When you buy a floating home in Sausalito, you make two deals at once. You buy the structure from the seller. Then you pick up a berth tenancy from the marina, and the rent on that tenancy can now be tied by statute to the price you agreed to pay. California's AB 754 was approved and filed on October 10, 2025. It went into effect January 1, 2026, and its rent rules reach back to sales since July 1, 2025, though the Floating Homes Association noted that revised rents for those sales would not take effect until after January 1, 2026. The law lets a Marin marina reset a buyer's berth rent after a sale using a formula built partly on the sale price. The purchase price is no longer just a one-time number. It feeds directly into what you pay every month.
That changes how the purchase should be underwritten. The formula only works in certain conditions, and the conditions depend on the home's lease history, which buyers rarely ask about first.
Two transactions, one closing
Waldo Point Harbor, the largest floating home marina in Sausalito, describes the setup plainly: its 282 homes are privately owned, each one has a berth lease, and the marina owns and runs the berths and infrastructure. In July 2025 the Marin Independent Journal counted 425 floating homes across five marinas in Marin County, all in Sausalito. By comparison, Alameda County had 42 and Contra Costa County had 11.
Because the home and the berth are owned separately, your monthly cost is set by the marina relationship as much as by the home. The formula below determines what that relationship costs on the day you take over.
The formula, read closely
The statute calls it a "qualifying in-place transfer," meaning the home is sold and stays at the same berth. In that case the marina may set a new starting rent for the buyer. The ceiling is the lower of two figures:
"(i) A 25-percent increase over the rental rate prior to the sale. (ii) Fifteen-hundredths of 1 percent of the sale price of the home."
There is a floor too. If the formula produces less than a 3 percent increase, the marina may instead raise the prior rent by the latest cost-of-living change, with a minimum of 3 percent and a maximum of 5 percent. The buyer must certify the final sale price in writing under penalty of perjury. Any lease offered after the transfer must run at least 10 years.
The perjury clause shows how seriously the law takes the price link. If the price helps set the rent, the price has to be verified.
Where price actually moves the rent
Because the ceiling is the lower of two numbers, the price only matters in a certain range. Take a hypothetical home whose seller pays $1,000 a month in berth rent. This is illustrative math only, not a quote for any marina.
| Hypothetical sale price | 0.15% of price | 25% over $1,000 prior rent | Ceiling that applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 | $900 | $1,250 | Cost-of-living floor applies, 3% to 5% over prior rent |
| $750,000 | $1,125 | $1,250 | $1,125 |
| $833,000 | about $1,250 | $1,250 | about $1,250 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,500 | $1,250 | $1,250 |
| $1,200,000 | $1,800 | $1,250 | $1,250 |
At this prior rent, each $100,000 in price adds up to $150 a month to the rent ceiling, but only between about $700,000 and about $833,000. Above that, the 25 percent cap controls, and a higher price adds nothing to the rent. Below it, the 3 percent floor takes over.
So the link between price and rent is real but limited to a band. Where the band falls depends on what the seller pays today. Before a buyer can tell whether a $25,000 price concession will also lower the berth rent, they need the seller's current rent. That should be one of the first documents you request, not something you find in escrow.
Resale timing matters too. If a home that sold under this provision sells again within five years, the next buyer's ceiling is the lower of a 15 percent increase or 0.15 percent of the new price. The tighter cap is a quieter benefit for anyone buying a home that changed hands recently.
Why the law was written this way
The formula grew out of the problems with the law that came before it. In 2021, a buyer acquired Barnhill Marina in Alameda and raised rents by as much as 178 percent. California answered with AB 252, which capped annual floating home rent increases at 3 percent plus inflation, up to 5 percent. It also barred marinas from raising rent when a home sold in place.
That freeze-on-sale rule caused trouble in Marin. Marin County Board of Supervisors President Mary Sackett wrote that it "undermined marina owners' ability to fund essential capital improvements such as raising parking lots, and dock and utility upgrades." Becky Smith, property manager at Waldo Point Harbor, said the marina had relied on larger increases at the time of sale to cover costs. She said the marina invested $22 million in 2018 to raise parking lots, improve seawalls and add docks, and that it rents 38 berths below market without county subsidy.
Homeowners lost something too. According to the IJ, most owners had held 10-, 20- or even 30-year leases tied to inflation. After AB 252, marinas began moving residents to one-year terms and adding new fees. The Floating Homes Association, which includes homeowners from all of Marin's marinas, formed a legislative committee and negotiated the language of AB 754 with marina owners. Assemblymember Damon Connolly carried the bill. Talia Smith, the county's legislative director, told the IJ that no side got everything it wanted, "but they both felt like the bill was fair."
That history explains the 10-year lease requirement. Marinas regain the right to reprice at sale only by offering homeowners long tenancies again.
The window that closed on July 1, 2026
The reset formula normally applies only when the home has a lease of 10 years or more, or was offered one between two years and six months before the sale. A temporary provision applied the formula to every in-place transfer between July 1, 2025 and July 1, 2026, whatever the lease history.
As of October 2026 that window has closed. For a sale today, the home's lease history decides which rule applies, and the statute is not fully clear for homes that don't qualify. The old Civil Code 800.40.5 rule held a buyer's starting rent at the prior tenant's rate. As amended, though, it applies to Marin only "until Section 800.40.6 becomes operative." The new section does not expressly say what starting rent applies when a post-window sale lacks a qualifying lease. Our research found no 2026 reporting that resolves this. A buyer in that position should get the marina's position in writing and have their own attorney review it before removing contingencies.
What to collect before you write an offer
For a Sausalito floating home, these documents shape the monthly cost as much as the inspection does:
- The seller's current berth rent. This sets the 25 percent cap and shows whether your offer falls in the band where price moves the rent.
- The lease, or the lease offer, with dates. You need to know whether a 10-year term exists or was offered between two years and six months before your expected sale date.
- The home's last sale date. A sale under the formula within the past five years brings the 15 percent cap into play.
- The marina's written statement of your starting rent and lease term. The law requires a lease offer of at least 10 years after a qualifying transfer.
- An itemized list of utility and service fees. For Marin, AB 754 requires these fees to reflect actual costs, requires proof that billed services were provided, and prohibits fees for enforcing marina rules.
After the starting rent is set, annual increases follow the cost-of-living index, with a 3 percent floor and a 7.5 percent ceiling. Only half of any inflation above 5 percent counts. If inflation ran at 7 percent, for example, the allowed increase would be 6 percent. The Marin-specific caps expire January 1, 2038.
A few questions buyers raise
Is there a current going rate for berth rent?
We have not found a reliable 2026 figure by marina. The Floating Homes Association's FAQ gives a rough estimate of about $1,000 a month including water, garbage, sewage, parking and common-area maintenance. The FAQ is undated, and the association says fees vary with berth size, home size and distance from shore. Treat the seller's actual rent as the only figure that counts.
How is a floating home taxed?
The Marin County Assessor assesses qualifying floating homes as real property, not as vessels. It defines them as permanently residential structures that are not self-propelled and are connected to shore utilities and sewer. The association's FAQ describes the bill in different terms, calling it personal property tax and unsecured. Confirm how the bill will work with the Assessor directly.
Can a floating home carry a mortgage?
The Floating Homes Association says legislation it supported restored a legal process to register and transfer floating home title and to secure mortgage liens. Lender availability and terms are a separate question to take up with lenders early.
If you're weighing a floating home in Sausalito, Drew Thomas can help you read the lease history and rent mechanics before you set your price, and connect you with the right legal and lending advisors for your situation. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
