What California Property Owners Need to Know About the 2026 Law Changes
- Team Walls Property Management
- Mar 1
- 3 min read
This past year brought one of the more active rounds of California landlord-tenant law changes we have seen in some time. If you own rental property in Southern California and have not reviewed your leases and operating procedures recently, now is a good time.
I want to walk through the most relevant changes, not as a legal analysis, but as a practical overview of what they mean for how we operate on behalf of the owners in our portfolio.
**A note before we start:** This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. California landlord-tenant law is complex and often varies by city and county. If you have specific questions about how these laws apply to your property, consult a licensed California attorney.
AB 628 — Stoves and Refrigerators Are Now Required
Starting January 1, 2026, California requires landlords to provide and maintain a working stove and refrigerator in residential rental units. This is now a habitability standard — meaning a unit without functioning appliances may be considered legally untenantable.
What this means in practice:
If your unit currently relies on a tenant-supplied refrigerator, that arrangement must be documented in writing and compliant with the statute. If you are entering into a new lease or renewing an existing one, the unit must have landlord-supplied appliances or a compliant written agreement addressing the exception.
If an appliance breaks down due to normal use, the repair or replacement is your responsibility as the landlord.
We have already reviewed the units in our portfolio for compliance and updated lease addenda where needed. If you are self-managing and have not done this yet, it is worth doing before your next lease renewal.
SB 610 — Landlord Responsibilities After Natural Disasters
Given the fires and weather events that have affected Southern California, this law is particularly relevant for our region. SB 610 clarifies and expands what landlords are required to do when a rental property is affected by a declared natural disaster.
Key requirements include:
Removing debris from rental properties when natural disasters occur. Halting rent and all associated fees during mandatory evacuations. Returning prepaid rent and security deposits if units become uninhabitable. Allowing tenants to terminate their leases without penalty if a unit is uninhabitable. Notifying tenants once a unit has been remediated and is habitable again.
The law operates under the presumption that a unit is not habitable when affected by disaster debris. Documentation is critical here — the more thorough your records before, during, and after any event, the better your position.
AB 414 — Security Deposit Procedures Updated
This law updated how security deposits must be returned and how move-out documentation must be handled.
Landlords may now agree with tenants on electronic delivery of security deposit refunds and move-out statements, but without a written agreement, first-class mail requirements still apply.
Combined with AB 2801 (which took effect in 2025 and requires landlords to photograph units at move-in, before and after any cleaning or repairs at move-out, and share those images with tenants), the documentation requirements around security deposits have become significantly more detailed.
The practical takeaway: if your move-in and move-out inspection process does not include timestamped photography with records shared directly with the tenant, you are at increased risk of losing a deposit dispute regardless of the underlying facts.
AB 1482 Expiration Midyear
California's Tenant Protection Act of 2019 — which placed a statewide rent cap on most multi-unit residential properties built more than 15 years ago — expires midyear 2026. New rent cap legislation may follow, potentially with different or stricter parameters.
If you own covered property, this is a window to review your rent pricing before any new restrictions take effect. We are monitoring this closely and will update owners in our portfolio as more information becomes available.
The Bigger Pattern
Each of these changes reflects a consistent direction in California law: more documentation requirements, higher habitability standards, and stricter procedural compliance. The risk for landlords is rarely the law itself — it is the missing paperwork that turns an otherwise lawful decision into a losing dispute.
This is one of the core reasons we maintain detailed records on every property in our portfolio and operate from written procedures rather than informal practices. If you have questions about how any of these changes affect your specific property, reach out directly.
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*Jim Walls is the founder and president of Walls Property Management, based in Northridge, California. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed California attorney for guidance specific to your situation.*
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