of the original occupant when the original occupant no longer resides in the unit permanently and the sublessee or assignee did not reside in the unit prior to January 1, 1996. (Civ. Code, § 1954.53, subd. (d); Legis. Analyst, analysis of Assem. Bill No. 1164 (1995-1996 Reg. Sess.) p. 3.) Passalacqua did not reside in the apartment until March 1996. Therefore, the CostaHarris Act entitled Cobb to impose a rental rate in an amount of his choosing, as he sought to do with his notice of rent increase effective November 1,1999, if either of two circumstances was present: Passalacqua’s initial occupancy as a new tenant commenced on that date (Civ. Code, § 1954.53, subd. (a)), or Passalacqua was Restoni’s sublessee or assignee as of that date (Civ. Code, § 1954.53, subd. (d)). Substantial evidence supports the Rent Board’s findings that Passalacqua was not a sublessee or assignee on November 1, 1999, but rather that he became a tenant in his own right in June 1998 or at least no later than October 1998. >5