Sacramento – Assemblymember Matt Haney’s (D-San Francisco) AB 12, a bill to ban expensive security deposits, cleared its final legislative hurdle by passing out of the California State Senate with 21 votes and the Assembly with a final vote of 50 to 18.
AB 12 stops the practice of California landlords charging two times (and in some cases three times) the monthly rent as a security deposit. If this bill is signed into law, California will be the twelfth state in the country to limit security deposits to only one month’s rent.
“When renters can’t afford deposits they often have to borrow from predatory lenders, go into debt, or just stay put,” said Haney who chairs the Assembly Renters Caucus. “Landlords lose out on good tenants and tenants stay in apartments that are too crowded or have unsafe living conditions. Creating a rental deposit cap is a simple change that will have an enormous impact on housing affordability for families in California.”
AB 12 will not impact small landlords. Mom and pop landlords that own only 2 properties with a total of no more than 4 units will be exempt. It will also not have any effect on potential liability–landlords will still be able to seek damages from tenants who are responsible for harm to the property that exceeds the amount of the security deposit.
If the bill is signed by Governor Newsom, it will go into effect statewide by June of 2024.
- May 22 – Bill to Stop Skyrocketing Security Deposits Passes Out of Assembl
- Dec 9 – Bill Aims to Stop Landlords Charging Skyrocketing Security Deposits
Note – when Haney introduced the bill, he said the average rent for a two bedroom apartment in San Francisco is $5,000. That means that a tenant could be asked to pay up to $15,000 to move into an apartment. Security deposits are capped at one month’s rent in red and blue states across the country with states as varied as New York, Kansas, Hawaii, and Alabama.
2 comments
I get it and all; but a tenant can cause WAY more than 6K in damage when they don’t give a F about the place and trash it and the place has to be gutted. I saw this first hand when I was a kid and my dad rented out our house. Leonard was the guy’s name. He and his family absolutely trashed the place and the house had to be gutted. I remember because I was one of the laborers that had to do all the work. If people had respect for property and things and other people we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in; but we live in clown world now. Watch the movie Idiocracy. You’d think it was a comedy but it’s actually a documentary.
Punish landlords and reward tenants, makes sense. Why don’t they just force landlords to let tenants stay for free at this point?
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