Beginning July 1, 2024, Assembly Bill (AB) 12 limits the amount landlords can
charge a tenant for a rental housing security deposit to one month’s rent for either
a furnished or unfurnished unit. Exempted from this limitation are landlords who 1)
are a natural person or limited liability company in which all members are natural
persons, and 2) who own no more than two residential rental properties that
collectively include no more than four dwelling units. Such landlords will be
allowed to charge deposits of two months’ rent, provided that the tenant is not a
service member. 

AB 225 requires, as existing resources permit or as private resources are made
available, that the next update of the Homeowners’ Guide to Environmental
Hazards booklet include information regarding wildfires, climate change, and sea
level rise. The bill requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to seek
the advice and assistance of the departments in the Natural Resources Agency in
updating the booklet. 

AB 572 prohibits homeowners associations that are originally formed on or after
January 1, 2025, from imposing a regular assessment against an owner of a deedrestricted affordable housing unit that is more than a five percent increase from the current regular
assessment, plus the percentage change in the cost of living, but not
exceeding ten percent. These provisions do not apply to a development 1) with 20
or fewer units or 2) where the percentage of deed-restricted affordable units exceeds that required
by a local inclusionary ordinance. This bill also does not apply to a development
built in an area without an inclusionary ordinance if either 1) the percentage of units that are deed-restricted affordable housing exceeds 10 percent or 2) for projects approved via AB 2011 (Wicks,
Chapter 647, Statutes of 2022) lowincome streamlining, the percentage of units that are deed-restricted affordable housing exceeds 15 percent of the units in the development. 

AB 648 authorizes a homeowners association to hold both board or member meetings entirely by
teleconference without any physical location, if certain conditions are met. A teleconference includes meetings held via electronic connection, through audio or video means. Meetings where ballots
are to be counted for the purposes of elections will still require a physical location.  

B 968 requires the seller of a singlefamily residential property to disclose work done on the property, if the seller obtained title of the property within the previous 18 months. Specifically, the law
requires the seller to provide information regarding all room additions, structural modifications, alterations, or repairs made to the property since obtaining title if they were performed
by a contractor. Only contracts totaling $500 or more are required to be reported. The name of each
contractor with whom the seller entered into a contract for the work and copies of permits must also be disclosed. This disclosure requirement applies on or after July 1, 2024

AB 1280 revises the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement that a seller of single-family residential property is required to provide a buyer. It now requires the statement to include whether the property is located within a high fire hazard severity zone, whereas previous law only required the
disclosure of a very high fire hazard severity zone. Additionally, the statement must indicate whether the property is located in a state  responsibility area or a local responsibility area. Responsibility areas
indicate who must provide fire protection.  

AB 1345 makes it unlawful for an exclusive listing agreement for the sale of a single-family residential property to last longer than 24 months and for renewals to last longer than 12 months.
For purposes of this measure, exclusive listing agreement also includes any agreement to enter into a
future one. In addition, the new law makes it unlawful to present an exclusive listing agreement for recording with a county recorder. Exclusive listing agreements lasting longer than 24 months are void and unenforceabl e and recordings of any exclusive listing agreement are void and enforceable. A violation of this new law will be considered a violation of a person’s licensing law, thereby
authorizing the Department of Real Estate to take action against a real estate
licensee’s professional license. 
 

B 1418 prohibits local governments from enacting nuisance ordinances and crimefree housing programs that impose penalties against tenants and landlords solely for
contact with a law enforcement agency. Also, local governments will not be allowed
to require or encourage landlords to perform criminal background checks on tenants
or applicants. This bill outlines how the measure may be enforced including a cease
and desist court order, nullification of the ordinance by a court, and injunctive relief,
among other remedies. 

AB 1458, if there is a lack of quorum at a meeting to count ballots for a homeowner’s
association board of director’s election, allows the board to call a subsequent
meeting at which the quorum required to elect directors will only be 20 percent of the
association’s members voting in person, by proxy, or by secret ballot.  

For multifamily housing, AB 1620 amends the Costa-Hawkins Rent Control Act
(Costa-Hawkins). It authorizes a local ordinance for rent-controlled units to allow a
tenant with a mobility-related disability to move to an accessible floor when a
comparable unit becomes available, and to keep the same rent as the existing lease.

Senate Bill (SB) 143 requires the Department of Real Estate (DRE) to create a
registration system that conforms with federal law permitting military
servicemembers and their spouses who are in California on military orders to practice
with a license from another state, territory, or district, if they meet certain
requirements. These requirements include: (a) having actively used their license
during the two years immediately preceding the relocation required by the military
orders; (b) providing DRE with a copy of the military orders showing the relocation to
California; (c) remaining in good standing with the licensing authority of each state,
district or territory that issued a license; and (d) submitting to DRE’s authority for the
purposes of standards of practice, discipline, and fulfillment of any continuing
education requirements. 

SB 267 prohibits housing providers, in instances where a prospective tenant has a
government rent subsidy, from requiring an applicant’s credit history as part of
the rental application if the provider does not also allow applicants to submit
lawful, verifiable alternative evidence of a reasonable ability to pay the portion of
rent for which the tenant will be responsible. If the applicant with a government
rent subsidy elects to provide such alternative evidence, the bill requires the
housing provider to 1) provide the applicant reasonable time to respond with the
alternative evidence and 2) consider that evidence in lieu of credit history.
Violations of these provisions are a violation of the Fair Employment and Housing
Act (FEHA).  

SB 455 requires a mortgage servicer, when transferring a mortgage to another
servicer, to transmit to this new mortgage servicer any written records regarding
the borrower’s decision to use insurance proceeds to repair or replace property
damaged during a proclaimed state or local emergency. This applies to
residential properties with up to four dwelling units or mobile homes. The bill also
requires the new servicer to honor a previous written agreement to repair the
property if approved by the prior servicer, borrower, and owner of the
promissory note.

Beginning April 1, 2024, SB 567 revises the no-fault just cause eviction provisions
of the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 and provides additional enforcement
mechanisms for all provisions of the Act, including for violations of restrictions on
residential rent increases and no-fault just cause evictions. New enforcement
mechanisms include injunctive relief, reasonable attorney’s fees, damages, the
possibility of triple damages and punitive damages, as well as legal enforcement
by the Attorney General and a city attorney or county counsel.

SB 712 prohibits a landlord from disallowing a tenant from owning personal
micromobility devices, or from storing and recharging up to one device per
person in the dwelling unit. Examples of these devices include electric bicycles
and electric scooters, among others. The bill also allows a landlord to
alternatively provide secure, long-term storage for tenants’ devices, and maintain
any prohibitions on tenants storing devices in their dwelling units. 

SB 887, among other provisions, allows the Department of Real Estate to accept
applications to the Consumer Recovery Account electronically, in a manner
prescribed by the department.