8 Things California Law Requires a Landlord to Provide, Whether or Not the Lease Says So

Renting is stressful enough without wondering what your landlord owes you.

State law sets a floor for what a landlord has to provide, and it applies even when your lease never mentions it.

Here are the things a California landlord has to provide, from the day you move in to the day you move out.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Rental rules are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the California Attorney General’s office.

1. Lease Translation

If you and a landlord negotiate a lease mainly in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean, the landlord has to give you a translation of it.

The translation has to reach you before you sign.

The rule covers any residential lease or rental agreement that runs longer than one month.

A clause that waives the translation requirement is void and unenforceable under Civil Code 1632.

The rule doesn’t apply if you negotiate through an interpreter you bring.

That interpreter has to be an adult who speaks fluently and reads with full understanding both English and the language you’re negotiating in.

The interpreter also can’t be employed by the business or made available through it.

2. Working Stove

On or after January 1, 2026, a landlord who signs, amends or extends a lease with you has to provide a stove in good working order.

The stove has to be able to generate heat for cooking safely.

A stove that a manufacturer or a public agency has recalled doesn’t count as safe.

If you report a recalled stove, your landlord has 30 days to repair or replace it.

The rule exempts permanent supportive housing, single-room occupancy units, residential hotels and units in buildings with shared or communal kitchens, including assisted living.

Unlike the refrigerator, the stove rule has no tenant-provided option.

Under Civil Code 1941.1, a home is untenantable when it substantially lacks any item on the statute’s list, including a working stove.

Under Civil Code 1942.1, a lease clause that waives your rights over an untenantable condition is void, with two exceptions covered in the box below.

3. Hot and Cold Running Water

Hot and cold running water is something a landlord has to provide, and a home that substantially lacks it is untenantable.

That water has to reach the appropriate fixtures in your home and connect to an approved sewage system.

If your landlord controls the system that supplies your water, that system has to produce hot and cold running water.

Under Civil Code 1942.1, a lease clause that waives these rights is void when the problem makes your home untenantable.

4. Working Heat

A landlord has to provide heating facilities in good working order, and a home that substantially lacks them is untenantable.

Those heating facilities have to have met the law that applied when they were installed.

Civil Code 1942.1 voids a lease clause that waives your right to heat when the loss leaves your home untenantable.

5. Trash Bins

A landlord has to provide an adequate number of trash bins, which the law calls receptacles for garbage and rubbish.

They have to be clean and in good repair when your lease begins.

After that, your landlord has to supply serviceable bins and keep every bin under their control clean and in good repair.

A home that substantially lacks adequate bins is untenantable, so a lease clause waiving this rule is void under Civil Code 1942.1.

6. Itemized Deposit Statement

A landlord has 21 calendar days after you move out to give you an itemized statement of what happened to your security deposit.

Weekends count.

The statement has to show how much your deposit was and what your landlord did with it.

Unless the repair and cleaning deductions total $125 or less, copies of the documents showing those charges have to come with the statement.

Above that amount, your landlord also has to send photographs and a written explanation of the cost.

For tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2025, your landlord had to photograph the unit at the start.

Civil Code 1953 voids a lease clause that waives your rights under Civil Code 1950.5.

7. Move-Out Inspection Notice

Before you move out, a landlord has to notify you in writing of your option to request an initial inspection.

That notice has to say you can be there.

If you ask, the inspection happens no earlier than two weeks before your tenancy or lease ends.

Afterward, your landlord has to give you an itemized statement of the repairs or cleanings that could become deductions.

You get at least 48 hours’ written notice of the date and time, unless you both sign a written waiver of that notice.

If you don’t request an inspection, your landlord’s inspection duties end.

Civil Code 1953 voids a lease clause that waives your right to this notice and inspection.

8. Written Entry Notice

A landlord has to give you reasonable written notice before entering your home, and the notice has to include the date, approximate time and purpose of the entry.

Twenty-four hours is presumed to be reasonable notice.

A notice mailed at least six days before the entry is presumed reasonable too.

A landlord can skip the notice in an emergency, if you’re present and consent to the entry, or after you’ve abandoned or surrendered the home.

Your landlord can’t enter outside normal business hours unless you consent at the time of entry, with exceptions for emergencies and for abandoned or surrendered homes.

Civil Code 1953 voids a lease clause that waives your rights under Civil Code 1954.

Refrigerator Exception

Refrigerators are the one item where Civil Code 1941.1 itself lets a lease change the landlord’s duty.

A landlord has to provide a refrigerator in good working order that can safely store food.

The refrigerator rule, like the stove rule, applies to leases signed, amended or extended on or after January 1, 2026.

You and your landlord can agree when you sign the lease that you’ll bring and maintain your refrigerator.

The lease has to say, in substantially the form the law sets, that you asked to bring a refrigerator and that you’re responsible for keeping it in working order.

Your landlord can’t make bringing a refrigerator a condition of renting to you.

With 30 days’ written notice, you can tell your landlord you no longer want to keep a refrigerator in the unit.

At the end of that notice period, your landlord has to install a refrigerator in good working order.