Sell a Tenant-Occupied House in Century City

A meaningful share of Century City condos are rented out rather than owner-occupied, and which rules apply to that tenancy depends heavily on when the building was built. Cash Home Buyers CA buys occupied Century City units without disturbing the tenancy, whether that unit sits in one of the original 1960s towers or a newer high-rise.

Why the Building’s Age Decides the Rules

The Century Towers, the twin 28-story luxury condominium buildings I.M. Pei designed at 2220 and 2222 Avenue of the Stars, opened in 1963 and 1964 — decades before the City of Los Angeles’s October 1, 1978 cutoff for its Rent Stabilization Ordinance. A rental unit inside a building whose certificate of occupancy predates that date generally falls under the RSO, which caps annual rent increases, requires just cause for most evictions, and mandates relocation payments for a no-fault termination. A rental unit in one of Century City’s newer towers, built after 1978, instead falls under the statewide Tenant Protection Act, AB 1482, which caps rent increases and requires just cause too, but carries different notice and relocation requirements than the city’s own ordinance.

What the Sale Itself Does and Doesn’t Change

• Selling doesn’t end the tenancy. A change of ownership isn’t a lease termination. Whoever buys the unit, including us, takes it subject to the existing lease and rent-registration status.
• No-fault eviction to sell vacant triggers relocation costs. Ending a tenancy to deliver the unit vacant, whether for the RSO or AB 1482, can mean substantial relocation payments and a process that takes months, on top of losing rent during the vacancy.
• RSO buildings need current rent registration. RSO units must be registered annually with the Los Angeles Housing Department; we confirm registration status during escrow rather than requiring you to sort it out first.
• A lender values an RSO unit conservatively. A bank financing a buyer for an occupied RSO unit typically underwrites against the current below-market rent rather than the unit’s vacant market value, which is a large part of why occupied units in older buildings often sell slower to retail buyers than to a cash buyer valuing them the same way we do.

The HOA Adds a Layer the RSO Doesn’t Cover

Beyond the city’s or the state’s tenant protections, the building’s own HOA rules matter for a rented unit. Some Century City HOAs cap the number or percentage of units that can be rented at any time, and if the building is already near that cap, a lender for a would-be owner-occupant buyer may hesitate regardless of the tenancy’s legal standing. We don’t need HOA rental-cap approval to buy an occupied unit, since there’s no lender involved on our side of the purchase. That matters more in Century City than in most other neighborhoods precisely because the neighborhood is almost entirely condominiums with roughly 1,929 housing units across just 176 acres as of 2017 American Community Survey estimates — nearly every seller here is dealing with some form of building-level rental policy, not just city or state tenant law, and the two layers don’t always line up in a way that’s obvious from outside the HOA’s own records.

Long-Term Tenancies in the Original Towers

Because Century City’s earliest towers have been standing for over sixty years, it isn’t unusual to find a tenancy that has lasted a decade or more in one of the older buildings, sometimes with a rent well below what a newly listed unit in the same tower would command today. That gap is exactly what makes an occupied unit in an older building harder for a retail buyer’s lender to finance at a price reflecting the building’s current market, and exactly what a cash purchase is built to absorb, since we price the unit on its actual income rather than requiring it to match a vacant comp.

How We Buy an Occupied Unit

We ask for the current lease, rent amount, and RSO or AB 1482 registration status early, and build our offer around the actual rent roll rather than a hypothetical vacant value. At closing, we assume the existing lease, take assignment of the security deposit through escrow, and register as the new owner with the city and the building’s HOA. Your tenant receives nothing more disruptive than a notice of new ownership and updated payment instructions — no notice to vacate, no relocation payment to arrange, and no vacancy period for you to carry while a financed buyer’s lender works through building approval. We also handle the city’s $5.60 per $1,000 combined transfer tax and order the Department of Building and Safety’s 9A report ourselves, so none of that paperwork competes for your attention with managing the tenant relationship during the sale.

Market Context for an Occupied Sale

Redfin’s March 2026 figures put Century City’s median sale price near $2,325,000, on just 30 sales that month and a median of 123 days on market, up 73 days from a year earlier. An occupied unit that a lender values below vacant market value adds to that timeline for a retail sale, which is exactly where a cash offer, valued the same way we underwrite rented property elsewhere, closes the gap. That thin sales volume also means there are relatively few comparable occupied-unit sales for anyone — an agent, an appraiser, or a landlord — to benchmark against, so pricing an occupied Century City unit tends to rely more on the specific building’s rent roll and HOA standing than on a broad neighborhood trend.

How the Closing Itself Works

Once you accept our offer, we open escrow with a licensed Los Angeles title company, order title and the 9A report, and request the building’s HOA financials alongside the lease and rent-roll documentation. A tenant-occupied unit generally takes a bit longer to close than a vacant one, since we’re reviewing lease terms and coordinating the security deposit transfer through escrow rather than a straightforward vacant handoff, but it still typically closes faster than a comparable financed sale would, since there’s no lender-side building approval or rental-cap review to wait on. Recording happens at the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk, with proceeds wired the same day recording is confirmed.

The Same Rules Apply Across Los Angeles

The RSO’s pre-1978 cutoff and AB 1482’s statewide rules apply the same way to a rented house or unit anywhere in the city. See our page on selling a tenant-occupied property across the rest of Los Angeles for the broader picture, and our as-is page if the unit also needs work you don’t want to arrange around a tenant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to tell my tenant I’m selling?

California law doesn’t require advance notice of a sale itself, only reasonable notice before any showing, which we generally don’t need since we don’t require walkthroughs or open houses.

Is my unit covered by the RSO or by AB 1482?

Generally, if the building’s certificate of occupancy predates October 1, 1978, it falls under the city’s RSO; a newer building falls under the statewide Tenant Protection Act instead. We confirm the exact status through city records during escrow.

Will my tenant’s rent change after you buy the unit?

We take the unit subject to the existing lease and the applicable rent caps, so registered rent carries forward under the same rules that applied before the sale.

Does my building’s rental cap affect your purchase?

No. A rental-cap limit that could stall a financed buyer’s loan approval doesn’t affect our purchase, since we don’t need a lender’s building approval.

What if the tenant is behind on rent?

We factor the actual rent-collection history into our offer and take the property subject to the lease as it stands, rather than requiring the situation to be resolved first.

To sell an occupied Century City condo without disturbing your tenant, call or text 424-493-4424 for a written offer within 24 to 48 hours.