Plain English Breakdown
The official text contains a clear contradiction regarding the statute of limitations (listing both 4-year and 3-year).
AB-1248: Rules for Rent Fees and Charges
This proposed law sets rules on what fees landlords can charge tenants, requires clear pricing in rental ads starting April 1, 2026, and limits how utility costs are billed.
What This Bill Does
- Requires new rentals starting on or after January 1, 2026, to only include rent and specific allowed fees like security deposits or passed-on stabilization fees.
- Limits existing tenants (those who started before January 1, 2026) to paying rent, original agreed-upon fees, and certain utility costs that meet defined standards.
- Mandates that rental advertisements list the full price including all required fees and describe any optional services with their costs starting April 1, 2026.
- Prohibits landlords from charging late fees if a tenant is only behind on paying a previous late fee.
- Requires payments to be applied in a specific order: first to rent, then rental debt, and finally outstanding fees.
Who It Names or Affects
- Landlords who own residential rental properties
- Tenants living in apartments or houses for rent
Terms To Know
- Ratio utility billing system
- A method where a landlord splits the total cost of water or sewer among tenants based on factors like unit size, rather than using individual meters.
- Optional housing services
- Extra features offered by landlords that are not required for renting, such as laundry access or parking spaces.
- Treble damages
- A legal penalty where a landlord must pay three times the amount of actual harm caused to a tenant if they break these rules.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill text contains conflicting information stating both a '4-year' and '3-year' time limit for tenants to file lawsuits.
- Although the bill passed the Legislature, its last recorded action was that it died on an inactive file.