Someone at the coffee shop on Glendale Blvd told me LA landlords are supposed to pay you interest on your deposit every year. Nine years of renting here and I have never seen a cent of it, never been offered it either.
Has anyone actually collected this, or is it one of those rules nobody enforces?
I went down this exact rabbit hole last year when I got curious about what else was in the ordinance. If your building is under the city RSO, the landlord owes you interest on the deposit once a year, and the Housing Department publishes the rate. It has been under one percent for a long time, so on an 1800 dollar deposit you are talking a few dollars, not a windfall.
The part worth knowing is they can either hand it to you or credit it against your rent, and if they do neither you can ask in writing. Ours credited it after I emailed, which felt like a small win for ten minutes of work.
I have been renting the same room in Hollywood for two years now and have never been offered it once. When I finally asked, I was told it had been credited somewhere in the paperwork, which I could not find on any statement. My read is that most small landlords here have genuinely never heard of the requirement, so nothing happens until a tenant brings it up, and almost nobody does.
Never got it, never asked for it, and I am not going to start now over what amounts to a cup of coffee. Let me be honest, the deposit itself is the thing to chase when you move out.
Santa Monica has its own version of this and here it actually gets enforced, the rent control board sets the interest rate every year and the landlords in town know they have to pay it.
I have been here long enough that I just expect it now. Friends of mine in the city of LA say the same rule exists there, but you have to ask or it quietly never happens.
Asked my landlord about this and he looked at me like I had made it up. He came back a week later with about eleven dollars for the year, so it is real, but pick your battles.
West Hollywood handles this through its own rent stabilization division, and their site lists the annual interest rate along with the registration fees, so you can look up exactly what you are owed before you email anyone.
Two things that help if you do ask. Put it in writing so there is a record, and ask for it as a rent credit rather than a check, because most owners will do the credit without arguing about it.
Yes, but only if you’re in an RSO unit in the City of LA (usually certificate of occupancy before Oct 1, 1978). Statewide California law does not require interest. City rule is LAMC 151.06.02. Rate for 2026 is 3.03%; 2025 was 4.32%. Before that it was basically nothing (0.03–0.52%), which is why nine years felt like “never a cent.”
On a $3k deposit that’s about $91 this year. Real money now, not worth chasing when it was 40 cents.
Collected it. Twice. First year they ignored the email. Second year I itemized 2024–2025 rates, attached the LAHD bulletin, gave 14 days. Check showed up.
If you ever lived in West Hollywood or Santa Monica, those cities have their own deposit-interest rules too, not just City of LA.
I never saw anything either. Neither did I bother to ask.
Got it on the way out, not yearly. They “forgot” every December then dumped the accrued interest into the deposit refund after I cited 1950.5 and 151.06.02 in the same letter.
I didn't even know that's a thing. 
I should ask my landlord about it.