Several new California housing laws in 2025 are set to impact property owners and renters statewide—covering everything from rent reporting and security deposits to HOA responsibilities and accessory dwelling units.
The below article was supplied by the Small Property Owners Association of San Francisco and contains some laws that came or will come into effect this year. Please familiarize yourself with these.
AB 2801 – [Effective April 1 and July 1, 2025]
AB 2801aims to enhance transparency and fairness in the rental relationship. Effective July 1, 2025, the legislation will ensure that tenants have clear evidence of any issues leading to security deposit deductions.
One of its goals is to prevent arbitrary or unjustified charges. To achieve this end, effective
April 1, 2025, AB 2801 requires rental property owners to take photos of the rental unit before or at the start of the tenancy.
AB 2747 – [Effective April 1, 2025]
Credit scores are designed to reflect the good and the bad of a person’s financial history. Millions of renters around the state are paying their rent on time, yet never see a positive impact on their credit scores. AB 2747 requires owners to allow renters to opt into positive rent reporting for their credit scores but does not impact small property owners since it only applies to buildings with more than 15 units.
SB 611 – [Effective April 1, 2025]
SB 611 changes three things that owners need to be aware of:
- Bans owners from charging tenants for termination notices such as 3-day pay or quit notices,
- Requires owners to allow tenants to pay rent and security deposits by at least one form other than cash or electronic funds transfer.
- Addresses owners who require more than one times the rent for security in any form for military service members.
SB 900 – [In effect as of January 1, 2025]
In 2023, a gas outage in the City of Orange left nearly 600 residents in a Homeowners Association (HOA) without natural gas for a period of four months. The situation was not just dire, it was a health crisis.
The inability to prepare hot meals and bathe properly led to severe health issues. The severity of the situation highlighted the conditions of the affected residents and emphasized the urgent need for change.
SB 900 would make the HOA responsible for managing the common interest development and for any repairs and replacements relating to the interruption of gas, heat, water, or electrical services that begin in the common areas, even if the matter extends into another area. The HOA would be required to complete those repairs within 30 days.
(A common interest development is the umbrella term used in California for commercial and residential developments with common areas.)
SB 1211 – [In effect as of January 1, 2025]
SB 1211 increases the current restriction on the number of ADUs on a multifamily lot that can be detached from two to eight, depending on the existing number of multifamily units on the site. It also prohibits local governments from requiring replacement of surface parking spaces when
existing parking is repurposed for ADUs.
SB 1037 – [In effect as of January 1, 2025]
SB 1037 explicitly seeks to help address the statewide housing shortage by addressing local governments’ “delay and, at times even refusal, to undertake required actions to encourage, promote, and facilitate the development of housing.”
Currently, if a municipality fails to adhere to the state’s housing laws, the Attorney General must file a lawsuit, and only after a judge rules a municipality is out of compliance with the housing laws can the Attorney General seek civil penalties against the municipality, which do not begin to accrue until 60 days after the judge’s ruling.
By design, this was to allow local governments sufficient time to comply before any monetary penalties are issued. SB 1037 will allow the Attorney General to seek penalties starting on the date the housing law violation began, resulting in a stronger disincentive for local municipalities to flout state housing requirements.
Reprinted with permission of the Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute (SPOSFI) News. For more information on becoming a member of SPOSFI or to send a tax-deductible donation, please visit their website at www.smallprop.org or call (415) 647-2419.