I will update my lease agreements and notices to reflect new state and local requirements.
As California rolls into a host of new laws effective January 1, 2026, lease agreements that worked in the past won’t cut it anymore. Most of the new requirements apply when a lease is newly entered, renewed, or amended. Let’s review some new laws that necessitate a makeover of lease agreements to stay compliant with the law.
Expanded habitability rules
Assembly Bill 628 requires housing providers to provide a working stove and refrigerator in all rental units. The lease agreement should explicitly state the landlord’s obligation to provide these appliances and maintain them.
When a tenant voluntarily provides their own refrigerator, a mandatory notice is required. Importantly, tenants who elect to bring in their own refrigerator need to acknowledge that they can later change their mind and, with proper notice, shift the responsibility of installing and maintaining a working refrigerator to the landlord.
More: Housing providers face heightened habitability risks in 2026 →
Security deposit refunds go digital
Under the newly minted Assembly Bill 414, if rent or security deposits are paid electronically (through direct deposit, Zelle, Venmo, or any other payment platform), the refund must also be returned electronically unless the parties agree in writing to an alternative method.
Leases should include details on how security deposit refunds will be processed and how itemized statements may be delivered, as public policy now accepts email as a credible means of communication.
When there are multiple tenants on a lease, the lease must specify that a single check will be made payable to all adult tenants, unless there is written direction to the contrary.
More: Security deposit rules are getting a makeover – are you ready?
Post-disaster responsibilities for housing providers
Throw a dart at a map of California, and somewhere, there is a state of emergency. Senate Bill 610 explicitly places certain duties on landlords when a rental property is damaged or destroyed by a disaster such as a wildfire or flood. Some key takeaways:
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Housing providers are required to repair damage within a reasonable time and remove health hazards like debris and smoke residue after a declared disaster.
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Tenants lose the obligation to pay rent for any period the unit is unsafe or uninhabitable, and landlords must return rent paid for unusable periods within a set timeframe.
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If the property is subject to a mandatory evacuation, the landlord must return rent for those days.
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Timelines for three-day notices may be extended by law during declared state emergencies. Landlords should continue using regular statutory notices, but be aware that their enforceability timelines may change under the new law during emergencies.
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Unless the tenancy is lawfully terminated by either party, the tenancy remains in effect while remediation efforts are underway, and the tenant has the right to return to the rental unit at the same rental rate that was in effect prior to the disaster as soon as it is safe and practical. Indeed, the law requires landlords to notify tenants in writing when remediation work is done and offer reports/environmental studies if requested.
What the law does not do is create a single new standardised notice that all housing providers must attach to every lease, but we should update lease language or add a disaster addendum that clearly explains the rights of tenants and how post-disaster remediation will be handled.
Disconnected Bulk Billing
Starting January 1, 2026, housing providers cannot require tenants to subscribe to or pay for a specific internet service provider as a condition of tenancy if that service is offered through a bulk billing or landlord-arranged contract. This applies to wired, cellular, or satellite internet services offered in connection with the tenancy.
Lease agreements should be updated to include a clear Internet Service Opt-Out Notice explaining:
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That a bulk internet or bundled ISP service may be offered;
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That participation is optional, and tenants have a right to opt out;
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How tenants can notify the landlord of their opt-out choice.
Landlords and their agents should document opt-outs in writing to ensure there’s no confusion about tenant preferences or rent adjustments
Have any housing providers been sleeping behind the wheel by not informing tenants that the property is not subject to statewide rent and eviction controls?
Owners of properties that are not covered by local or state rent and eviction controls are in an enviable position. They can raise rents when they like, to whatever they like, with proper notice. But if the property is exempt from AB 1482 (Tenant Protection Act) rules, the tenants must be notified in writing. If not, landlords risk losing the exemption and becoming subject to rent caps and just-cause eviction protections.
The notice must clearly state that the property is exempt from rent limits and just cause, and that the owner isn’t a corporation, REIT, or LLC when at least one member is a corporation.
Many 3-day notices circulating out there may not pass muster after a recent appellate court decision
Not only do we have a legislative and executive branch of the government, but a judiciary tasked with interpreting laws, and one decision handed down in 2025 was particularly concerning to us. In Eshagian v. Cepeda, the court ruled that a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit did not contain enough information for an “ordinary renter” to reasonably understand the deadline to pay rent, and the consequences of failing to pay when the 3-day window expires (excluding weekends and judicial holidays).
Arguably, the 3-day notices we routinely use were already aligned with the court’s tutelage, but out of an abundance of caution, they have been updated. Many of our clients were scrambling to update their notices to include additional clarifying verbiage, but countless housing providers haven’t reviewed their notices to ensure they are flawless.
Other standard addenda, disclosures, and notices should be refreshed
There are a host of other forms, addenda, and notices that have been improved and updated. An addendum related to the change of co-tenants, for example, the notice offering a tenant’s positive rental payment history to a credit reporting agency, or the notice that informs residents of the option to request an initial inspection, etc.
Our strong advice is to be tethered to an industry trade group to access the most timely documentation. Landlords should replace outdated addenda and notices in their lease packages and train staff or property managers on how and when to use them.
A time to reset
Annual updates allow housing providers to tighten rules based on the previous year’s experiences. Has there been a recurring issue that is not addressed in the original lease? Now is an opportune time to include it in the lease. This might include clarifying guest limits, updating pet policies if a tenant added a pet, or adjusting utility responsibilities.
After the term of a fixed 12-month lease expires, the rental relationship becomes a month-to-month tenancy by operation of law. Now is a good time to reflect on whether the tenant is worthy of being offered another 12-month lease. The tenant is under no obligation to sign a new lease, but perhaps they can be incentivized to do so through rent credits, a commitment to freeze the rent, or only raise rents in a small, predictable manner, waived or reduced fees, free unit upgrades, and other carrots.
Parting thoughts
Leases need to be living, breathing creatures. An updated, ironclad lease agreement is critical for clarity, legal protection, financial stability, instituting new rules, and resolving disputes. Both landlords and tenants have mutual responsibilities in the rental relationship, and we want to leave little doubt as to what they are.
We're often asked how long and how expensive it is to bring a matter to a close, and our answer hasn't changed in over three decades. It depends on which attorney the tenant gets and how hard they fight. Tenants' attorneys, while perhaps not great litigators, are adept at identifying gaping holes in lease agreements. Please don't let them find them.