LA Rental Market Update, Q4 2026: Rents, Vacancy, Rates and Rent Caps

For Owners · Market Update · October 2026 · 8 min read

This update sticks to numbers a government agency or Freddie Mac published, with a link to each one. No private listing-site averages and no rounded guesses. Where an official source does not publish a Los Angeles figure, we say so instead of filling the gap.

Four things moved this fall. HUD’s new Fair Market Rents for Los Angeles took effect October 1 and are well above last year’s. The Census Bureau’s third-quarter vacancy survey, released October 28, shows more empty rentals nationally and in the West. Mortgage rates are above 7% again. And the allowable increases in the City of Los Angeles, Culver City and Beverly Hills reset over the summer.

Rents: HUD’s Fair Market Rents jumped on October 1

HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent for every metro area each year. It is an estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent, meaning rent plus utilities, paid by recent movers into standard-quality units. It is not an asking-rent average, and it lags the market, but it is an official rent figure for Los Angeles that HUD updates every year, and it is the basis housing authorities use to set Section 8 payment standards.

The fiscal year 2027 figures took effect October 1, 2026. For the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area, which covers Los Angeles County:

Two things follow for owners. If you rent to voucher holders, the housing authority’s payment standard is built from these figures, so check the current standard before you set or renew a voucher rent. And because the figure includes utilities, compare it with your rent plus whatever utilities the tenant pays, not with the rent alone.

What this does not tell you is what your unit will lease for. A gross-rent estimate for the whole county says little about a 1950s duplex in Palms versus a new building in Inglewood. Price each vacancy against current comparable listings on your own block.

Vacancy: higher nationally and in the West

The Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey for the third quarter of 2026, released October 28, puts the national rental vacancy rate at 7.6%. That is up from 7.3% in the second quarter and 7.1% in the third quarter of 2025. In the West, the region that includes California, rental vacancy was 6.7%, up from 6.0% a year earlier. The national median asking rent for vacant units was $1,541.

The quarterly release does not publish a Los Angeles figure, so we are not going to invent one. The direction is the useful part: more vacant units in the region than a year ago means more competition for each applicant, and an empty month costs a full month’s rent. Before you hold out for a higher number, work out how many weeks of vacancy it would take to wipe out the difference over a year.

Financing: the 30-year fixed is back above 7%

Freddie Mac’s weekly survey had the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.32% as of October 22, 2026, down from 7.40% the week before but well above the 6.19% of a year earlier. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.68%.

These are averages for conventional home-purchase loans, not quotes for apartment loans, which price differently. They still set the direction. If a loan on one of your buildings matures or resets in the next year or two, run the numbers at today’s rates now, and talk to your lender and CPA before you plan around a refinance.

Rent caps in force this fall

Each of these resets on its own calendar. Confirm the figure for the date your increase takes effect, not the date you serve the notice.

Inglewood sets its limit by building size, with a different formula for buildings of five or more units than for four or fewer. Our Inglewood rent increase guide covers how it works.

Rule changes from this year that are now in effect

City of Los Angeles

From July 1, 2026, the RSO increase is 90% of CPI with a 1% floor and a 4% cap, replacing the old range of 3% to 8%. The utility add-ons that owners could put on top of the annual increase were eliminated on February 2, 2026. RSO generally covers units in buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued on or before October 1, 1978. Our RSO registration guide covers the annual bill, which comes due in January.

Measure ULA thresholds also moved for sales after June 30, 2026: $5.4 million for the 4% rate and $10.9 million for the 5.5% rate. Confirm any transfer tax with your escrow officer and CPA.

Culver City

Amendments adopted January 12, 2026 took effect February 11, 2026 and renamed Chapter 15.09 the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Registration is due by July 31 each year, and the fee is $177 per unit from July 1, 2026. Details are in our Culver City rent increase guide.

Beverly Hills

Relocation fees reset on July 1, 2026: $8,636.20 for a studio, $12,756.96 for a one-bedroom and $17,283.53 for two or more bedrooms, plus $2,000 if a tenant is 62 or older, disabled or a minor. Which grounds trigger the fee is covered in our Beverly Hills ending-a-tenancy guide.

What to do this quarter

• Check the payment standard before you renew a Section 8 tenancy, since the FMR it is built from rose on October 1.
• Price vacancies to lease. With regional vacancy up from a year ago, compare a higher asking rent against the cost of an extra month empty.
• Confirm which cap applies to each unit and the period it falls in before you serve a notice.
• Put your LAHD registration bill on the calendar for January if you own in the City of Los Angeles.
• If a loan matures within two years, get a current quote now rather than counting on lower rates.

If you want help applying any of this to a specific building, read about our flat fee management or see our pages for Los Angeles, Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills. Our earlier summer 2026 update covers the July rent cap changes in more detail.

Sources and disclaimer. HUD, FY2027 Fair Market Rent schedule and FY2026 schedule (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale HMFA), and the Federal Register notice of September 1, 2026 (effective date and definition); U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, Third Quarter 2026 (CB26-161, October 28, 2026); Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, release of October 22, 2026; Los Angeles Housing Department; City of Culver City Housing and Human Services; Beverly Hills Municipal Code sections 4-6-3 and 4-6-9; California Attorney General rent cap guidance. Current as of October 28, 2026. Percentage changes in the FMR table are our arithmetic from HUD’s figures. This article is general information from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal, tax or investment advice. Confirm rent limits with the city and anything legal or tax-related with an attorney or CPA before you act.

Subletting and Added Roommates: What LA Rental Owners Can Control

For Owners · Leasing & Tenancy Rules · October 2026 · 11 min read

A tenant writes to say her brother is moving in for a while. Or a neighbor mentions that the people in 3B are not the people on the lease. Or a listing for your unit shows up on a vacation rental site. Each of these is a question about who may live in the unit, and the answer comes from three places at once: your lease, state law and the city the building sits in.

This guide walks through all three for owners in the City of Los Angeles, Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills. It covers what a lease can say, when an unauthorized sublet is grounds to end a tenancy, what the Los Angeles rent rules changed in February 2026 about added tenants, and how to handle a request so it does not turn into a dispute.

Start with the lease

No California statute gives a residential tenant a right to sublet or to add occupants. What the tenant may do is whatever the lease allows, limited by the local rules described below. That makes the lease clause the first thing to read.

Owners sometimes assume the “consent may not be unreasonably withheld” standard in Civil Code section 1995.260 applies to their apartments. It does not. Section 1995.010 says that chapter applies to leases of real property “for other than residential purposes.” For a residential lease, the clause itself, and any city ordinance that covers the unit, decide the standard. If your clause is silent on how consent is given, ask an attorney how a court is likely to read it before you rely on a refusal.

A clause that holds up in practice covers five things:

1. The people allowed to live in the unit, by name, with tenants and occupants listed separately.
2. No assignment or sublet, and no new adult occupant, without the owner’s written consent.
3. How to ask: a written request, with an application from any new adult.
4. What happens on approval: a signed addendum naming the new person and stating whether they are a tenant or an approved occupant.
5. Short stays by guests, so a visiting relative is not treated as a breach.

Screen a new adult the way you screened the original tenants, using the same written criteria. Fee rules apply to that application as they do to any other; our guide to rental application fees covers the caps and refund rules, and our tenant screening guide covers consistent criteria.

State law: when a sublet becomes grounds to end a tenancy

The Tenant Protection Act ground

For units covered by Civil Code section 1946.2, the at-fault just causes include “assigning or subletting the premises in violation of the tenant’s lease,” as described in Code of Civil Procedure section 1161(4). Under section 1161(4), a tenant who assigns or sublets contrary to the lease terminates the lease, and the landlord can recover possession after serving a three-day notice to quit.

The cure notice comes first

Section 1946.2(c) adds a step for covered units. Before serving a notice to terminate for a curable lease violation, the owner must first give notice of the violation with an opportunity to cure under section 1161(3). Only if the violation is not cured may a three-day notice to quit follow. Section 1161(3) expressly lists “any covenant not to assign or sublet” among the covenants it covers, gives three days excluding weekends and judicial holidays to perform, and requires service on any subtenant in actual occupation as well as on the tenant.

Whether a particular sublet is curable is a judgment call that turns on the facts. The safer sequence is a notice to perform covenant or quit, served on the tenant and the subtenant, giving them the chance to end the sublet, and only then a notice to quit. Have an attorney review the notice before it is served.

Adding an adult can delay just cause protection

The Tenant Protection Act’s just cause rule starts after a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the unit for 12 months. Section 1946.2(a) adds a condition for added tenants: if an additional adult tenant is added to the lease before an existing tenant has occupied the unit for 24 months, the just cause rule applies only once all tenants have occupied it for 12 months or more, or one or more tenants have occupied it for 24 months or more. Whether you add a person to the lease as a tenant or approve them as an occupant therefore matters, and it is worth deciding on purpose. Local just cause rules in Los Angeles, Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills have their own timing, so check the city rule as well.

City of Los Angeles: RSO units

One added adult or a dependent is not a breach of an occupancy limit

The RSO’s ground for a lease violation, Los Angeles Municipal Code section 151.09 A.2, lets an owner recover possession when a tenant violates a lawful obligation of the tenancy and fails to cure it after written notice. It carves out the obligation to limit occupancy where the additional tenant who pushes the household over the lease’s occupancy limit is either a dependent or the sole additional adult tenant. As amended effective February 2, 2026 (Ordinance 188,795), the owner keeps the right to approve or disapprove a prospective additional tenant who is not a dependent, provided approval is not unreasonably withheld.

In practice, a tenant in an RSO unit who adds one adult or a dependent is not in breach of the occupancy limit for that reason alone. A second added adult, or an adult you reasonably disapproved, is a different situation.

The rent rules for added tenants changed on February 2, 2026

LAHD’s Allowable Rent Increase bulletin states the current rule:

• No rent increase is permitted when an additional dependent joins the tenancy.
• For each additional tenant who is not a dependent, the rent may go up by 10%, and the security deposit may also go up by 10%.
• The owner must notify the tenants of the increase within 60 days of learning, actually or constructively, of the new tenant.
• When the additional tenant moves out, the rent has to come back down by the corresponding amount.

The 60-day window is the easy one to miss. If you learn about a new adult in March and do nothing until the annual increase in July, that increase may be the only one you get.

An unapproved subtenant at the end of the lease

Section 151.09 also lists, as a separate ground, a person in possession of the unit at the end of a lease term who is a subtenant not approved by the landlord. The RSO’s other procedures still apply, including filing a copy of the termination notice with LAHD, which LAHD says applies to all RSO and Just Cause Ordinance rental properties.

Units outside the RSO

Most residential units in the city that are not under the RSO fall under the Just Cause Ordinance once a tenant has lived there six months or the original lease has expired, whichever comes first, according to LAHD. Its grounds and procedures are separate from the RSO’s, so read the ordinance for the unit you have. Our guide to how eviction works in LA covers the court side.

Culver City

Culver City’s for-cause grounds, in section 15.09.315 of the municipal code, are five: failure to pay rent, breach of the rental agreement, failure to provide reasonable access, nuisance or illegal use, and a terminated resident manager. Subletting is not listed as a separate ground. An unauthorized sublet would be handled as a breach of the rental agreement, which puts the weight on what your lease says and on the cure notice described above. Culver City’s relocation payment under section 15.09.325 applies to no-fault terminations, not to for-cause ones. Our Culver City ending-a-tenancy guide has the full process, and the Culver City page covers registration.

If the sublet is a short-term rental, Culver City’s rules on stays under 30 days apply too. See our Culver City short-term rental guide.

Inglewood

Inglewood’s just cause rules, in sections 8-120 through 8-124 of the municipal code, apply after 12 months of tenancy and list ten at-fault bases. One of them is assigning or subletting the unit without authorization. Section 8-122 requires a written notice of a curable violation with an opportunity to cure before a three-day notice to quit on that violation, a termination notice that states each basis you rely on, and copies of the notice filed with the Housing Protection Department within three calendar days of service. A notice that does not comply is void. Some single-family homes, condos and new buildings are exempt; our Inglewood ending-a-tenancy guide covers the exemptions and the filing rule in detail, and the Inglewood short-term rental guide covers a tenant listing the unit online.

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills’ eviction section, 4-6-6, has a ground written for this situation. Subsection G allows an action to recover possession if the person in possession of the unit “at the end of the term of any apartment rental agreement is a subtenant who was not approved by the landlord,” and says it does not invalidate any provision in a written rental agreement about assignment or subleasing. Subsection B covers a violation of any obligation of the tenancy, including one in a written rental agreement, that the tenant fails to cure after written notice.

Subsection D treats occupancy above the limits it sets by unit type and size as an illegal use of the unit. Check the current table in the code before relying on a number. The city’s relocation fee in section 4-6-9 is not owed on grounds B, D or G. Our Beverly Hills ending-a-tenancy guide covers the filings and the fee rules ground by ground.

Occupancy limits and fair housing

An occupancy cap in a lease is also a fair housing question. Familial status is protected under federal and California fair housing law, so a limit stricter than the unit reasonably needs can shut out households with children. Base any cap on the unit, apply it the same way to every applicant, and have a fair housing attorney look at it if you are unsure.

A process that holds up

1. Answer every request to add someone in writing, and keep the request and your answer in the tenant file.
2. Ask for an application from any new adult and judge it against the same written criteria you use for every applicant. In an RSO unit, a refusal of the one added adult has to be reasonable, so write down the reason.
3. Decide whether the new person joins as a tenant or as an approved occupant, and put it in a signed addendum. Remember the Tenant Protection Act’s 24-month rule on added adult tenants.
4. In an RSO unit, work out whether the 10% increase applies and serve notice within 60 days of learning about the new tenant. Lower the rent when that person moves out.
5. If you find an unauthorized sublet, document it, serve a notice to perform covenant or quit on the tenant and the subtenant, file any copy your city requires, and talk to an attorney before any notice to quit.

Questions owners ask

Can my lease ban subletting completely?

Yes. Nothing in California law requires a residential lease to allow subletting. What a ban can accomplish is limited by local rules: in a City of LA RSO unit, for example, one added adult or a dependent does not break an occupancy limit, though you can still reasonably disapprove the adult.

My RSO tenant’s partner moved in. Can I raise the rent?

If the partner is not a dependent, LAHD allows a 10% increase for that additional tenant, with a matching 10% increase in the deposit, as long as you notify the tenants within 60 days of learning about the move-in. The rent comes back down when the partner leaves. An added dependent allows no increase.

Is a tenant’s Airbnb listing a sublet?

If your lease bars subletting without consent, a short-term rental by the tenant falls under it, and the city’s short-term rental rules apply as well. In the City of LA, see our short-term rental compliance guide.

Does adding a roommate change when just cause protection starts?

Under the state Tenant Protection Act it can. If an adult is added to the lease as a tenant before an existing tenant has been there 24 months, the just cause rule applies only once every tenant has been there 12 months, or one tenant has been there 24 months. City rules have their own timing.

Do I owe relocation if I end a tenancy over an unauthorized sublet?

Relocation under the Tenant Protection Act and under the Culver City and Inglewood ordinances is tied to no-fault terminations, and Beverly Hills’ fee is not owed on grounds B, D or G. A sublet case is an at-fault case. The notice rules still have to be followed exactly, so have an attorney review it.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code section 1946.2 (subdivisions (a), (b)(1)(G) and (c)); Code of Civil Procedure section 1161, paragraphs (3) and (4); Civil Code sections 1995.010 and 1995.260; Los Angeles Municipal Code section 151.09 as amended by Ordinance 188,795; Los Angeles Housing Department, Allowable Rent Increase bulletin and Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance page; Culver City Municipal Code sections 15.09.315 and 15.09.325; Inglewood Municipal Code sections 8-120 through 8-124; Beverly Hills Municipal Code section 4-6-6 (subsections B, D and G) and section 4-6-9. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Notice requirements are strict and vary by city, so confirm your facts and your notice with a real estate attorney before you serve anything.

The California Lease Disclosure Checklist for LA Rental Owners

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 13 min read

A new tenant is signing on Saturday. The lease form is the one you have used for years, the deposit is ready, and the keys are cut. Before anyone signs, one question decides whether that lease holds up later: did the tenant get every notice the law says they had to get, at the moment they had to get it?

California spreads its rental disclosures across the Civil Code, the Government Code, federal lead rules and city ordinances. No single form lists them all. This guide puts them in one place, says which apply to every lease and which depend on the building, and points to our longer guides where a topic needs more room. It is written for owners in Los Angeles, Culver City, Inglewood, Beverly Hills and the neighborhoods around them.

The checklist at a glance

Disclosures that go with every lease

Who owns it, who manages it, and how rent gets paid

Civil Code section 1962 requires a written lease to state the name, phone number and street address for personal service of each person authorized to manage the property, and of each owner or the person authorized to accept service of process and notices for the owner. It also has to say who receives the rent, with that person’s name, phone number and address, and the days and hours they are available if rent can be paid in person. Instead, the owner can give an account at a financial institution within five miles of the property, or the details for electronic funds transfer. The lease has to state the forms of payment you accept.

The tenant gets a copy of the signed lease within 15 days, and another copy within 15 days of a request, once a calendar year. For an oral agreement, the same information goes to the tenant in a written statement within 15 days.

This is the one owners feel when a building changes hands. A new owner or manager has 15 days to bring the information current, and section 1962(c) says a successor cannot serve a three-day notice or evict for nonpayment of rent that came due while it was out of compliance. The tenant still owes the rent. The eviction route for that rent is what is lost.

The flood notice

Government Code section 8589.45 applies to every lease or rental agreement for residential property entered into on or after July 1, 2018. The disclosure goes in no smaller than eight-point type and has to tell the tenant:

• that the property is in a special flood hazard area or an area of potential flooding, if you have actual knowledge that it is;
• that the tenant can look up hazards, flood included, on the Office of Emergency Services MyHazards site (myhazards.caloes.ca.gov);
• that your insurance does not cover the tenant’s belongings, and that the tenant should consider renter’s insurance and flood insurance; and
• that you are not required to give more flood information, and that what you gave is deemed adequate.

“Actual knowledge” has a definition. It includes written notice from a public agency that the property is in a flood area, a lender that requires flood insurance on your mortgage, and a flood policy you currently carry. If none of those is true, the flood-zone sentence drops out, but the rest of the notice still goes in.

The bed bug notice

Civil Code section 1954.603 requires a written bed bug notice to every new tenant before the tenancy starts, in at least 10-point type, with your procedure for reporting a suspected infestation. The statute sets the wording. Our guide on bed bugs in an LA rental covers the notice and the inspection rules that come with it.

The Tenant Protection Act notice, or the exemption notice

Civil Code section 1946.2 puts a statewide rent cap and just cause rule on many California rentals. For any tenancy started or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, subdivision (f) requires the owner of a covered unit to give the tenant a notice that those protections apply, in the lease, as an addendum, or as a written notice the tenant signs, in at least 12-point type. The wording is set by statute and opens with “California law limits the amount your rent can be increased.”

A house or condo can be exempt, but only if the owner is not a real estate investment trust, a corporation or an LLC with a corporate member, and only if the tenant gets written notice in the statutory form, which begins “This property is not subject to the rent limits imposed by Section 1947.12 of the Civil Code.” For tenancies started or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, that notice has to be in the lease itself. Skip it and the exemption does not hold, so the unit carries the state cap and just cause rule even though it would otherwise have qualified. Our guide to rent increase notices covers how the cap works. A unit under a city rent ordinance follows the city’s rules for increases, so check both.

Megan’s Law

Civil Code section 2079.10a requires the statutory Megan’s Law notice, in at least eight-point type, in every lease of single-family residential property and in any lease in a building of more than four units. A duplex, triplex or fourplex lease is outside that list. Once the notice is delivered, you have no duty to tell the tenant more about where registered offenders live. Do not use the Megan’s Law website to screen applicants. Details are in our Megan’s Law guide.

Lead paint in pre-1978 buildings

Federal rules treat housing built before 1978 as “target housing.” Before the tenant is bound by the lease, you give them the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, disclose any lead paint or hazards you know of, hand over any reports you have, and attach the signed disclosure form with the Lead Warning Statement. Keep the signed form for at least three years. Check the year on the certificate of occupancy before you decide this one is not yours. Our lead paint guide covers the repair-side rules as well.

A translation, if you negotiated in another language

If a lease longer than one month is negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean, Civil Code section 1632 requires a translation of the whole lease in that language before signing. Our lease translation guide explains the exception for a tenant’s own interpreter.

Disclosures the building decides

A meter that serves more than the unit

In some older buildings, a tenant’s gas or electric meter also feeds a hallway light, a laundry room or a neighbor’s water heater. Civil Code section 1940.9 says that if you know a tenant’s meter serves an area outside the unit, you have to disclose it before the tenancy starts, or as soon as you find out. You then need a written agreement on who pays for that service. The statute gives two routes: the tenant agrees in writing to pay for it, or you make another written arrangement, such as becoming the utility’s customer of record for that meter or putting the outside area on its own meter in your name.

If you do not, a court can order you to become the customer of record and to reimburse the tenant for what they paid toward the outside area, back to the date the duty arose. If you are reviewing utility billing generally, our RUBS and submetering guide covers the cost-recovery side.

Pest control

Two sections apply, and they work differently. Under Civil Code section 1940.8, if you have a contract for periodic pest control service, each new tenant gets a copy of the notice the registered structural pest control company provides under Business and Professions Code section 8538.

Section 1940.8.5 covers pesticide that you or your staff apply without a licensed operator, and everything in this paragraph applies only in that case. The tenant of the unit gets written notice at least 24 hours ahead, naming the pests, the product’s name and brand, the date, time and frequency, and the statutory caution statement that begins “CAUTION – PESTICIDES ARE TOXIC CHEMICALS.” A broadcast application, a fogger or an aerosol spray also requires notice to tenants in adjacent units who could reasonably be affected. Routine scheduled common-area treatments need a written schedule given to existing tenants before the first application and to each new tenant before they sign. A tenant can agree in writing to an earlier application, and the section does not let you enter a unit outside the entry rules in Civil Code section 1954.

A former military site nearby

Civil Code section 1940.7 applies when you have actual knowledge of a former federal or state ordnance location within one mile of the unit. That means an area a government agency has identified as once used for military training that may contain explosive munitions. You give the prospective tenant written notice of what you know before the lease is signed. The statute does not ask you to research it. It asks you to share what you already know.

A demolition permit

If you have applied to a public agency for a permit to demolish a unit, Civil Code section 1940.6 requires written notice to a prospective tenant before you rent to them, collect a screening fee or any other fee, or have them sign anything that starts a tenancy. Current tenants, including anyone who has signed but not moved in, get the notice before you file the application. The notice states the earliest approximate date you expect demolition, and demolition cannot happen before that date, along with the approximate date you will end the tenancy.

The penalty is real money. A tenant who did not get proper notice can recover actual damages and a civil penalty of up to $2,500, plus moving expenses for someone who moved in without the notice, and the prevailing party recovers attorney’s fees. In the City of Los Angeles, demolition sits on top of the Ellis Act and relocation rules, covered in our Ellis Act guide.

A smoking policy

Civil Code section 1947.5 lets any residential landlord prohibit smoking on the property. For a lease entered into on or after January 1, 2012 with a tenant who has not lived in the unit before, on a property where you prohibit smoking, the lease has to say where smoking is prohibited. Culver City and Beverly Hills go further with their own bans and lease language requirements. Our smoking and vaping guide has the city detail.

A death in the unit

Civil Code section 1710.2 says an owner or agent has no liability for not disclosing a death on the property that happened more than three years before the tenant offers to rent, or that a prior occupant had HIV or died of AIDS-related complications. Two limits matter. Inside three years, the section offers no such protection. And at any point, if a prospective tenant asks you directly about deaths on the property, you cannot intentionally misrepresent the answer.

Mold

California has mold disclosure statutes on the books, but they are written so they do not apply until the state health department adopts standards it says do not exist. Our mold guide explains where that leaves owners.

What the cities add

City of Los Angeles

Under Ordinance 187737, LAHD’s Renter Protections Notice has to be posted in an accessible common area of residential properties and given to tenants whose tenancy starts or renews on or after January 27, 2023. LAHD says a failure to provide it can be raised by the tenant as an affirmative defense in an eviction case. The city revised the notice on October 1, 2026, so download the current version from LAHD’s Protections Notice page instead of reusing an old copy. It comes in English, Spanish, Korean, Farsi, Armenian, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin and Tagalog.

Rent-stabilized units also carry the annual registration certificate, which has to be served on tenants or posted. Our RSO registration checklist walks through it.

Culver City

Culver City requires landlords to post the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance notice in a conspicuous location in the common area, or at the entries to the building or units, at every property where a rent registration certificate is required (CCMC 15.09.230(B)(5)). The city publishes it in English and Spanish. Owners doing a soft-story retrofit must notify current and prospective tenants about the project on the city’s form, and complete a Tenant Impact Mitigation Plan before the work. Leases also need the city’s smoking provisions. See our Culver City page for registration and the rest of the city’s rules.

Inglewood

Inglewood’s rent rules exempt a single-family home or separately sellable unit only when every owner is a natural person and the tenant gets a written disclosure that the unit is not subject to the city’s rent limits or just cause rule. For a tenancy that started after June 1, 2021, that disclosure belongs in the lease. For an earlier one, it goes in an addendum. Without it, the exemption does not apply. Our Inglewood rent increase guide covers the details, and the Inglewood page covers registration.

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills bans smoking in multi-unit housing and requires lease language and signs. For rent rules on covered units, start with our Beverly Hills rent increase guide and the Beverly Hills page.

Putting the package together

A lease package that holds up is assembled the same way every time:

1. Pull the certificate of occupancy date. It decides lead paint, rent stabilization and, in Inglewood and under state law, some exemptions.
2. Confirm the owner of record and how title is held. An LLC with a corporate member cannot use the state’s single-family exemption, and Inglewood’s exemption needs natural-person owners.
3. Walk the meters, check the pest control contract, and note any permit applications.
4. Build the lease with the every-lease notices in it, then add what the building and city require.
5. Get signatures on each disclosure that calls for one, give the tenant a complete copy within 15 days, and keep the signed set with the lease.
6. When something changes, such as a new manager, a new owner or a new pest contract, update the notices then and not at renewal.

Questions owners ask

Do I need to redo disclosures when a tenant renews?

Several of these rules apply to leases “entered into” or tenancies “started or renewed” after a date, so a renewal can bring a lease under a rule the original did not meet. The Tenant Protection Act notice and LA’s Renter Protections Notice both name renewals expressly. Renewals are a good time to bring an older lease package current.

Is a fourplex lease required to carry the Megan’s Law notice?

No. The statute names single-family property and buildings of more than four units. Nothing in the statute stops you from including it.

My property is not in a flood zone. Do I still need the flood notice?

Yes. The sentence about the flood zone only appears if you have actual knowledge, but the MyHazards reference, the insurance statement and the adequacy statement go in every residential lease signed since July 1, 2018.

I just bought a rental with tenants in place. What do I do first?

Send each tenant the Civil Code 1962 information within 15 days of taking over: your name or your manager’s, the address for service, and how and where to pay rent. Until you do, you cannot evict for nonpayment of rent that came due during that gap. Then check that the prior owner’s notices and registrations are in the file.

Does a property manager handle these, or do I?

The duty belongs to the owner. A manager can prepare and deliver the package, but the owner is the one exposed if it is incomplete, so ask whoever builds your leases to show you the signed disclosures for each unit.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code sections 1962, 1946.2, 1940.9, 1940.8, 1940.8.5, 1940.7, 1940.6 and 1710.2; California Government Code section 8589.45 as added by AB 646 (2017); Cal OES MyHazards; Los Angeles Housing Department, Protections Notice and the Renter Protections Notice (rev. October 1, 2026); City of Culver City, Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protection Measures; Civil Code sections 1954.603, 2079.10a, 1632 and 1947.5, 40 CFR Part 745 and the Inglewood exemption rules as cited in our linked guides. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Statutory notice wording changes from time to time, so confirm your lease package with a real estate attorney before you rely on it.

Mold in an LA Rental: What California Law Asks of the Owner

For Owners · Repairs & Habitability · October 2026 · 10 min read

A tenant sends a photo of black spotting along the ceiling above a shower and asks what you are going to do about it. Is that a habitability problem, a cleaning problem, or a ventilation habit? The answer matters, because California ties the repair duty, the tenant’s remedies and the protection against retaliation to that one question.

This guide covers what the state’s housing law says about mold, when an owner’s duty to repair it begins, what the state’s mold disclosure statutes actually require today, who inspects in Los Angeles County, and a way to handle a mold report that holds up later. Every rule here comes from the statute or the agency’s own published guidance, linked at the end. For the wider repair framework, see our guide to repair requests and habitability.

When mold makes a unit substandard

Section 17920.3 of the Health and Safety Code lists the conditions that make a building substandard when they exist “to an extent that endangers the life, limb, health, property, safety, or welfare” of the occupants, neighbors or the public. Two items on the inadequate-sanitation list touch mold:

• Paragraph (11): dampness of habitable rooms. It does not require any mold at all.
• Paragraph (13): visible mold growth, “as determined by a health officer or a code enforcement officer,” excluding “mold that is minor and found on surfaces that can accumulate moisture as part of their properly functioning and intended use.”

The California Department of Public Health notes that this mold language has been in the housing code since January 1, 2016. Three parts of the wording do real work:

• Visible. The paragraph is about growth someone can see. A musty smell or a lab report alone does not meet it, though dampness under paragraph (11) can.
• Determined by an official. It is a health officer or code enforcement officer who decides whether the growth qualifies, not the tenant, the owner or a private inspector.
• The minor-mold exclusion. The statute does not list examples. A shower enclosure is the kind of surface the words describe, because getting wet is its intended use. Growth spreading across the ceiling or into drywall around that shower is a different question.

When the repair duty starts

Civil Code section 1941.7 is short. It says no obligation arises under sections 1941 or 1942 to repair mold covered by paragraph (13) “until the lessor has notice of the dilapidation or if the tenant is in violation of Section 1941.2.” Two consequences follow.

First, the clock starts with notice. A text, an email, a call to your manager or a note in the maintenance portal can all put you on notice, so the date the report came in is the date to record. Under section 1942, a tenant who has given notice of a condition that makes the unit untenantable and waited a reasonable time may repair and deduct up to one month’s rent, no more than twice in 12 months, and 30 days after notice is presumed reasonable.

Second, the same section confirms you may enter to repair mold, as long as you follow the entry rules in Civil Code section 1954: written notice, a lawful purpose, normal business hours outside an emergency. Our guide to landlord entry notice walks through the notice periods.

What the tenant owes in return

Section 1941.2 lists the tenant’s side of habitability: keep the part of the premises they occupy clean and sanitary as conditions allow, dispose of garbage and trash in a clean and sanitary way, use the plumbing, gas and electrical fixtures properly and keep them as clean as conditions allow, not damage the premises or let anyone else do it, and use each room for the purpose it was designed for.

Section 1941.7 carves mold out of the repair duty when the tenant is in violation of section 1941.2. That is a fact question. A tenant who never runs a working bathroom fan may be part of the cause. A tenant living with a roof leak is not. Before treating a mold repair as tenant-caused, get the cause in writing from the person who opened up the wall or traced the moisture, with photos taken before the repair starts.

No exposure limit and no testing duty

The Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001 (Health and Safety Code sections 26100 and following) told the state health department to adopt permissible exposure limits for indoor mold “if the department finds that adopting permissible exposure limits to mold in indoor environments is feasible.” The department’s current answer, on its mold FAQ page: “Science-based exposure limits for indoor molds cannot be established at this time, and none exist in California.”

That has practical effects for owners:

• No testing duty. Section 26147(b) says a residential landlord is not required to conduct air or surface tests. The state department says it does not recommend testing for mold, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health says sampling and testing “is not necessary to know the health risk.”
• Species is not the issue. The state department says there is no evidence that the particular kind of mold in a building matters. A tenant asking whether it is “black mold” is asking the wrong question. The right one is where the water is coming from.
• Private reports carry limited weight with the County. The County’s Rental Housing Habitability Program says it does not accept third-party inspection reports, such as mold inspection reports, as evidence of violations or of compliance. Its inspectors observe and verify for themselves.

The mold disclosure laws on the books

Two sections of the same act speak directly to residential landlords:

• Section 26147 requires written disclosure to prospective and current tenants of affected units when the landlord knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that mold is present that affects the unit or building and either exceeds the permissible exposure limits or poses a health threat under the department’s guidelines. Prospective tenants get it before signing; current tenants in affected units as soon as reasonably practical. Mold remediated under the department’s guidelines removes the duty to prospective tenants.
• Section 26148 requires giving prospective tenants a consumer booklet on the health risks of mold, developed and approved by the department, before the lease is signed.

Both are conditional. Section 26147(e) says it does not apply until the first January 1 or July 1 at least six months after the department adopts the exposure limits and assessment standards and develops remediation guidelines. Section 26148(c) ties itself to the department’s approval of the booklet. Since the department says no exposure limits exist, the trigger in 26147 has not been met on the department’s own account. We could not confirm from the department’s published material whether a booklet has been formally approved under 26148, so we are not telling you that section is in or out of force.

Two practical points. Handing a new tenant the state department’s plain-language mold information at lease signing costs nothing, though we cannot say it would satisfy 26148 if that section turns out to be in force. And if you know about mold in a unit you are about to rent, fix it first and keep the paperwork. Whether a disclosure duty exists outside these sections is a question for a real estate attorney, not this article.

If you own mixed-use or commercial space, the act has a parallel commercial article (sections 26140 to 26145) covering disclosure on sale and an affirmative duty to assess mold after notice of chronic water intrusion. It carries the same delayed start.

Who inspects in Los Angeles County

Which office shows up depends on where the building sits.

Unincorporated County areas

The County’s Rental Housing Habitability Program covers rental properties in the unincorporated areas only, which includes Ladera Heights and View Park (see our Ladera Heights, View Park and Westchester page for which side of the line each is on). Its inspectors check for “lead and mold hazards” alongside pests, water, heat and structural damage. Each unit gets a routine inspection once every four years, and complaints go to DPH Environmental Health at 888-700-9995. The program says the inspector contacts the tenant within three days of a complaint and schedules an inspection within seven.

City of Los Angeles

Rental buildings of two or more units in the city are on the Systematic Code Enforcement Program cycle, and an unresolved order can lead to the Rent Escrow Account Program. Our guide to SCEP inspections and REAP covers the 30-day compliance period, extensions and what REAP does to rent.

Inglewood, Culver City and Beverly Hills

The state rules above apply in all three cities, and a tenant can bring in code enforcement in any of them. A pending repair complaint also affects the timing of any rent or tenancy change, which is where the retaliation rule below comes in. See our Inglewood, Culver City and Beverly Hills pages for each city’s rent and tenancy rules.

Handling a mold report, step by step

1. Log the date. Under section 1941.7 notice starts the duty, so write down when and how the report came in and reply in writing the same day.
2. Schedule entry properly. Give section 1954 notice unless the tenant agrees to an entry date within one week or there is an emergency, such as an active leak.
3. Find the water. The County’s guidance is that mold grows in damp places such as around leaky roofs, windows or pipes, or after flooding. A plumber or roofer who finds and fixes the source is the repair. Cleaning without that only resets the clock.
4. Size the cleanup. The County says that for a moldy area under about 10 square feet the job can be handled without a specialist, using soap and water or a bleach solution of no more than one cup of bleach per gallon of water, and that absorbent materials such as carpet and ceiling tiles may have to be replaced. For anything larger, anything inside a wall cavity, or anything tied to sewage or flooding, bring in a remediation contractor.
5. Photograph before, during and after, and keep the vendor’s written description of the cause and the work done.
6. Check back. A follow-up visit a few weeks later, with notice, shows whether the moisture source is really fixed and gives you a dated record that it was.
7. Tell the tenant what was done, in writing, including anything you are asking of them, such as running the bathroom fan.

Who pays, and the retaliation window

When the cause is a building condition, the repair is the owner’s. When the cause is the tenant’s conduct under section 1941.2, the repair duty under 1941.7 does not arise, but the unit still needs fixing before the next tenant, and the question becomes recovery. Civil Code section 1950.5(b) allows a security deposit to cover repair of damage caused by the tenant or a guest, “exclusive of ordinary wear and tear,” and cleaning needed to return the unit to the level of cleanliness it had when the tenancy began. A deduction for mold needs the same proof as any other: move-in condition, cause and cost. Our guides to the security deposit rules and move-out inspections cover the itemization.

Then the timing rule. Under Civil Code section 1942.5, if a tenant who is not in default on rent has given good-faith notice of a repair problem, complained to a government agency, or had an inspection or citation result, the owner may not, in retaliation, recover possession, cause the tenant to leave involuntarily, raise rent or reduce services within 180 days. A rent increase or nonrenewal notice served weeks after a mold complaint invites exactly that claim. Finish the repair, document it, and plan any rent or tenancy change with the 180-day window in view.

Questions owners ask

Do I have to test for mold when a tenant reports it?

No. Section 26147(b) says a residential landlord is not required to conduct air or surface tests, and both the state and County health departments say testing is not needed to decide what to do about visible mold. Find the moisture source and fix it.

The tenant’s lab report says the spores are toxic. Does that change anything?

California has no exposure limit to measure it against, and the state department says the particular kind of mold does not matter. What counts under section 17920.3 is visible growth as determined by a health officer or code enforcement officer. Treat the report as a sign that the tenant is worried and respond to the condition, in writing.

Is mold in the shower grout a habitability problem?

Paragraph (13) excludes mold that is minor and found on surfaces that can accumulate moisture as part of their intended use. Small spotting on grout is the kind of thing that exclusion describes. Mold spreading onto the ceiling or into drywall is a different question, and a bathroom fan that does not work is a repair in its own right.

Do I have to give new tenants a mold disclosure?

The statutes that call for one, sections 26147 and 26148, are written so they do not apply until the state health department adopts standards or approves a booklet, and the department says exposure limits do not exist. Giving tenants the department’s mold information anyway is cheap insurance. Confirm your lease package with a real estate attorney.

Can I charge the tenant for mold cleanup?

Only for damage the tenant caused, beyond ordinary wear and tear, or cleaning needed to return the unit to its move-in condition, and only with evidence of cause and cost. Mold from a leak, a failed seal or a missing fan is a building repair.

Sources and disclaimer. California Health and Safety Code sections 17920.3, 26101, 26103, 26105, 26143, 26147 and 26148; California Civil Code sections 1941.7, 1941.2, 1942, 1942.5, 1950.5 and 1954; California Department of Public Health, Frequently Asked Questions about Mold; Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Mold in the Home and Rental Housing Habitability Program FAQ. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations on a specific unit with a real estate attorney before relying on a disclosure position, a deposit deduction or a change to a tenancy after a repair complaint.

Organics Recycling Rules for LA Apartment Owners: What SB 1383 Asks of a Five-Unit Building

For Owners · Building Operations & Compliance · October 2026 · 11 min read

A city inspector walks the trash enclosure behind a six-unit building in Inglewood. There are two black bins and a blue one. There is no green bin, no label on any of them, and nothing in the lease file showing the tenants were ever told how to sort. Before 2024 a visit like that ended with education material. Since January 1, 2024, it can end with a citation.

California’s organic waste law, SB 1383, treats an apartment building of five or more units like a business when it comes to trash. The owner has to arrange organics collection, put the right containers where tenants can reach them, and give tenants sorting information every year and within 14 days of move-in. Each city then runs its own collection system and enforcement on top of the state rule. This guide covers what the state regulations require, how Los Angeles, Inglewood, Culver City and Beverly Hills carry it out, the two waivers, and the fine schedule. Every rule here comes from the regulation text or the city’s own published material, linked at the end.

Which buildings are covered

The obligations in this guide attach to multifamily properties of five or more units. CalRecycle’s summary of the regulations says multifamily complexes of five units or more must either participate in the local organics service or self-haul, and Los Angeles, Inglewood and Beverly Hills all publish the same five-unit line. Inglewood writes it into its code: section 7-53.2 defines a multifamily dwelling as any building or lot containing five or more dwelling units.

A duplex, triplex or fourplex is not exempt from organics recycling. It is simply handled as residential service. In the City of Los Angeles, LA Sanitation (LASAN) serves homes of one to four units directly, while larger buildings go through the recycLA franchise system described below. Tenants in those buildings still have to sort correctly. What a small building’s owner does not carry is the specific duty to run an annual tenant education program and a 14-day move-in notice, because that duty sits in the section written for commercial businesses, and multifamily buildings of five or more units are counted as commercial businesses for this purpose.

Mixed-use buildings deserve a second look. If the ground floor is a restaurant or shop, the commercial tenant has its own obligations, and a restaurant may also be an edible food generator with separate food-donation rules. That part is outside this guide; ask the city’s solid waste staff which obligations land on you and which on the tenant.

The four things the owner has to do

Section 18984.10 of Title 14 is short. It is titled Commercial Business Owner Responsibilities, and it applies to a five-plus unit building’s owner as a commercial business. It contains four duties.

1. Provide or arrange organics collection

The owner must provide or arrange organic waste collection for employees, contractors, tenants and customers, consistent with the state article and local requirements. In practice that means subscribing to the service your city or its franchise hauler offers. CalRecycle’s summary and Beverly Hills’ requirements both list self-hauling to a compliant facility as the alternative.

2. Supply enough of the right containers

The regulation requires supplying and allowing access to an adequate number, size and location of containers with sufficient labels or container color. The state color scheme is green for organics. Beverly Hills spells out its version: gray or black, or blue, for mixed waste (trash and recyclables) and green for organics, with either the lid or the body in the compliant color. You do not have to throw out working containers. Under section 18984.9(d), functioning containers do not need to be replaced before the end of their useful life or January 1, 2036, whichever comes first. Beverly Hills adds that every new bin bought after January 1, 2022 must be color compliant.

3. Educate tenants every year

Owners must annually provide information to employees, contractors, tenants and customers about organic waste recovery requirements and proper sorting. The regulation does not prescribe a form. A dated letter, flyer or email that explains what goes in each bin, plus signs at the enclosure, is the sort of record that answers the question if an inspector asks.

4. Inform new tenants within 14 days

Section 18984.10(b)(1) requires the information to go to new tenants before or within 14 days of occupation of the premises. The simplest way to never miss it is to put the sorting sheet in the move-in packet so it goes out the day keys change hands.

The same section also requires owners to provide or arrange access to the property for inspections under the state enforcement article. It adds a limit worth knowing: section 18984.10(c)(1) does not allow a CalRecycle employee, agent or jurisdiction to enter the interior of a private residential property. The access duty reaches the property, not the inside of a tenant’s home.

What the state rule does not ask of an apartment building

Section 18984.9(b) puts extra duties on commercial businesses, then exempts multifamily residential dwellings from them. A store or office has to place organics and recycling containers in every area where it provides trash containers for customers (restrooms excepted), forbid employees from putting organics in the wrong bin, and periodically inspect organics containers for contamination. At the state level, an apartment building does not.

Local codes can go further, and Beverly Hills does. Its multifamily requirements say every designated waste area on the property that holds a trash container must have an organics container next to it, labeled with what is and is not accepted, and that there must be enough carts to collect all the organics the building generates. Read your city’s rule before deciding a single green bin at the back of the lot is enough.

How each city runs it

Los Angeles

Buildings of five or more units in the City of Los Angeles are served through recycLA, the city’s franchise system, under which each area of the city has a designated recycLA Service Provider. LASAN’s commercial and multifamily organics page tells owners to call the 24-hour Customer Care Center at 1-800-773-2489 or use MyLA311 to reach their provider. The provider will do a free waste assessment to size bins and pick a collection frequency. LASAN publishes a Property Owner toolkit with posters and bin labels you can use for the tenant education requirement. The recycLA newsletter published for the city in spring 2024 states that, as of January 2024, commercial and multifamily properties without organics recycling service are subject to penalties under Los Angeles Municipal Code section 66.07.

Inglewood

Inglewood put the state rules into its Solid Waste Code, Chapter 7, Article 5, by Ordinance 22-07, adopted April 5, 2022. Section 7-53.5 requires the responsible party for a multifamily dwelling to subscribe to and pay for franchisee-provided collection services, with at least weekly collection of recyclables, organics and solid waste, to supply and allow access to an adequate number, size and location of containers, to give occupants sorting information annually, and to educate new tenants before or within fourteen days of occupation. Inglewood’s code follows the state schedule for enforcement: an education period from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023, and administrative civil penalties starting January 1, 2024. For a contamination problem, the code calls for notice by cart tag or similar communication when the violation is identified, and a notice of violation with a compliance deadline before any citation.

Culver City

Culver City runs its own recycling and organics collection service. Its 2026 owner and manager guide for multifamily units says owners must subscribe to and participate in the city’s recycling and organics service, keep organics and recycling carts in each trash enclosure in sufficient numbers, put organics and recycling bins next to trash bins in offices and common areas, label bins, educate tenants, employees and contractors annually, and give new tenants sorting information within 14 days of occupancy. Food-scrap pails for tenants’ kitchens can be requested from the city at Sustainability@CulverCity.org, and service questions go to PWEPO@CulverCity.org. The guide also suggests asking the city for a 40-yard roll-off during heavy move-out periods, signed for furniture and mattresses only. The guide does not list fine amounts; it says violations of the city’s waste ordinances, including SB 1383 violations, will result in penalties.

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills requires multifamily properties of five or more units to subscribe to and participate in the city’s organics collection service or self-haul to an SB 1383 compliant facility, provide separate organics collection for tenants, employees and contractors, and meet the container, color and labeling rules described above. Organics carts must be in an area tenants can reach. Owners must educate tenants, employees and contractors annually and give new arrivals sorting information within 14 days. The city provides label templates for indoor signage and tenant education material on its resource page. Public Works solid waste operations can be reached at (310) 285-1000.

Owners with property in the unincorporated County, such as Ladera Heights or View Park, should check with LA County Public Works, for the rules that apply there.

The two waivers

A city can waive the organics or recycling requirement in two situations. The thresholds below are the ones LASAN and Inglewood publish.

• De minimis volume. If your total solid waste service is two cubic yards or more per week, a stream that runs under 20 gallons per week can qualify. If total service is under two cubic yards per week, the cutoff is 10 gallons per week (Inglewood section 7-53.7(b)).
• Physical space. If the premises lack adequate space for any allowed organics container configuration, with documentation to show it (Inglewood section 7-53.7(c)). Inglewood states that an approved waiver is valid for five years.

A waiver has to be applied for and granted. In Los Angeles the request goes through LASAN’s online waiver form, and the city notifies you of its decision. Until you have a written approval, assume the full requirement applies.

Fines

The state regulation sets a base penalty schedule in Title 14, section 18997.2, and Inglewood’s section 7-53.13(e) adopts the same figures:

The amounts are per violation, so a missing subscription and a missing tenant notice are two problems, not one. The dollar figures are modest, and the fix (service, bins, signs, letters) costs the same whether you do it before or after an inspection.

Making it routine

• Confirm the service. Pull the hauler or city invoice and check that it lists an organics container and pickup, not only trash and recycling.
• Walk the enclosure. Count the bins, check the colors, and add a label to anything that is not the right color. In Beverly Hills and Culver City, put an organics container next to each trash location.
• Put the sorting sheet in the move-in packet. That meets the 14-day rule every time without a separate calendar item.
• Send the annual notice on a fixed date. Pick a month, send it to every unit, and keep the dated copy with the building’s records.
• Keep receptacles in good repair. Separate from SB 1383, Civil Code section 1941.1(a)(7) lists an adequate number of appropriate garbage and rubbish receptacles, in clean condition and good repair, among the conditions of a habitable unit. Our guide to repair requests and habitability covers that statute in full.
• Before billing trash back to tenants, read our guide to RUBS and submetering. Utility cost recovery has its own rules, especially in rent-stabilized buildings.

Questions owners ask

I own a fourplex. Do I have to send tenants an annual sorting notice?

Not under the state’s commercial business section, which covers multifamily buildings of five or more units. Your tenants still have to sort into the city’s carts, and a short note at move-in costs nothing, but the formal annual and 14-day duties start at five units.

Can I be fined because a tenant threw food in the trash bin?

The owner’s duties are to arrange service, supply containers and educate tenants. Inglewood’s code provides for a cart tag or similar notice when contamination is found and a notice of violation with a deadline before a citation. It also lets the city charge contamination processing fees or contamination penalties if it finds contaminants in the same containers on more than one occasion (section 7-53.13(d)(3)). If you get a contamination notice, re-send the sorting information to every unit and keep the dated copy.

My bins are all black. Do I need to buy new ones?

Not if they still work. The state regulation lets existing containers stay in service until the end of their useful life or January 1, 2036, whichever comes first. A label on each bin showing what goes in it is still the cheapest way to make the sorting clear to tenants. New containers should be the compliant color; Beverly Hills applies that to every bin bought after January 1, 2022.

Can the inspector come into a tenant’s unit to check their kitchen pail?

No. Section 18984.10(c)(1) says the access duty does not allow CalRecycle, its agents or a jurisdiction to enter the interior of a private residential property.

There is no room in my enclosure for another bin. What now?

Ask your city or hauler about a physical space waiver, and document the space you have. Until a waiver is approved in writing, the requirement applies, so ask the hauler whether a smaller organics container or a different pickup schedule fits.

Sources and disclaimer. California Code of Regulations, Title 14, sections 18984.10, 18984.9 and 18997.2, as published by the Legal Information Institute; CalRecycle, Statewide Mandatory Organic Waste Collection; LA Sanitation, Mandatory Commercial and Multifamily Organics Recycling (recycLA); recycLA, Rec Waste News, Spring 2024; Inglewood Municipal Code Chapter 7, Article 5, sections 7-53 et seq.; City of Culver City, multifamily owner and manager guide (February 2026); City of Beverly Hills, Requirements for Multi-Family Management; California Civil Code section 1941.1. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Confirm your building’s obligations with your city’s solid waste program, and talk to a real estate attorney before relying on a waiver or contesting a citation.

When a Tenant Can End a Lease Early in California: Abuse, Military Orders and Everything Else

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 14 min read

Eight months into a twelve-month lease, a tenant hands you a letter saying she is moving out in two weeks. Attached is a copy of a protective order. Another tenant emails a scan of his orders: he has been reassigned out of state and wants to be released. A third simply stops paying and leaves. All three broke a lease early. California treats them very differently, and the owner who handles the first two like the third can end up owing damages instead of collecting them.

This guide walks through the rules that let a tenant end a lease early without penalty, what the tenant has to give you, what you can and cannot charge, the lock-change and privacy duties that come with an abuse notice, and how ordinary early move-outs work when no special rule applies. Everything here comes from the statutes themselves, which are linked at the end.

Civil Code 1946.7: who can end a lease early

Section 1946.7 lets a tenant give notice to terminate if the tenant, a household member or an immediate family member was the victim of any of these:

• Domestic violence, as defined in Family Code section 6211.
• Sexual assault, as defined in the listed Penal Code sections.
• Stalking, as defined in Civil Code section 1708.7.
• Human trafficking, as defined in Penal Code section 236.1.
• Abuse of an elder or a dependent adult.
• A crime that caused bodily injury or death.
• A crime that included the exhibition, drawing, brandishing or use of a firearm or other deadly weapon or instrument.
• A crime that included the use of force or a threat of force against the victim.

The last three items are broad. A tenant who was robbed at knifepoint in a parking garage across town, or whose adult child was assaulted, may qualify. The person harmed does not have to be the tenant.

The statute defines the relationships. A household member is a member of the tenant’s family who lives in the same unit. An immediate family member is a parent, stepparent, spouse, child, child-in-law, stepchild or sibling of the tenant, or anyone living in the tenant’s household at the time of the act whose relationship with the tenant is substantially similar to a family member’s.

What the notice has to include

The notice must be in writing, and one of these must be attached:

1. A copy of a temporary restraining order, emergency protective order or protective order that protects the tenant, household member or immediate family member.
2. A copy of a written report by a peace officer stating that the person has filed a report alleging they are a victim of one of the listed acts or crimes.
3. Documentation from a qualified third party, in substantially the form the statute prints: a signed statement by the tenant and a signed statement by the third party. Qualified third parties include licensed physicians, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional clinical counselors, as well as domestic violence counselors, sexual assault counselors, human trafficking caseworkers and victim of violent crime advocates. A counselor, caseworker or advocate’s statement must be on the letterhead of the organization they work with.
4. Any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies the act or crime occurred.

The tenant chooses which one to provide. You do not get to require a police report when the tenant has given you a qualified third party statement.

The timing window

The notice must be given within 180 days of the date the order was issued, the date the police report was made, or the date the act or crime occurred. The statute also allows notice “within the time period described in Section 1946,” which is the ordinary notice period for ending a periodic tenancy.

The extra statement for a family member who lived elsewhere

If the victim is an immediate family member who did not live with the tenant, and no part of the act or crime happened in the tenant’s unit or within 1,000 feet of it, the tenant must also attach a written statement saying three things: the family member was a victim, the tenant intends to relocate because of it, and the tenant is relocating to increase the safety, physical, emotional or psychological well-being, or financial security of the tenant or the family member.

What the tenant owes after giving notice

This is the part to get right. Once a valid notice is given, the tenant is responsible for rent for no more than 14 calendar days after the notice, or a shorter period if section 1946 or the lease provides one. The tenant is released without penalty from any further rent or other payment under the lease.

If you re-rent the unit before those 14 days run out, the rent the departing tenant owes is prorated. You cannot collect twice for the same days.

Three more rules apply:

• The deposit. You cannot require the tenant to forfeit any security deposit or advance rent because of the termination. The ordinary deposit law still applies to everything else, so normal deductions for unpaid rent within the 14 days, cleaning to move-in condition and damage beyond ordinary wear and tear are handled the usual way, with the itemized statement due within 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates. Our security deposit guide covers those steps.
• Not a breach. A tenant who terminates under 1946.7 is not considered to have breached the lease for any purpose because of the termination. Do not report it as a broken lease to a screening company or a future landlord.
• Future applications. An owner or agent cannot refuse to rent to an otherwise qualified applicant, or refuse to continue renting to an existing tenant, solely because the person previously used this section.

What happens to the other tenants on the lease

Section 1946.7 releases the tenant who gave the notice and the members of that tenant’s household. It does not release anyone else. If two unrelated roommates signed the lease and one leaves under 1946.7, the other remains bound by the lease.

In practice that remaining tenant may not be able to carry the full rent alone. That is a conversation to have in writing, with options such as a replacement roommate you screen and approve, or a negotiated end date. What you cannot do is pass the departing tenant’s share back to the person who used the statute.

Privacy: what you can verify and who you can tell

A landlord may not disclose any information a tenant provides under 1946.7 to a third party unless the tenant consents in writing or the disclosure is required by law or court order. That includes the other tenants in the building, the departing tenant’s co-signer, a reference caller and the property’s vendors.

You are allowed to contact the qualified third party who signed the documentation to verify its contents. The statute says that contact is not a disclosure. Keep the call to confirming the document, and keep the notice and its attachments in a restricted file rather than the general tenant folder.

The consequences are real. A landlord or agent who violates section 1946.7 is liable for the tenant’s actual damages plus statutory damages of $100 to $5,000. Statutory damages do not apply where the tenant’s only documentation was the catch-all “any other form” category, but actual damages still do.

Lock changes before the tenant moves

A tenant in this position may not move out right away, and the first request you get may be for new locks. Two Civil Code sections govern that request.

Section 1941.5: the person is not a tenant of the unit

When someone who is not a tenant of the same unit is alleged to have committed abuse or violence against the tenant or a household or immediate family member, the landlord must change the locks at the landlord’s own expense within 24 hours after the tenant makes a written request with one of the same kinds of documentation, and give the tenant a key. “Locks” means any exterior lock that provides access to the dwelling.

If you do not change them within 24 hours, the tenant may change them without your permission, whatever the lease says. The tenant has to do the work in a workmanlike manner with locks of similar or better quality, tell you within 24 hours, and get you a key by a reasonable method you agree on. You then have 21 days to reimburse the tenant’s cost. This self-help right applies to leases signed on or after January 1, 2011.

Section 1941.6: the restrained person is a co-tenant

When the person restrained by a court order is a tenant of the same unit, the protected tenant can request a lock change by giving you a copy of a court order, issued within the last 180 days, that excludes the restrained person from the unit. The same 24-hour deadline, landlord expense, tenant self-help and 21-day reimbursement rules apply.

Two provisions protect the owner here. You are not liable to the excluded person for the lock change, notwithstanding the lockout statute in section 789.3. And the excluded person remains liable under the lease, along with the other tenants, for rent.

Because 24 hours is short, line up a locksmith before you need one, and make sure whoever answers your maintenance line knows that a written lock-change request with a protective order attached goes to the front of the queue.

When the tenant stays: eviction protections

Not every victim wants to leave. Code of Civil Procedure section 1161.3 says a landlord may not terminate or refuse to renew a tenancy based on an act of abuse or violence against the tenant, an immediate family member or a household member once the landlord has received documentation of it.

There are two narrow exceptions. The first is where the perpetrator is a tenant in residence of the same unit, in which case the court follows a separate procedure under section 1174.27. The second requires both of these: the perpetrator’s words or actions have threatened the physical safety of other tenants, guests, invitees or licensees, and the tenant continues to permit the perpetrator on the premises after a three-day notice requiring the tenant not to. If neither exception applies, the tenant has a complete defense to an eviction based on the abuse.

Section 1161.3 also carries the same written-consent rule on disclosure, and it protects the landlord from liability to other tenants for actions that arise from complying with it.

Calling the police is protected too

Civil Code section 1946.8 voids any lease clause that limits a tenant’s or resident’s right to call law enforcement or emergency help as a victim of abuse, a victim of crime or a person in an emergency, where the caller believes that help is needed. A landlord cannot impose or threaten fees, fines, termination, nonrenewal or worse terms because of such a call, including a call someone else made on the tenant’s behalf. If an eviction is filed within 30 days of the call and the notice treats the call itself as a lease violation or nuisance, the tenant gets a rebuttable presumption of a defense, which the owner can overcome only by showing another reason was a substantial motivating factor for the filing. Check older lease forms and house rules for “excessive police calls” language and remove it.

Military orders: the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

The second statutory route out of a lease is federal. Section 3955 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3955) lets a servicemember terminate a residential lease in three situations:

• The lease was signed before the tenant entered military service.
• The tenant signed the lease while in military service and then received orders for a permanent change of station, or to deploy with a military unit or as an individual in support of a military operation, for at least 90 days.
• The tenant signed the lease after receiving such orders and then received a stop movement order of at least 30 days, or indefinite, that prevents occupancy.

“Military orders” includes official orders, orders for separation or retirement, and any notification, certification or verification from the servicemember’s commanding officer about current or future duty status. A permanent change of station includes separation or retirement. So a tenant who is leaving the service may qualify, and a letter from a commanding officer can be enough.

How the notice works

The tenant delivers written notice and a copy of the orders to you or your agent. The statute allows hand delivery, a private carrier, mail with return receipt requested, or electronic delivery, including email to an address you designated or posting to a tenant portal both sides can access.

When the lease actually ends

For a lease with monthly rent, termination is effective 30 days after the first date the next rent payment is due after the notice is delivered. If rent is due on the first and the notice arrives on October 10, the next rent is due November 1, and the lease ends December 1. For any other rent schedule, the lease ends on the last day of the month after the month the notice was delivered. A stop movement termination is effective as soon as the notice requirements are met.

What you can and cannot charge

• Rent unpaid for the period before the effective date is paid on a prorated basis.
• No early termination charge of any kind.
• The tenant still owes taxes, other obligations due under the lease and reasonable charges for excess wear that are due and unpaid at termination.
• Rent paid in advance for any period after the effective date must be refunded within 30 days of the effective date.
• The servicemember’s termination also ends any obligation a dependent has under the same lease.

The spouse or a dependent can terminate within one year after the servicemember dies in military service, and within one year of a catastrophic injury or illness incurred in service, the servicemember, or the spouse or a dependent if the servicemember lacks capacity, can terminate.

Holding a servicemember’s deposit or belongings to cover rent for the period after a lawful termination is a federal misdemeanor punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to one year, or both. An owner who believes the termination is unfair can apply to a court for relief, but only before the termination date in the notice.

Every other early move-out: Civil Code 1951.2

A tenant who leaves early without a statutory right is in breach. California does not let the owner sit on an empty unit and bill the remaining months. Under Civil Code section 1951.2, when a tenant breaches and abandons the property before the end of the term, the lease terminates, and the owner can recover:

• Unpaid rent already earned when the lease terminated.
• Rent lost after termination, minus the amount the tenant proves could reasonably have been avoided.
• Rent for the balance of the term after a court award, again minus what the tenant proves could reasonably be avoided, but only if the lease expressly provides for it or the owner re-let the property and proves it acted reasonably and in good faith to mitigate.
• Other amounts needed to compensate for the detriment the breach caused.

The practical meaning is simple. Start marketing the unit promptly, at a market rent, and document what you did: listing dates, showings, applications, the date a new lease starts. Section 1951.2 says your efforts to mitigate do not waive your right to recover damages. The burden of proving what could have been avoided is on the tenant, but your file is what answers that argument.

Before re-renting, make sure the unit has actually been surrendered or abandoned. If the tenant left belongings or did not clearly hand back possession, follow the notice process in our abandoned property guide first. If the departing tenant is behind, our rent collection guide covers what a demand can and cannot include. If the unit is under a local rent ordinance, check your city’s vacancy and registration rules before you set the next rent; our Inglewood, Culver City and Beverly Hills pages summarize them.

If your lease has a fixed lease-break fee, have an attorney look at whether it would hold up. A charge cannot be imposed on a 1946.7 or SCRA termination at all, and its enforceability against an ordinary breach depends on how it was written.

An owner’s checklist

• Train whoever opens your mail and email to route any notice mentioning a protective order, police report or military orders to you the same day.
• On a 1946.7 notice, confirm the attachment is one of the four permitted kinds and the 180-day window, calculate the 14-day rent cutoff, and stop any automatic rent charges after it.
• Do not ask for a different kind of documentation than the tenant chose. If you need to verify a third party statement, call the signer and confirm only the document.
• Store the notice and attachments in a restricted file. Share nothing without the tenant’s written consent.
• Handle the deposit on the normal 21-day timeline with no deduction for the early termination itself.
• On a written lock-change request with documentation, change exterior locks within 24 hours at your cost, or reimburse the tenant within 21 days if they did it.
• Remove any lease or house-rule language penalizing calls to police or emergency services.
• On military orders, compute the effective date from the next rent due date, refund advance rent within 30 days, and charge no termination fee.
• For every other early move-out, confirm surrender, market the unit right away and keep a dated record of every step.

Questions owners ask

Can I ask for a police report instead of a counselor’s letter?

No. Section 1946.7 lists four kinds of documentation and the tenant can attach any one of them. You may call the qualified third party who signed a statement to verify it, but you cannot insist on a different form.

Does a 1946.7 notice work on a month-to-month tenancy?

Yes. The section applies to a lease or a rental agreement. On a month-to-month tenancy the 14-day cap can shorten what the tenant would otherwise owe under the ordinary 30-day notice rule.

The tenant gave notice and I re-rented the unit ten days later. What does she owe?

Rent for those ten days at most. The statute prorates the 14-day obligation when the unit is re-let before it ends.

A servicemember signed the lease after getting orders to report to a base near LA. Can he use the SCRA to leave early?

Not on that fact alone. Section 3955 covers a lease signed before entering service, a lease signed in service followed by new orders for a permanent change of station or a deployment of at least 90 days, or a stop movement order after orders. Later separation or retirement orders count as a permanent change of station, so read the orders he gives you.

Can I keep part of the deposit as a lease-break fee?

Not on a 1946.7 or SCRA termination; both laws prohibit it. On an ordinary breach, a flat fee is not one of the deductions Civil Code 1950.5 permits. You can deduct unpaid rent, and the rent you can claim is your loss after mitigation under section 1951.2. Itemize it.

The other tenant on the lease wants out too. Do I have to let him go?

Section 1946.7 does not release him, and section 1941.6 says an excluded co-tenant stays liable for rent. Whether to negotiate an early release is your business decision, and putting any agreement in writing protects both sides.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code sections 1946.7, 1941.5, 1941.6, 1946.8, 1950.5 and 1951.2, and Code of Civil Procedure section 1161.3, read from the Legislature’s text as reproduced at California.Public.Law; and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. 3955, from the U.S. Code as published by the Legal Information Institute. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Notices involving abuse, military orders, deposit deductions or a claim for future rent should be confirmed with a real estate attorney before you act on them.

Smoking and Vaping in LA Rentals: What Culver City, Beverly Hills and California Law Require of Owners

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 13 min read

A tenant on the second floor of your fourplex calls about smoke drifting in through her bathroom vent. The downstairs tenant smokes on his patio, and his lease says nothing about it. What you can do next depends on the city the building sits in. In Culver City and Beverly Hills the answer was decided years ago by ordinance, and the lease you are using may already be out of date. In Inglewood and the City of Los Angeles the rule is mostly whatever your lease says, backed by a short section of the Civil Code.

This guide walks through the state rule first, because it applies everywhere, then the two priority-city ordinances in detail, then what to do when a tenant breaks the rule.

The state rule: Civil Code section 1947.5

Section 1947.5 gives a residential landlord the right to prohibit smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco products on the property, inside any building or unit, and in other interior or exterior areas. You do not need a local ordinance to do it. The section attaches a few conditions.

The lease has to say where

Every lease or rental agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2012, for a unit on property where the landlord has prohibited smoking in any area, must include a provision that specifies the areas where smoking is prohibited, if the tenant has not previously occupied the unit. A house rule posted in the laundry room is not a substitute. If the ban covers balconies and the parking garage, the lease should name balconies and the parking garage.

Existing tenants are a change in terms

For a lease entered into before January 1, 2012, banning smoking in an area where it was previously allowed is a change in the terms of the tenancy and needs adequate written notice under Civil Code section 827. More broadly, section 1947.5(c) makes any new ban subject to the federal, state and local rules that govern changing lease terms for an existing tenant. In practice that means a fixed-term lease generally carries its current terms until it ends, while a month-to-month tenancy can be changed with proper written notice. In a rent-stabilized unit, check the local ordinance before you change any term mid-tenancy.

The ban does not reach anything else

Subdivision (e) says a limit or ban on smoking does not affect any other term or condition of the tenancy. The no-smoking rule stands on its own; it does not change the rent or anything else in the lease.

Vaping counts

Section 1947.5 borrows its definition of smoking from Business and Professions Code section 22950.5(c). That definition covers any lighted or heated tobacco or plant product and expressly “includes the use of an electronic smoking device that creates an aerosol or vapor.” A lease clause written under the state statute can therefore cover e-cigarettes and vape pens along with cigarettes and cigars. Say so in the clause so nobody has to argue about it.

Local ordinances still apply

Subdivision (d) says the section does not preempt local smoking ordinances. Where a city has gone further, as Culver City and Beverly Hills have, you follow the city.

Cannabis: the same line as tobacco

Adult-use cannabis is legal in California, but the law that legalized it draws a clear line for landlords. Health and Safety Code section 11362.3(a)(2) says the adult-use law does not permit anyone to smoke cannabis “in a location where smoking tobacco is prohibited,” and that section’s definition of smoking includes vaping. So once a unit or a balcony is no-smoking, whether by your lease or by city ordinance, the adult-use law gives a tenant no right to smoke or vape cannabis there.

Section 11362.45(h) separately preserves the ability of a private property owner to prohibit or restrict cannabis use on their own property. For medicinal cannabis, section 11362.79(a) says the medical-use protections do not authorize smoking in a place where smoking is prohibited by law. A tenant who asks for an exception because of a disability is making a reasonable accommodation request, and that request deserves a real, documented answer under fair housing law. Treat it like any other accommodation request and talk to a fair housing attorney before you respond.

Culver City: a full ban in multi-unit housing since 2016

Culver City adopted Ordinance No. 2014-006 on October 27, 2014, adding a multi-unit housing subchapter to Chapter 9.11 of the Culver City Municipal Code (sections 9.11.200 and following). It took effect November 26, 2014, and every unit in covered housing became nonsmoking on May 26, 2016.

What property is covered

The ordinance covers residential property with two or more units, including apartments, condominiums and townhomes. Hotels and motels, mobile home parks and single-family homes are excluded. If you rent a house with an accessory dwelling unit on the same lot, ask the city’s Enforcement Services Division how it treats that property before assuming either way; the city’s published summary does not address it.

Where smoking is prohibited

Smoking is prohibited in every area of covered housing: inside units, in common areas, and on the unit’s exclusive-use spaces such as balconies, porches, decks and patios. Common areas include halls, lobbies, elevators, pools, parking areas and shared laundry or eating areas, indoor or outdoor. The ordinance covers tobacco and marijuana smoke.

The one exception: a designated smoking area

You may, but do not have to, set aside an outdoor smoking area. Under section 9.11.215 it must:

• be unenclosed;
• sit at least 25 feet from any enclosed nonsmoking area;
• sit at least 25 feet from unenclosed areas used mainly by children or for physical activity, such as playgrounds, tennis courts and pools;
• take up no more than 10 percent of the property’s total unenclosed area;
• have a clearly marked perimeter; and
• be identified by conspicuous signs.

On a small lot those distances may leave no spot that qualifies. Measure before you designate anything.

Vaping is the gap

The city’s own summary of the ordinance says its definition of smoke excludes electronic smoking device vapor, so e-cigarette use is not banned by the city in units, on balconies or in common areas. A separate 2020 Culver City ordinance bans e-cigarette use in outdoor dining areas, parks and a few civic spaces, not in housing. If you want vaping off the property, put it in the lease under the state statute described above.

Required lease language

Section 9.11.235 requires every lease or rental agreement entered into, renewed or continued month-to-month after November 26, 2014 to include provisions substantially consistent with the city’s model language. The city’s sample provisions make it a material breach of the agreement for the tenant, or anyone under the tenant’s control or present by the tenant’s invitation or permission, to:

• smoke in the unit;
• smoke in any common area of the property, except a designated outdoor smoking area if one exists; or
• violate any law regulating smoking anywhere on the property.

A fourth provision makes the other occupants of the property express third-party beneficiaries of the smoking terms, so they can enforce them by any lawful means, including a civil action. The city’s notes say amendments to existing agreements should be made at the earliest possible date, giving the minimum legal notice. The city publishes the sample provisions, a sample tenant notice and a sample “No Smoking” sign on its Smoking Ban in Multi-Unit Housing page. If your lease form came from outside Culver City, compare it against the city’s sample before the next renewal.

Signs

Post “No Smoking” signs in enough places to make the prohibited common areas obvious. A designated smoking area, if you create one, needs its own conspicuous signs. The city’s Enforcement Services Division has signs available at City Hall.

Who enforces it, and what it costs

Enforcement against smokers is private. Any person, including an organization, can sue a smoker for an injunction, actual damages proven in court, or $500 per violation. The city does not cite residents for smoking. It enforces the landlord’s side: signage, designated areas, notices and lease provisions. For those, the city lists an infraction or misdemeanor up to $1,000, an administrative citation up to $500 per violation, and a civil penalty up to $1,000 per violation.

The city also says a landlord is not required to enforce the smoking ban against residents and guests, and a landlord who has met the notice and lease requirements is not subject to additional liability under the ordinance for their violations. That protection comes from complying with the paperwork, so keep the signed lease and the notice in the file. Other landlord-tenant law still applies; a neighbor’s habitability or nuisance complaint is a separate question.

Questions go to the Enforcement Services Division at (310) 253-5940 or enforcement.services@culvercity.org. For the rest of what Culver City expects from rental owners, see our Culver City property management page.

Beverly Hills: units, common areas, vaping and cannabis

The Beverly Hills City Council adopted its Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing Ordinance on October 3, 2017 (Ordinance 17-O-2737, effective November 3, 2017). The rental rules are in Beverly Hills Municipal Code section 5-4-18. Section 5-4-19 applies the same approach to condominiums and other common interest developments.

The timeline

• January 1, 2018: smoking banned in all common areas; units under new leases became nonsmoking.
• Leases signed before 2018: a unit under an older lease became nonsmoking at renewal or extension, or on January 1, 2019, whichever came first, unless the landlord set an earlier date.
• January 1, 2019: smoking banned in all units, rented and owner-occupied.

What it covers

The city states the ordinance covers tobacco, electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, and marijuana smoke. That is the main difference from Culver City: in Beverly Hills, vaping inside a unit is already prohibited by the city. Units include balconies, porches, decks and patios. Common areas are any indoor or outdoor area residents of more than one unit may use, including halls, lobbies, courtyards, elevators, stairs, pools, parking garages and lots, laundry rooms and community rooms.

Covered property includes apartments, condominiums, townhouses, duplexes, planned developments, stock cooperatives and the residential portions of mixed hotel and condominium projects. The city lists single-family homes with accessory dwelling units as exempt, along with hotel rooms and hotel-guest areas in mixed projects.

The landlord’s four duties

1. Signs. Post and maintain “No Smoking” signs in enough numbers and locations that the ban is obvious to a reasonable person. Letters must be at least one inch high, or the sign must use the international no-smoking symbol. Missing signs are not a defense for a smoker.
2. No ashtrays. Do not allow ashtrays, ash cans or similar receptacles for smoking waste in common areas.
3. Written notice. Notify tenants in writing of the common-area ban and when their unit became nonsmoking. This did not apply where smoking was already banned in every common area and unit.
4. Lease language. Any new, renewed or amended lease on or after January 1, 2018 must include a provision substantially consistent with the city’s model language, making a breach of the smoking rules a material breach of the lease. The clause covers the tenant’s guests and anyone under the tenant’s control, and violations of smoking law anywhere on the property.

The liability shield

Under section 5-4-18(D), a landlord who has fully complied with the lease, sign and notice requirements is not criminally or civilly liable to anyone for another person’s breach of the smoking rules on the property. As in Culver City, the shield depends on the paperwork. A lease form that predates 2018 and was never updated leaves it in doubt.

Reporting and contacts

Violations are reported to the city’s Community Preservation program at (310) 285-1119. The city’s summary page does not list the fine amounts, so we do not state them here. For Beverly Hills rent stabilization, registration and tenancy rules, see our Beverly Hills property management page.

Inglewood and the City of Los Angeles

We did not find a citywide ban on smoking inside multi-unit rentals in either the Inglewood Municipal Code or the Los Angeles Municipal Code as of October 2026. If that is right for your property, the rule there is the one you write. Section 1947.5 lets you ban smoking and vaping in units, on balconies and in common areas, as long as the lease names the areas and existing tenants get the change through proper notice. Cannabis then follows automatically under section 11362.3. Confirm with the city or your attorney before relying on the absence of a local rule, because ordinances change and both cities have other smoking restrictions for public places.

Inglewood owners have one more thing to keep in mind: under the city’s just-cause rules, a curable lease violation calls for a written notice to cure before a termination notice. Our guide to ending a tenancy in Inglewood covers the sequence, and the Inglewood property management page covers the rest of the city’s rental rules.

When a tenant keeps smoking

A no-smoking clause is a lease term like any other, and a breach is handled the way other breaches are. Start with the record: the complaint, the date, the location, any photos of butts or ash, and a written note of what you or your manager observed. Then send a written notice that cites the clause and asks the tenant to stop. Keep it factual and keep a copy.

If the conduct continues, a material breach of the lease is an at-fault ground for ending a tenancy under state and local just-cause rules, but each city attaches its own procedure:

• In Culver City, breach of the rental agreement is one of five at-fault grounds. See ending a tenancy in Culver City.
• In Beverly Hills, ground (B) is an uncured violation of the tenant’s obligations after written notice, and the city’s relocation fee is not owed on that ground. See ending a tenancy in Beverly Hills.
• For cure periods and notice timing generally, see our guide to lease violation cure timelines in LA.

A tenant who has smoked for years under a lease that never prohibited it is in a different position from one who signed a no-smoking clause last spring. Before treating smoking as grounds to end any tenancy, especially in a rent-stabilized unit, have an attorney review the lease history and the notices.

An owner’s checklist

• Pull the current lease form and confirm it names every area where smoking is prohibited, and that “smoking” includes vaping and cannabis.
• In Culver City, compare the smoking clauses with the city’s sample provisions, including the third-party beneficiary clause.
• In Beverly Hills, confirm the clause states that a breach is a material breach of the lease.
• Walk the property: signs in common areas, letters at least one inch high in Beverly Hills, no ashtrays in Beverly Hills common areas.
• Find the signed lease or notice for every tenant who moved in before the city’s deadlines. If it is missing, give the notice now and file it.
• If you designate an outdoor smoking area in Culver City, measure the 25-foot distances and the 10 percent limit first.
• Route any disability-based exception request through a documented reasonable accommodation process.

Questions owners ask

Can I ban smoking in a single-family rental?

Yes. Section 1947.5 applies to any residential dwelling unit, not just apartments. The Culver City and Beverly Hills ordinances do not reach single-family homes, so the ban comes from your lease, and the lease must say where smoking is prohibited.

Does a Culver City ban cover vape pens?

Not by ordinance, according to the city’s summary, which says the definition of smoke excludes electronic smoking device vapor. You can still prohibit vaping in the lease, because the state definition that section 1947.5 uses includes electronic smoking devices.

Can a tenant smoke medical marijuana in a Beverly Hills unit?

The ordinance bans marijuana smoke in units, and state law says the medical-use protections do not authorize smoking where smoking is prohibited by law. A request for an exception based on a disability should still be handled as a reasonable accommodation request with an attorney’s input.

Am I liable if one tenant’s smoke bothers another?

Both cities protect a landlord who has met the ordinance’s notice, sign and lease requirements from liability under the ordinance for a resident’s violations. That protection does not replace your other duties as a landlord, so respond to complaints in writing and keep a record.

I just bought a Culver City triplex. The seller’s leases have no smoking clause. What now?

The ordinance already prohibits smoking in those units, but the leases are missing the required provisions. Amend them at the earliest date the law allows, with proper written notice, and keep the signed amendments or notices in the file.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code section 1947.5; Business and Professions Code section 22950.5(c); Health and Safety Code sections 11362.3, 11362.45 and 11362.79, read from the Legislature’s text as reproduced at California.Public.Law; the City of Culver City’s Smoking Ban in Multi-Unit Housing page and its sample lease provisions under CCMC section 9.11.235; the City of Culver City’s e-Cigarette Ban page; Beverly Hills Municipal Code sections 5-4-18 and 5-4-19; and the City of Beverly Hills’ Multi-Unit Housing Smoking Regulations page. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Lease language, notice periods for existing tenants, reasonable accommodation requests and any termination based on smoking should be confirmed with a real estate or fair housing attorney before you rely on them.

A Tenant Wants to Install an EV Charger: What Civil Code 1947.6 Requires of LA Owners

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 10 min read

A tenant in your 12-unit building emails a quote from an electrician. She has bought an electric car, her lease includes space 7 in the garage, and she wants a Level 2 charger installed there. She offers to pay for it. Your first instinct may be to say no because of the panel, the liability, or simply because nobody has asked before. In California that answer may not be yours to give. Civil Code section 1947.6 requires a landlord to approve a qualifying request, and it also gives the landlord a set of conditions to attach to that approval.

This guide walks through when the duty applies, which properties are exempt, how rent control changed the picture in 2019, what you can require of the tenant, and how the insurance rules work now. It is written for owners in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Inglewood and the neighborhoods around them.

The rule in one paragraph

For any lease executed, extended or renewed on or after July 1, 2015, the lessor of a dwelling must approve a tenant’s written request to install an electric vehicle charging station at the parking space the lease gives that tenant. Two conditions attach. The request has to comply with section 1947.6, and it has to go through your own procedural approval process for modifications to the property. Approval is the default; the statute does not give you a general right to refuse.

“Charging station” is defined broadly. Subdivision (c) covers any level of electric vehicle supply equipment designed and built under Article 625 of the California Electrical Code, so the definition is not limited to one charging level.

When the rule does not apply

Subdivision (b) lists the residential rental properties the section does not reach. Check these first, because they settle the question before any other analysis.

An exemption from section 1947.6 does not stop you from agreeing to a charger. It only means state law does not require you to. If you do agree on an exempt property, the written agreement described below is still a sensible way to do it.

Rent-controlled units are covered now

When the section took effect, rent-controlled dwellings were exempt. AB 1796, effective January 1, 2019, narrowed that exemption so it no longer applies to a lease executed, extended or renewed on or after that date. For owners here, that means units under the City of Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance and rent-stabilized units in Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills are not exempt merely because rent control applies, once the lease is on or after that date.

The remaining carve-out in (b)(5) is for a city that had both rent control and its own charger-approval ordinance on or before January 1, 2018. In that case the city’s ordinance governs. West Hollywood’s own published guidance says it amended its code in 2017 to require landlords of rent-controlled buildings to follow the state requirements, and it applies the same approval duty, cost rules and exemptions. If you own in West Hollywood, read the city’s version as the one that controls.

The statute does not say whether a month-to-month tenancy that simply continues counts as “extended.” Do not assume an older tenancy is exempt on that basis without an attorney’s view.

What you can require of the tenant

The tenant’s written request has to include consent to enter into a written agreement. Subdivision (g) lists what that agreement covers:

• Your requirements. The tenant agrees to comply with your requirements for the installation, use, maintenance and removal of the charging station, and for the installation, use and maintenance of its infrastructure.
• A complete financial analysis and scope of work. The tenant provides one, covering the installation and the infrastructure it needs.
• How, when and where. A written description of how, when and where the modifications will be made, consistent with the Permitting Checklist in the Office of Planning and Research’s Zero-Emission Vehicles in California: Community Readiness Guidebook.
• Payment up front. The tenant pays you all costs associated with the installation before any work begins, including permits, supervision, construction and, if the contractor requires them, performance bonds.
• Ongoing costs as part of rent. The tenant pays, as part of rent, for the electricity the charger uses and for damage, maintenance, repair, removal and replacement of the charger and of any modifications or improvements made to the property for it.

Your “procedural approval process” is where you put the practical items: the licensed contractor, the permit, the route of the conduit, whether a new circuit or a sub-meter is needed, work hours, and the condition the space has to be in when the charger comes out. Write that process down before the first request arrives, and apply it the same way to every tenant who asks.

Money: electricity, parking and the rest

Section 1947.6 puts the costs on the tenant. Installation is paid before work starts, and electricity and upkeep are paid as part of rent. How you measure the electricity is a design question for the installation itself. A charger wired to the tenant’s own meter bills itself; one on the house meter needs a sub-meter or another fair way to allocate usage. Our guide to utility billing and submetering covers the wider rules on passing utility costs to tenants.

Two more rules shape the economics. Under subdivision (d) you do not have to give the tenant an additional parking space to make room for a charger. Under subdivision (e), if the charger has the effect of giving the tenant a reserved space, you may charge a monthly rental amount for that space.

In a rent-controlled unit, check before you add any new monthly charge. Both the “as part of rent” language and a new rent for a reserved space interact with local rules on what counts as rent and how much it may rise. Confirm the treatment with the city’s rent program, such as the Los Angeles Housing Department for an RSO unit, or with your attorney, before the agreement is signed.

Insurance: the rule changed in 2020

The original version of the section required the tenant to carry a $1 million general liability policy naming the landlord as an additional insured. SB 638 (Chapter 855, Statutes of 2019) replaced that requirement. Under the current text:

• Subdivision (h). The tenant, and each successor tenant, must obtain personal liability coverage as described in Insurance Code section 108, in an amount not to exceed 10 times the annual rent for the dwelling, covering property damage and personal injury proximately caused by the installation or operation of the charger. The policy has to stay in force from installation until the charger is removed or the tenant gives up possession of the dwelling.
• Subdivision (i). No insurance is required at all if the charger is certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory approved by federal OSHA and the charger and any related alterations to the dwelling’s electrical system are performed by a licensed electrician.

If your lease addendum or charger agreement was drafted before 2020, it may still ask for the old $1 million policy. Have it updated so it matches the current section.

Codes, permits and the building

Subdivision (f) requires the charger and every modification made for it to comply with federal, state and local law, all applicable zoning and land use requirements, and any covenants, conditions and restrictions on the property. Subdivision (g) already lists permits among the installation costs the tenant pays. The tenant’s scope of work should show the permit from the city’s building department, and you should keep the final inspection sign-off with the property file.

The approval duty does not make your building’s electrical capacity the tenant’s problem to solve by improvising. If the panel or service cannot carry the load, that has to show up in the financial analysis and scope of work, and subdivision (g) puts the costs associated with the installation on the tenant, paid before work begins. Have your own electrician review the tenant’s plan before you sign off.

Rented condos and HOAs

If you rent out a condo, two sets of rules meet. Section 1947.6(f) requires the installation to comply with the CC&Rs, and the association’s approval runs through Civil Code section 4745, which deals with owners rather than tenants. Under section 4745 the association handles a charger request like an architectural modification, may not willfully avoid or delay it, and must put its approval or denial in writing. An application not denied in writing within 60 days of receipt is deemed approved, unless the delay comes from a reasonable request for more information. Where the charger goes in a common area or an exclusive use common area, as the declaration designates them, subdivision (f) adds conditions: the owner uses a licensed contractor, pays for installation and electricity, provides a certificate of insurance within 14 days of approval and every year after, and the responsibilities pass to later owners and have to be disclosed to buyers.

In practice, the unit owner is the applicant to the association. Section 1947.6 does not say whether a rented condo counts its own parking spaces or the whole complex’s for the five-space exemption, so ask an attorney before you rely on the exemption for a single unit.

A process that keeps you on solid ground

• Check the exemptions first. Count designated spaces and existing tenant chargers, confirm parking is in the lease, and note the date the lease was executed, extended or renewed.
• Answer in writing. Acknowledge the request, send your written approval process and the agreement you will ask the tenant to sign.
• Get the full package before any work. Scope of work, financial analysis, the how-when-where description, the contractor’s license, and the permit application.
• Collect installation costs up front. Permits, supervision, construction and any required performance bond are paid before work starts.
• Settle insurance or the waiver. Either proof of the subdivision (h) coverage, or the NRTL certification and licensed-electrician documentation that satisfies subdivision (i).
• Decide how electricity is billed. Tenant’s meter, a sub-meter, or another documented method, written into the agreement.
• Schedule access properly. Work inside the unit or a private area follows the rules on entry notice.
• Plan the exit. The agreement should say who removes the charger at move-out, how the space is restored, and how any cost interacts with the security deposit.

Questions owners ask

Can I refuse because I worry about fire risk?

Not as a blanket answer where the section applies. Your protection comes through the conditions: your approval process, a licensed contractor, permits, the insurance in subdivision (h) or the certified equipment and licensed electrician that replace it under (i), and the tenant’s responsibility for damage.

I own a fourplex with four garage spaces. Do I have to approve?

No. Subdivision (b)(3) exempts properties with fewer than five parking spaces. You can still agree voluntarily, using the same kind of written agreement.

My building is under the LA Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Is it exempt?

Not for a lease executed, extended or renewed on or after January 1, 2019. Rent control by itself stopped being an exemption on that date. Check any new monthly charge with the Los Angeles Housing Department or your attorney before you add it.

Who owns the charger when the tenant moves out?

The section makes the tenant responsible for removal and replacement costs but does not set a default for ownership. Put it in the agreement: whether the tenant removes the unit and restores the space, or leaves it in place on terms you both sign.

Can I make the tenant use my electrician?

The statute lets you set requirements for installation through your approval process, and the subdivision (i) insurance waiver turns on the work being done by a licensed electrician. Whether you can insist on a specific contractor is a question for your attorney; requiring a licensed, insured electrician and a permit is the safer standard to write down.

Does a new building have to provide chargers anyway?

New construction has its own requirements under the state building standards, which are separate from section 1947.6. This guide covers existing rentals and tenant requests.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code section 1947.6, subdivisions (a) through (i), and Civil Code section 4745, read from the text published by the California Legislature as reproduced at California.Public.Law; AB 2565 (Chapter 529, Statutes of 2014), which added section 1947.6; the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee analysis of AB 1796 (2018); SB 638 (Chapter 855, Statutes of 2019); and the City of West Hollywood’s published guidance on electric vehicle charging for tenants. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Whether section 1947.6 applies to a particular lease, how a new charge interacts with local rent limits, and what your agreement should say should be confirmed with a real estate attorney before you rely on them.

Negotiating a Lease in Another Language: What Civil Code 1632 Requires of LA Owners

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 9 min read

An applicant tours your two-bedroom with her brother, who does most of the talking in Spanish. Your leasing agent answers in Spanish, walks them through the rent, the deposit and the parking space, and then hands over the standard English lease to sign. Nothing about that conversation feels unusual in Los Angeles. Under California law, though, it may have created a duty you did not meet, and the remedy for missing it belongs to the tenant.

The rule is California Civil Code section 1632. It applies across the state, so it works the same way in Inglewood, Culver City, Beverly Hills and the City of Los Angeles. This guide covers what the statute says about residential leases, in the order the questions come up while you are leasing a unit.

Which languages, and what “negotiated primarily” means

Section 1632(b) names five languages: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean. The legislative findings in subdivision (a) explain the choice. The statute was first written in 1976 for Spanish speakers and later widened to the five languages most spoken at home by Californians with limited or no English. A lease negotiated in Armenian, Farsi, Russian or Japanese is outside the statute’s list, which does not make a careless approach a good idea, but it does mean section 1632 is not the rule that applies.

The trigger is negotiating “primarily” in one of the five languages, “orally or in writing.” The statute does not define “primarily.” A practical reading: if the conversations that set the rent, the deposit, the term and the house rules happened mostly in Spanish, the lease was negotiated primarily in Spanish, even if the application form and a few emails were in English. A single greeting in Korean does not turn an English negotiation into a Korean one. Where you are unsure, treat the duty as triggered. A translation costs far less than a rescinded lease.

The duty falls on “a person engaged in a trade or business.” A management company or leasing agent acting for you is plainly in one. If you rent a single unit yourself and wonder whether the phrase reaches you, put that question to an attorney rather than assuming you are outside it.

Which leases are covered

Section 1632(b)(3) covers “a lease, sublease, rental contract or agreement, or other term of tenancy contract or agreement, for a period of longer than one month,” for a dwelling, apartment, mobilehome or other unit normally occupied as a residence. A twelve-month lease is covered. So is a six-month lease. A sublease is covered too if it runs longer than a month.

Month-to-month agreements are the gray area. The text says “longer than one month,” and a month-to-month tenancy runs one month at a time, so there is an argument it falls outside. There is also an argument that a tenancy expected to run for years is not really a one-month agreement. The statute does not settle it, and the cautious course is the same either way: translate it.

Section 1632(g)(1) defines “contract” or “agreement” as the document that creates the parties’ rights and obligations, and it includes “any subsequent document making substantial changes” to them. A renewal with new terms, an addendum that changes who pays utilities, or an amendment adding a pet with new obligations can each count. Section 1632(g)(3) leaves out matters “ordinarily incorporated by reference,” naming the rules and regulations governing a tenancy and inventories of furnishings. The lease itself still has to be translated in full.

What you have to hand over, and when

A complete translation, before signing

Section 1632(b) requires the landlord to deliver the translation to the tenant “and any other person who will be signing,” before the lease is executed, and the translation must include “every term and condition.” A summary sheet of the rent and the move-in date does not meet that standard. If a cosigner or a second adult is signing, each of them gets the translation too.

What the translation can leave in English

Subdivision (i) lists what may stay as it appears in the English lease: names and titles, addresses, brand and trade names, trademarks, model designations, alphanumeric codes, numerals, dollar amounts written in numerals, dates, and words with no generally accepted translation. The translation does not have to be signed, though the statute says signing it is permitted.

A notice at signing

Subdivision (d) adds a separate step for leases: at the time and place the lease is executed, the tenant must be given a notice in the language in which it was negotiated. The statute does not supply the notice’s wording for leases. A short statement in that language, confirming that the tenant was given a translation of the lease before signing, is a reasonable way to meet it and doubles as your record. Have an attorney approve the wording once and reuse it.

The English lease still controls

Section 1632(j) sounds reassuring, and it is correct as far as it goes. The English version determines the parties’ rights and obligations. The translation is admissible in evidence only to show that no contract was formed because the translation and the English lease differ substantially on material terms.

That last clause is why the quality of the translation matters. If the English lease says the tenant pays water and the Spanish version says the owner does, the tenant has a basis to argue there was never a meeting of the minds. Use a professional translator, keep the translation in step with every change to the English template, and do not let a staff member improvise one from memory the morning of a signing.

What happens if you skip it

Section 1632(k)(1) gives the person aggrieved by a failure to comply the right to rescind the contract. For a residential lease, that means the tenant can seek to undo the lease, not just collect a penalty. How rescission plays out, and what each side must return, is governed by California’s general rescission rules and is a question for an attorney, not a template.

One more rule closes the obvious workaround. Subdivision (l) makes any waiver of section 1632 “contrary to public policy” and void, so a lease clause in which the tenant acknowledges reading English fluently does not cure a Spanish negotiation.

The interpreter exception

Subdivision (h) removes the duty when the tenant negotiates through the tenant’s own interpreter. The statute is specific about who qualifies. The interpreter must be an adult, must speak fluently and read with full understanding both English and the language of the negotiation, and must not be employed by, or made available through, the landlord’s business.

Back to the opening example. In that example the exception does not help. Your agent negotiated in Spanish, and your agent is the business’s own staff. The brother would count as the tenant’s own interpreter only if the negotiation actually ran through him, with him relaying your side in English, and only if he is an adult who speaks fluently and reads with full understanding both English and Spanish. An applicant’s teenage child translating at the kitchen table does not qualify either, because the interpreter cannot be a minor. If you are relying on the exception, write down who interpreted and keep it in the tenant file.

Commercial space since January 1, 2025

Section 1632(b)(8) now also covers leases of nonresidential-zoned commercial space with a “qualified commercial tenant,” for leases entered into on or after January 1, 2025. Under subdivision (m), that is a microenterprise, a restaurant with fewer than 10 employees, or a nonprofit with fewer than 20, that has given the landlord a written notice and a self-attestation of its employee count. The notice generally has to have been given within the prior 12 months. Unless the tenancy is week to week, month to month or shorter, it has to come before or at signing and then every year. Only a qualified commercial tenant may rescind under this paragraph, and the interpreter exception does not apply to it. If you own a mixed-use building, such as a Hollywood property with retail on the ground floor, check your commercial lease process too.

A process that keeps you compliant

• Decide the language at the first showing. Note in the file which language the conversation is in. If it is one of the five, flag the unit’s lease for translation before any terms are agreed.
• Keep translated templates on hand. Have your standard lease and common addenda professionally translated into the languages your leasing staff actually speak, and version them with the English originals.
• Deliver before signing, and log it. Give every signer the translation ahead of the signing appointment, and record the date and method of delivery.
• Provide the signing notice. Hand over the subdivision (d) notice in the same language at execution and keep a copy.
• Translate substantial changes. Renewals with new terms and material addenda get the same treatment as the original lease.
• Document an outside interpreter. If the tenant brought their own, record who it was and confirm the person is an adult not connected to your business.

This sits alongside the other paperwork a lease signing already involves, such as application fee receipts and refunds and the Megan’s Law database notice. Once the lease is signed, the rules on how rent may be collected and when you may enter the unit apply whatever language the tenancy runs in.

Questions owners ask

Can I just make the Spanish version the official lease?

The statute is built around an English contract with a translation, and subdivision (j) makes the English version control. Signing only a non-English lease is a different arrangement that section 1632 does not address, so ask an attorney before you try it.

Does the rule apply if the tenant speaks English well but prefers Spanish?

The trigger is the language the negotiation was conducted in, not the tenant’s fluency. If you negotiated primarily in Spanish, the duty applies unless the tenant used their own qualifying interpreter.

Do I need to translate the house rules?

Subdivision (g)(3) excludes rules and regulations governing a tenancy and furnishing inventories that are incorporated by reference. The lease itself, including every term and condition in it, still has to be translated.

What about a lease negotiated in Armenian or Farsi?

Section 1632 lists five languages, and those are not among them. Clear communication still protects you if a dispute arises, so a translation can still be worth providing, but this statute does not require it.

My leasing agent is bilingual. Does that help or hurt?

It helps the tenant understand the deal, and it also means the negotiation may be in one of the five languages, which triggers the duty. Your own agent cannot be the tenant’s interpreter under subdivision (h). Pair a bilingual agent with translated templates.

Does a renewal need a new translation?

If the renewal makes substantial changes to the rights and obligations, it counts as a contract under subdivision (g)(1) and needs one. A renewal on identical terms is less clear, and translating it is the safe course.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code section 1632, subdivisions (a), (b)(3), (b)(8), (d), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l) and (m), read from the text published by the California Legislature as reproduced at California.Public.Law. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Whether section 1632 applies to a particular lease, what a translation must contain, and how rescission would work should be confirmed with a real estate attorney before you rely on them.

Rental Application Fees in California: What Civil Code 1950.6 Lets LA Owners Charge

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 11 min read

A unit goes up on Monday. By Wednesday you have five completed applications, a cosigner for one of them, and an applicant who would rather send you the screening report she bought last week. Each of those people may have paid you a fee, and each fee now comes with obligations: a receipt, a copy of the credit report, and in some cases a refund on a deadline.

The rules are in California Civil Code section 1950.6. AB 2493 (Chapter 966, Statutes of 2024) rewrote the part of it that says when you may collect a fee at all, and that change has applied since January 1, 2025. It covers every residential rental in the state, so it applies the same way in Inglewood, Culver City, Beverly Hills and the City of Los Angeles. This guide walks through what the statute says, in the order you run into it while leasing a unit.

What counts as an application screening fee

Section 1950.6(i) defines the fee as any nonrefundable payment a landlord or agent charges an applicant to buy a consumer credit report and to validate, review or otherwise process a rental application. If money changes hands so that you can screen someone, this section governs it, whatever your listing calls it.

Two definitions widen the reach. “Landlord” means an owner of residential rental property, and every duty in the section runs to “the landlord or their agent,” so a property manager collecting fees on your behalf is held to the same rules. “Applicant” includes any person or entity asking to rent, and also anyone who agrees to act as a guarantor or cosigner on the rental agreement. The fee limit is per applicant.

Subdivision (k) adds that the screening fee is not an advance fee under Business and Professions Code section 10026 and is not “security” under Civil Code 1950.5. It is a separate charge with its own rules. Security deposits are covered in our California security deposit guide.

How much you can charge

Subdivision (b) sets two ceilings, and the lower one controls.

The first is your actual cost: the out-of-pocket cost of gathering information on the applicant, including a tenant screening service or credit reporting service, plus the reasonable value of the time you or your agent spend obtaining that information. If your screening service charges you a set amount per report and you spend a few minutes reviewing it, that cost and the value of those minutes are the limit, even if the statutory maximum is higher.

The second is the dollar cap. The statute says the fee may not exceed $30 per applicant and that the $30 “may be adjusted annually by the landlord or their agent commensurate with an increase in the Consumer Price Index, beginning on January 1, 1998.”

Read that sentence closely. The adjustment is made by the landlord, not announced by an agency, and the statute does not name a CPI series (national or Los Angeles area) or the months to compare. That is why the 2026 figures you will see quoted by screening companies, law firms and listing sites do not match one another. A defensible approach is to pick a published CPI series, write down the index values and dates you used, and keep that calculation with your leasing file. If your number is higher than other published figures, be ready to explain it.

In practice, the cost ceiling is the one to watch. A fee set at the inflation-adjusted maximum is still too high if your screening only cost a fraction of it, and the itemized receipt you must hand over will show the gap.

When you cannot charge a fee at all

Subdivision (c)(1) prohibits a screening fee when you know or should have known that no rental unit is available at that time or will be available within a reasonable period. Collecting fees to build a waiting list for a building with no upcoming vacancy is the plain case. Once you have approved a tenant for the unit, taking more paid applications for it raises the same question, because the unit is no longer available unless that deal falls through.

If a unit is coming available, for example because a tenant has given notice, you can take applications. Be ready to show why you expected the unit to be ready within a reasonable time.

The two lawful ways to collect: in order, or refund the rest

Since January 1, 2025, subdivision (c)(2) allows a fee only if, at the time you collect it, you offer one of two screening processes. You choose which one. Say in writing which one you use.

Option A: consider applications in the order received

Under (c)(2)(A), all of the following must be true:

• Completed applications are considered, under your established screening criteria, in the order in which the completed applications were received.
• Your screening criteria are given to the applicant in writing, together with the application form.
• The first applicant who meets your criteria is approved for tenancy.
• Applicants are not charged a screening fee unless or until their application is actually considered.

The statute allows for the reality of online listings. If you inadvertently collect fees from several people because applications came in at the same time, you are not in violation as long as you refund the fee within seven days to anyone whose application is not considered. Instead of a refund, you may offer to apply that fee to an application for another of your rental units, but it is the applicant’s choice, not yours.

You do not have to refund an applicant whose application was considered and denied because they did not meet your established criteria. That is the trade Option A makes: you keep fees from people you actually screened and turned down, but you give up the right to pick among several qualified applicants. The first one who qualifies gets the unit.

Option B: refund everyone you do not select

Under (c)(2)(B), you may screen applicants in any order and choose among them, but you must return the entire screening fee to every applicant who is not selected, regardless of the reason. The deadline is seven days after you select an applicant for tenancy or 30 days after the application was submitted, whichever comes first.

The 30-day clock matters on slow listings. If an application has been sitting for 30 days and you have not chosen anyone, the refund to that applicant is due even though the unit is still open.

Choosing between them

Option A suits an owner who has written, objective criteria and is comfortable approving whoever meets them first. Option B suits an owner who wants to compare qualified applicants, at the cost of returning every fee except the one paid by the person who gets the unit. Either way, the written criteria are worth having. California and federal fair housing law expect the same standards to be applied to every applicant, and a written list is how you show that you did.

The receipt, the leftover money and the credit report

Three duties apply no matter which option you use.

An itemized receipt

Subdivision (d) requires you to give the applicant a receipt for the fee, delivered personally or by mail. It must itemize the out-of-pocket expenses and the time spent by you or your agent obtaining and processing the information. You and the applicant may agree to have the receipt sent to an email address the applicant provides. A receipt that says only “application fee” does not meet the statute.

Return what you did not use

Under subdivision (e), if you do not perform a personal reference check or do not obtain a consumer credit report, you must return any part of the fee you did not use for the purposes the section allows. If the applicant withdraws before you order the report, or you stop because the unit has been rented, the unspent portion goes back.

A copy of the credit report within seven days

Under subdivision (f), if the applicant paid a screening fee, you must give that applicant a copy of the consumer credit report within seven days of receiving it, by personal delivery, mail or email. This applies to every applicant who paid, approved or not. Check whether your screening service sends the copy to the applicant automatically, and keep proof that it went out.

Reports the applicant brings to you

Subdivision (a) says a landlord may, but is not required to, accept and rely on a consumer credit report the applicant presents. Section 1950.1 adds a more specific category: the reusable tenant screening report.

A reusable tenant screening report is a consumer report prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer reporting agency at the applicant’s request and expense, made available to the landlord directly or through a third-party website, at no cost to the landlord. It must include the applicant’s name, contact information, verification of employment, last known address and the results of an eviction history check, and it must prominently state the date through which its information is current.

You decide whether to accept these reports at all; section 1950.1(h) says you are not required to. But if you do accept them and an applicant provides one, you may not charge that applicant a fee to access it or an application screening fee. You may require the applicant to state that there has been no material change to the information in the report. Section 1950.1(g) also provides that where a city or county policy conflicts with the section, the one more protective of applicants applies, so check local rules before you write a policy.

If you accept reusable reports, put that in your written criteria, and apply it the same way to everyone.

Applicants with a government rent subsidy

Government Code section 12955(o) adds two rules where an applicant has a government rent subsidy, such as a Housing Choice Voucher:

• Any financial or income standard must be based on the portion of the rent the tenant will pay, not the full contract rent.
• If you use credit history in the application process, you must offer the applicant the option, at the applicant’s discretion, of providing lawful, verifiable alternative evidence of a reasonable ability to pay the tenant’s portion, such as government benefit payments, pay records and bank statements. If the applicant chooses that route, you must give a reasonable time to respond and reasonably consider the alternative evidence in place of credit history.

The same subdivision confirms you may still verify employment, ask for landlord references and verify identity. Building this option into your written criteria from the start is simpler than adding it applicant by applicant. Our Section 8 voucher guide covers the rest of the voucher process.

If you turn someone down because of the credit report

The fee rules sit next to a separate notice duty. Under Civil Code 1785.20(a), anyone who takes adverse action based in whole or in part on information in a consumer credit report must give the consumer written notice that includes the name, address and telephone number of the credit reporting agency that furnished the report; a statement that the decision was based in whole or in part on information in a credit report; and notice of the consumer’s right to a free copy of the report from that agency within 60 days and the right to dispute its accuracy or completeness. Federal law imposes a parallel adverse action requirement. Our tenant screening guide covers screening criteria and fair housing more broadly.

A checklist before you collect the first fee

1. Confirm a unit is available now or will be within a reasonable time.
2. Write your screening criteria and attach them to the application form.
3. Choose Option A (in order, first qualified approved) or Option B (refund everyone not selected) and state it in writing.
4. Set the fee at or below your actual screening cost plus the reasonable value of your time, and at or below the CPI-adjusted cap. Keep the calculation.
5. Decide whether you accept reusable tenant screening reports, and say so in the criteria.
6. Prepare an itemized receipt template showing out-of-pocket costs and time.
7. Track two dates for each applicant: when the credit report arrived (copy due within seven days) and, under Option B, the refund deadline.
8. Offer the alternative-evidence route to any applicant with a government rent subsidy.
9. Have an adverse action notice ready for any denial based on a credit report.

On the properties we manage, screening is part of leasing, which we quote separately from our flat fee management. For Culver City rentals, see our Culver City page for the city’s own tenant protections, which apply once the lease is signed.

Questions owners ask

Can I charge the cosigner a screening fee too?

Yes. Section 1950.6(j) includes a guarantor or cosigner in the definition of “applicant,” so the same limits, receipt, refund and credit report rules apply to that person’s fee.

What is the exact maximum fee for 2026?

The statute sets $30 and lets the landlord adjust it each year for increases in the Consumer Price Index since January 1, 1998, without naming the index. No single official 2026 figure is set by the statute, which is why published numbers differ. Use a documented calculation, and remember your actual cost may be the lower limit.

An applicant withdrew after paying. Do I keep the fee?

Under subdivision (e), if you had not yet run the reference check or credit report, return the unused portion. Under Option B, an applicant who is not selected gets the entire fee back whatever the reason. Under Option A, fees are not charged until an application is actually considered.

Do I have to accept a screening report the applicant already bought?

No. A landlord may accept an applicant’s own credit report but is not required to, and section 1950.1 does not require you to accept reusable tenant screening reports. If you do accept a reusable report, you may not charge that applicant a screening fee or an access fee.

Do these rules apply to my property manager?

Yes. Each duty in section 1950.6 is written for “the landlord or their agent.” If a manager collects fees for your property, the manager must follow the same limits, and it is worth confirming which option they use and how they track refunds.

Does section 1950.6 apply to commercial space?

No. It covers requests to rent residential property. A mixed-use building’s apartments are covered; its storefronts are not.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code sections 1950.6, 1950.1 and 1785.20, and Government Code section 12955(o), read from the text published by the California Legislature as reproduced at California.Public.Law; AB 2493 (Pellerin), Chapter 966, Statutes of 2024. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Fee amounts, CPI calculations and screening policies should be confirmed with a real estate attorney before you rely on them.