If it feels like California passes new renter protections every year, that’s because it does. The 2026 batch is squarely tenant-friendly: it fills some long-standing gaps (yes, your kitchen should actually work) and responds to hard lessons from recent wildfires. Here are the four changes most likely to matter to you.
AB 628 — a working stove and refrigerator are now required. SB 610 — stronger protections when a disaster forces you out. AB 414 — faster, electronic security deposit refunds. AB 246 — an eviction safety net if your Social Security is disrupted.
1. Your Rental Must Have a Working Stove and Fridge (AB 628)
It sounds basic, but until now California law didn’t clearly require landlords to provide major kitchen appliances. AB 628 closes that gap: as of 2026, a working stove and refrigerator are part of what makes a unit legally habitable, with only narrow exceptions (for example, a written agreement where you choose to supply your own).
There’s a safety piece too — if an appliance is subject to a recall, the landlord must repair or replace it within 30 days of getting the recall notice. The rule applies as leases are signed, renewed, or amended on or after January 1, 2026. If your landlord won’t fix or provide these basics, it’s now a habitability problem. Learn more about habitability violations.
2. Real Protections When Disaster Strikes (SB 610)
After the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, tenants and landlords clashed over who pays for cleanup, what happens to rent, and whether renters could come back. SB 610 answers those questions in renters’ favor. When a disaster hits a covered rental, the law generally provides that:
- Rent stops during a mandatory evacuation. If a government order legally bars you from your home, your obligation to pay rent is paused for as long as you can’t live there.
- Cleanup is the landlord’s job — including smoke residue and odor, ash, mold, asbestos, and water damage caused by the disaster.
- You get your money back if the unit becomes uninhabitable — prepaid rent and your deposit are returned.
- You can return at your old rent. Once the unit is safe again, you have the right to come back at the same rate — a landlord can’t use a disaster to reset your rent to market.
- You can walk away penalty-free from a lease on a unit that’s no longer livable.
This is one of the most significant tenant protections in years. If a landlord tries to charge rent during an evacuation or pushes you out after a disaster, those moves may now be unlawful. Related reading: failure to repair and illegal rent and overcharges.
3. Faster, Electronic Deposit Refunds (AB 414)
If you paid your security deposit electronically — ACH, a payment portal, or a digital transfer — AB 414 now makes an electronic refund the default. Your landlord has to return the deposit the same way, unless you both agree in writing to a paper check instead. No more waiting on a check that “got lost in the mail.”
What didn’t change: the landlord still has 21 calendar days to return your deposit or send an itemized statement of deductions. For the full rundown, see our guide to the 21-day deposit-return rule and our overview of security deposit disputes.
4. A Safety Net If Your Social Security Is Disrupted (AB 246)
The Social Security Tenant Protection Act (AB 246) helps renters who rely on Social Security when a government-caused interruption in their benefits leaves them unable to pay rent. In that situation, you can ask the court to pause a nonpayment eviction for up to six months while your benefits are restored.
One honest caveat: this is a delay, not forgiveness. You still owe the rent once your benefits resume — but the breathing room can be the difference between keeping your home and losing it over a problem you didn’t cause. If you’re facing an eviction notice, learn more about wrongful eviction and your defenses.
What Hasn’t Changed (and Still Protects You)
New laws grab the headlines, but the bedrock protections from recent years are all still firmly in place:
- Security deposits are capped at one month’s rent, with no “nonrefundable” fees.
- Rent increases on covered units are still capped at 5% plus inflation, never more than 10% a year.
- Most tenants still get just-cause protection after 12 months, with relocation pay for no-fault evictions.
- Illegal lockouts, utility shutoffs, retaliation, and discrimination remain flatly prohibited.
New to all of this? Start with our overview of California tenant rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Four stand out: AB 628 (a working stove and refrigerator are required), SB 610 (disaster protections, including pausing rent during a mandatory evacuation), AB 414 (electronic security deposit refunds by default), and AB 246 (a delay on nonpayment evictions when Social Security benefits are disrupted).
Generally yes. Under AB 628, a working stove and refrigerator are part of a habitable unit as of 2026, with narrow exceptions (like a written agreement where you supply your own). Landlords also must repair or replace a recalled appliance within 30 days. It applies as leases are signed, renewed, or amended on or after January 1, 2026.
Under SB 610, if a mandatory evacuation order bars you from your unit, your rent obligation is paused while you legally can’t live there. The landlord handles disaster cleanup, must refund prepaid rent and your deposit if the unit is uninhabitable, and must let you return at your original rent once it’s safe — no resetting to market rate.
Only in some cases. Under AB 414, if you paid your deposit electronically, the landlord must refund it electronically unless you both agree in writing to another method. The 21-day deadline and itemized-statement rules still apply.
AB 246 gives you a defense. If a government-caused disruption in your Social Security benefits keeps you from paying, you can ask the court to pause a nonpayment eviction for up to six months while benefits are restored. It’s a delay, not forgiveness — you still owe the rent once benefits resume.
We’ll tell you where you stand — free.
If your landlord won’t fix a broken appliance, charged rent during an evacuation, or tried to push you out, the law may be more on your side than you think. Reviews are free, and many tenant-protection laws shift the landlord’s legal fees onto them.
Get Your Free Case ReviewThis guide is general information about California law, not legal advice, and it doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. New laws can have exceptions and details that matter to your situation — for advice about your specific circumstances, talk to a tenant attorney licensed in California.