles City · LAMC §151.06.02

The Interest Ledger

RSO-covered units accrue interest on the security deposit every year — and the rate changes annually. Enter the deposit and the tenancy dates below; this calculates it correctly across every rate period since 1990.

Rates current through calendar year 2026, per LAHD Rent Stabilization Bulletin #44 (published 01/13/2026)

Security deposit held ($)

Move-in date When the deposit was received.

Calculate as of Move-out date, or today if the tenancy is ongoing.

Interest method Most landlords use the RAC rate — see below.

This unit is subject to the LA City RSOCertificate of occupancy issued before October 1, 1978. Mobile home parks are excluded from this requirement regardless of RSO status.

Before you rely on the number

The 1-year threshold is all-or-nothing. If the deposit hasn't been held for a full 12 months as of your calculation date, no interest is owed yet under the ordinance — not a prorated partial amount.
Once the threshold is met, interest runs from day one. The full holding period counts, not just the months after the 12-month mark.
2002 is a hard zero. The City Council waived interest for that calendar year entirely (Ordinance 175020) — this tool already reflects that.
You must pick a payment method and put it in writing. Direct payment or a rent credit — either works, but silence doesn't. Undocumented "I meant to credit it" isn't compliance.
Annual payment is the floor, not the finish line. You can pay monthly or annually, but accrued interest is owed every year the deposit is held — not just batched at move-out.
"Actual bank-earned interest" is a real option — but only if you can produce the bank statement showing what the deposit actually earned. Without that documentation, the RAC rate is what applies.
Rates beyond 2026 aren't published yet. This tool will flag any year outside the confirmed table and estimate using the most recent known rate — verify with LAHD before relying on it for a future year.

Where this requirement came from

Ordinance history & the compliance-litigation trend

The interest requirement isn't a court-invented rule — it's a City Council enactment. Ordinance 166368 added the interest-payment requirement to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, with accrual starting November 1, 1990. The mechanism has been revised twice since:

1990Ordinance 166368 establishes the requirement — a flat 5% simple annual rate, accruing monthly, for RSO-covered units.
2001Ordinance 174017 amends the mechanism (effective 7/16/01), moving toward an annually-set rate rather than a fixed figure.
2004Ordinance 175020 (effective 2/1/03) introduces the current dual-method structure — the Rent Adjustment Commission's published simple rate, or actual bank-earned interest — and waives interest entirely for calendar year 2002.

As for "case law that encouraged compliance" — there isn't one landmark appellate decision that put this requirement on the map. What actually drives compliance today is a litigation trend, not a single case: LAMC §151.06.02(G) gives tenants a civil remedy (including small claims court) for unpaid interest, and in recent years tenant-side attorneys have increasingly raised a landlord's non-payment of security deposit interest as a defense in unlawful detainer (eviction) proceedings. Multiple LA landlord-tenant practitioners now report courts accepting this defense and derailing otherwise-valid eviction cases over undocumented or unpaid interest. LAHD itself does not investigate these complaints — §151.06.02(G) routes enforcement through the courts, which is exactly why it now surfaces as eviction-defense leverage rather than a regulatory citation.

Practical takeaway: the real exposure isn't a lawsuit over a few dollars of interest — it's a fully justified eviction getting dismissed or delayed because the interest record wasn't clean. Pay annually, document the method in writing, and keep the record for every RSO unit you hold a deposit on.

Full rate history

Simple annual interest rate set by the Rent Adjustment Commission, by calendar year — source: LAHD Bulletin #44