Berkeley's Empty Homes Tax and Oakland's Vacant Property Tax in 2026: What East Bay Sellers Owe When the House Sits Empty — and the Exemptions That Save You $3,000 to $12,000

Do East Bay sellers actually pay a vacancy tax during a sale?

Quick Answer: If your Berkeley home is vacant for more than 182 days in a calendar year, the city's Empty Homes Tax (Measure M, BMC Chapter 7.54) hits you for $3,000 per unit in Year 1 and $6,000 per unit in Year 2 and beyond — and the first bills landed during the week of September 15, 2025. Oakland's Vacant Property Tax (Measure W, OMC Chapter 4.56) is stricter on its face: any parcel "in use" 50 days or less in a calendar year owes $3,000 or $6,000, depending on property type. Both cities offer real exemptions that sellers can claim — Berkeley has nine Vacancy Exclusion Periods, including Owner Death (up to two years), Owner In Care, and a Building Permit + Rehabilitation Period that together cover up to three years. Oakland has parallel hardship and inheritance exemptions on a 20-day petition window. The single biggest mistake I see East Bay sellers make is letting a home sit through prep, staging, listing, and a fall-through without ever filing for the exemption that applied to them. Albany, El Cerrito, Kensington, Emeryville, and Piedmont do not have a vacancy tax — only Berkeley and Oakland.

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I had a Berkeley Hills seller on the phone last fall who had inherited his mother's home in 2024, spent eighteen months working through probate and contractor bids, and was finally ready to list. He opened his mail one afternoon and found a $3,000 bill from the City of Berkeley for the Empty Homes Tax. He had not heard the term. The home had been empty for sixteen months. He paid the bill — without realizing that the Owner Death Period exemption almost certainly would have wiped it out.

This is the BOFU question almost no one is searching for until the bill arrives: when does the home you're prepping to sell start owing a vacancy tax, and how do you legitimately stay off the list? Berkeley issued its first round of Empty Homes Tax bills in September 2025, Oakland's Vacant Property Tax has been running since 2018, and the rules are different enough that a seller with a home in Rockridge and another in North Berkeley can be liable in both jurisdictions for the same calendar year.

This post walks through the rules, the exemptions that actually save sellers money, the billing timing you need to know, and the appellate cloud hanging over both laws — which matters because some East Bay owners are openly refusing to pay while they wait to see whether the courts strike Berkeley's law down the way San Francisco's was.

Berkeley's Empty Homes Tax: 182 days, $3,000–$12,000, and nine exemption windows

Berkeley voters passed Measure M in November 2022. The tax has been in effect since January 1, 2024 and is administered by the Berkeley Rent Board. The mechanics are simple: a residential unit that is vacant for more than 182 days in a calendar year — whether those days are consecutive or not — generates a tax bill. The Year 1 rate is $3,000 per unit for a single-family home, condominium, duplex, or townhouse under separate residential unit ownership, and $6,000 per unit for other residential structures. The Year 2 and subsequent year rate doubles: $6,000 per single-family unit, $12,000 per other residential unit.

There is one permanent shield that protects most homeowners: a property with four or fewer units occupied by an owner who does not own any additional residential units in Berkeley is exempt outright. If you are an owner-occupant living in your primary Berkeley residence, you are not at risk. The tax was designed to reach landlords sitting on empty rental stock and absentee owners holding vacant secondary homes — but it reaches sellers too, and that is the wrinkle the public reporting almost never explains.

For sellers, the relief comes through nine Vacancy Exclusion Periods. Days that fall within any of these periods do not count toward the 182-day threshold. The periods are:

• Homeowners' Exemption Period: Days during which you claimed the state Homeowner's Exemption (HOX) for that unit. As long as your HOX was in place and the home was your principal residence, those days do not count.
• Lease Period: Days during which the unit was leased under a bona fide rental agreement. Move-outs end this period.
• Building Permit Application Period: Up to one year while a building permit is pending.
• Rehabilitation Period: Up to two years from permit issuance. Together with the Application Period, this provides up to three years of protected vacancy for a documented renovation.
• Owner Death Period: Up to two years following the owner's death, or longer if the matter is still moving through probate. This is the exclusion that would have helped my Berkeley Hills client.
• Owner In Care Period: Days during which the prior occupant who used the unit as a principal residence is residing in a hospital, long-term care, supportive care, or similar facility.
• Disaster Period: Up to two years following a fire, natural disaster, or similar event.
• Owner Impairment Period: Added by Berkeley City Council in October 2025 — periods when the owner is physically unable to occupy or rent the property.
• Environmental Remediation Period: Also added in October 2025 — vacancy attributed to environmental remediation or hazardous materials cleanup.

None of these exclusions are automatic. You have to file the claim with the Rent Board and provide documentation — death certificate, probate filings, hospital records, building permit, lease agreement, HOX claim. The Berkeley Rent Board's Empty Homes Tax Guide walks through what documentation each period requires.

If you do owe the tax, the city issues the bill the September following the calendar year in question. The first cycle of bills went out the week of September 15, 2025, covering calendar year 2024 vacancies. You have 60 days from the billing date to pay. Late payments accrue a 10% penalty plus 1% simple interest per month on the unpaid balance.

Oakland's Vacant Property Tax: 50 days of use, harder to qualify out of

Oakland's Measure W passed in November 2018 and has been running long enough that most professional sellers in the Oakland market have at least heard of it. The rules are stricter than Berkeley's on the face of the statute. Under Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 4.56, a parcel is deemed vacant if it is "in use" for 50 days or less in a relevant calendar year. That is a much harsher threshold than Berkeley's "more than 182 days vacant" trigger — and it means an Oakland seller who lists a home in early summer after the home has been empty since the prior fall is squarely inside the tax window unless an exemption applies.

The rates: $6,000 per parcel for undeveloped lots and most standalone residential and commercial buildings, and $3,000 per parcel for condos, duplexes, townhomes, and ground-floor commercial units under separate ownership.

Oakland's exemption framework is built around hardship and life events rather than Berkeley's planning-and-process menu. The qualifying categories include very-low-income owners, owners with documented medical hardship, owners experiencing prolonged unemployment, owners in bankruptcy, court orders limiting use of the property, military deployment of 60 days or more, recent inheritance, owner death impacting management, natural disaster, unsafe or uninhabitable buildings, and parcels used as open space by an occupied adjacent parcel.

The petition process is fast. After the city issues an initial determination of vacancy notice, owners have 20 days to file a Petition of Vacancy showing that the property was actually "in use" or that a valid exemption applies. Miss the window and you are deemed vacant.

One more wrinkle that catches sellers off guard: Oakland requires owners to register annually. The 2026 registration does not carry over from 2025. If you claimed an exemption last year, you need to claim it again this year — there is no automatic renewal.

What this means for the way you time a sale

The two cities reach the same problem from opposite directions. Berkeley counts days vacant and gives you a generous menu of exclusion periods to subtract those days. Oakland counts days in use and gives you a tight 20-day window to prove the property was actually being used. The practical sale-timing implications differ.

In Berkeley, the highest-leverage moves are these. First, keep your Homeowners' Exemption in place for as long as you legitimately occupy the home. Every HOX day is a day that doesn't count toward the 182. Second, if you are doing a significant renovation before listing, pull the building permit before you vacate. The Building Permit Application Period and Rehabilitation Period together provide up to three years of protected vacancy — but only if there is an active permit. Cosmetic prep done without a permit (paint, refinishing floors, staging cycles, landscaping) generates vacancy days that count. Third, file Owner Death and Owner In Care claims promptly. The exclusions are real, but they require documentation submitted through the Rent Board.

In Oakland, the calculus is different. Because the threshold is "in use 50 days or less," the cheapest defense is documented use. Open the home to family, host a contractor cycle, schedule weekly showings during a listing period — anything that creates a use record. The 20-day petition window is short, so the moment a notice of vacancy arrives, the response clock is running.

Albany, El Cerrito, Kensington, Emeryville, and Piedmont do not have a vacancy tax of their own. Sellers in those cities are not exposed. The exposure is real only inside the Berkeley and Oakland city limits.

Your specific situation depends on the exact calendar of your move-out, your prep timeline, the documentation you have, and which city your property sits in — that's where a real net sheet comes in.

The appellate cloud: why some Berkeley owners are not paying

There is one more piece of context every East Bay seller should hold in their head: Berkeley's tax is facing the same legal challenge that already took down San Francisco's parallel law. San Francisco voters passed Proposition M in November 2022, a near-twin of Berkeley's Measure M. On October 31, 2024, the San Francisco Superior Court ruled that Prop M violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, is preempted by California's Ellis Act, and unconstitutionally burdens due process, equal protection, and privacy rights. The City of San Francisco stopped enforcing the tax effective December 6, 2024. San Francisco appealed, and the case is now before the California Court of Appeals.

The Berkeley Property Owners Association filed an amicus brief in the appeal supporting the property owners. If the Court of Appeal affirms the trial court's ruling, Berkeley's nearly identical law is exposed to the same legal challenge. As of late April 2026, Berkeley landlords had refused to pay roughly $1.5 million of the assessed tax — many of them openly waiting for the appellate court to rule. The city has also granted approximately $1.4 million in exemption relief through April 2026, which critics on the housing-advocacy side have called "very generous."

For an individual East Bay seller, the litigation is interesting but not yet load-bearing. The Berkeley tax is still in effect, the bills are still being issued, and late payments still accrue penalties and interest. Until the Court of Appeal rules, the conservative play is to file every applicable exclusion period claim, pay anything that remains owed within the 60-day window, and consider whether the bill is large enough to justify joining the larger group of owners paying under protest while preserving appellate rights.

This is exactly the kind of question I walk my clients through before we even talk about listing. The amount at stake on a single-family Berkeley home is $3,000 to $6,000 a year — a meaningful number in the context of a net sheet, but small compared to the city transfer tax bill at $2M+ price points. The right move depends on the seller's situation, the documentation they have, and the timing of their listing window.

FAQ:

Do I owe the Empty Homes Tax if my Berkeley home was vacant only during the staging and listing period?

You may. The 182-day threshold in Berkeley counts both consecutive and nonconsecutive vacant days in a calendar year. If your home was vacant from March through October because you moved out, prepped, listed, and went through escrow — that is roughly 240 days, which exceeds the threshold. Whether you actually owe the tax depends on which Vacancy Exclusion Periods you can claim. The Homeowners' Exemption Period covers any time the home was your principal residence with HOX in place. The Lease Period covers any time it was rented. If you pulled a permit for a meaningful renovation before vacating, the Building Permit Application and Rehabilitation Periods can cover up to three years. Without any of those, the days count.

Is the Owner Death Period automatic when I inherit a Berkeley home?

No. It is the most generous exclusion in the ordinance — up to two years from the date of death, longer if probate is still open — but it requires a filed claim with documentation. The Rent Board needs the death certificate, evidence of probate status if applicable, and your assertion of the exclusion period. If you inherited a vacant home and have not filed the claim, do that before the next billing cycle.

How is Oakland's Vacant Property Tax different from Berkeley's?

Oakland's threshold is "in use 50 days or less" in a calendar year, while Berkeley's is "vacant more than 182 days." Oakland's rates are $3,000 or $6,000 per parcel depending on property type, similar to Berkeley's Year 1 amounts. Oakland's exemptions are organized around hardship and life events — very-low-income owner, medical hardship, prolonged unemployment, bankruptcy, court orders, military deployment, recent inheritance, owner death, natural disaster, uninhabitable structure, open-space use by an adjacent parcel. Oakland requires annual re-registration; the 2026 registration does not carry over from 2025. Petition windows are short — 20 days after a notice of vacancy.

What if I'm doing a major renovation in Berkeley before I sell — do I still owe the tax?

Probably not, if you pull the permit. Berkeley's Building Permit Application Period covers up to one year while the permit is pending, and the Rehabilitation Period covers up to two years from permit issuance. Together those provide up to three years of protected vacancy for a documented renovation. The catch is that the permit must be open. Cosmetic prep done without a permit does not qualify, and days during which the permit lapses or is closed start counting again toward the 182-day threshold.

When did Berkeley start issuing Empty Homes Tax bills, and what is the appeal process?

The first cycle of bills went out the week of September 15, 2025, covering calendar year 2024 vacancies. Payment is due within 60 days of the billing date. Late payments accrue a 10% penalty plus 1% simple interest per month. Owners can appeal a determination of vacancy or contest the application of an exclusion period through the Berkeley Rent Board's appeal process. A number of Berkeley owners are also paying under protest while the San Francisco Prop M appellate case proceeds — the California Court of Appeals will decide whether the trial court's ruling that the SF tax violates the Takings Clause and is preempted by the Ellis Act is affirmed. If it is, Berkeley's parallel ordinance is exposed to the same challenge.

The bottom line

If you own a vacant or soon-to-be-vacant home in Berkeley or Oakland, you have a tax exposure most East Bay sellers do not realize exists until the bill arrives in September. The exposure is small relative to your equity — $3,000 to $12,000 a year — but it is also avoidable in almost every legitimate seller situation through a documented exclusion claim. The mistakes I see are administrative: the death certificate that did not get filed, the building permit that was never pulled, the Owner In Care claim that was never made, the Oakland petition window that was missed. Pull your records before you list. Identify which exclusion period covers you. File the paperwork. And if your bill is significant, look at the closing costs that catch sellers off guard (https://parkergeorge.com/the-closing-costs-nobody-warned-you-about/) in the broader context of your East Bay seller compliance checklist (https://parkergeorge.com/why-your-east-bay-home-isnt-selling-and-how-to-fix-it/) — the vacancy tax is one line of several that quietly add up at closing.

Want to know your specific number? I prepare a custom net sheet for every seller I work with — actual estimated proceeds based on East Bay market data, your home's condition, your city's vacancy-tax exposure, and current closing costs. No automated estimate, no generic Zestimate. Just real numbers.

Get your custom net sheet → https://parkergeorge.com/home-valuation

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Robert Parker is the CEO and team lead of The Parker George Team at Compass, serving the East Bay luxury residential market in Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont, and surrounding neighborhoods. He helps buyers and sellers navigate the $1M–$5M+ market with a data-driven approach grounded in over a decade of local experience. DRE# 01923837. Connect with Robert at parkergeorge.com.