California Landlord Maintenance and Repair Obligations

California landlords must hand over a rental that is fit to live in and repair any problem that later makes it unlivable, under Civil Code sections 1941 and 1941.1. The required list covers weatherproofing, plumbing, hot water, heat, electrical, sanitation, and, for leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026, a working stove and refrigerator. If you do not fix a covered problem within a reasonable time after the tenant tells you about it (30 days is presumed reasonable), the tenant can repair it and deduct the cost from rent, move out, or withhold rent. A tenant cannot waive these rights in the lease.

What must a California rental unit have?

Every residential lease in California carries an implied warranty of habitability, a duty the California Supreme Court recognized in Green v. Superior Court. Section 1941.1 treats a unit as untenantable (legally unfit to live in) if it substantially lacks any of these:

A unit is also untenantable if it has a substandard condition listed in the state Health and Safety Code, such as a structural hazard, a lead hazard, or visible mold that a health or code officer finds is more than surface mildew. The California Department of Real Estate's tenant guide adds the other items state law requires, including working smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors in units with a fireplace, an attached garage, or a heater or appliance that burns gas or another fossil fuel, deadbolts on entry doors, and window locks.

The warranty does not require a perfect or attractive unit. Minor code violations that do not affect health or safety do not breach it. Section 1941.1 lists heating but not air conditioning. SB 655 (2025) made it state policy that homes be able to keep a safe maximum indoor temperature and told state agencies to factor that into future standards, but it did not add cooling to the section 1941.1 list.

How does the 2026 stove and refrigerator rule work?

AB 628 added the stove and refrigerator to section 1941.1. It applies to leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026, so units you re-rent, renew, or amend now need both appliances.

• Recalls count as broken. A stove or refrigerator under a manufacturer or government recall does not meet the standard. You must repair or replace it within 30 days of receiving notice of the recall.
• The tenant may supply the refrigerator. You and the tenant can agree at signing that the tenant brings and maintains their own refrigerator. The lease must include the statute's checkbox statement and must let the tenant switch back with 30 days' written notice, after which you install a working refrigerator. You cannot make the tenant's own refrigerator a condition of renting, and you are not responsible for maintaining it. The statute gives this option only for the refrigerator, not the stove.
• Some housing is exempt. The appliance rule does not apply to permanent supportive housing, single-room occupancy units, residential hotel units, or units in a building with shared or communal kitchens, such as assisted living.

When are you not responsible for a repair?

Under section 1941.2, your repair duty does not arise if the tenant substantially fails to do any of the following and that failure substantially causes the problem or blocks your repair:

1. Keep their part of the unit clean and sanitary.
2. Dispose of garbage in a clean and sanitary way.
3. Use electrical, gas, and plumbing fixtures properly.
4. Not damage the unit, or let anyone else damage it.
5. Use rooms for their intended purpose, such as a bedroom for sleeping.

The tenant must also pay to repair damage caused by their own lack of ordinary care, or by their family, guests, or pets. For mold, the duty to repair starts when you have notice of the problem. Our article on handling mold in a rental covers the remediation steps.

A lease clause that waives the tenant's habitability rights is void under section 1942.1. You can agree that the tenant will handle some or all repairs in exchange for rent, but the Department of Real Estate guide says the rent reduction must be real, the tenant must be able to do the work, and you remain responsible for meeting state and local housing codes.

How fast must you make repairs, and what can the tenant do?

The tenant can give notice orally or in writing, to you or your agent. The law requires repair within a reasonable time. Under section 1942, a tenant who waits 30 days after notice is presumed to have waited long enough, and a shorter wait can be reasonable when the problem calls for it, such as no heat or a sewage backup. Plan to start urgent repairs right away and finish routine habitability repairs well inside 30 days.

If you do not act, the tenant has three main options:

1. Repair and deduct. The tenant makes or pays for the repair and deducts the cost from rent, if the cost is no more than one month's rent. A tenant paying $2,400 a month can deduct up to $2,400 for a single repair. The tenant can use this remedy no more than twice in any 12-month period, and not for damage the tenant caused.
2. Move out. The tenant can leave and owes no further rent from the move-out date.
3. Withhold rent. Based on Green, a tenant can stop paying some or all rent while serious defects stay unrepaired after notice and a reasonable time. The Department of Real Estate guide says most courts reduce rent by the share of the unit that is unusable. If one of four rooms is uninhabitable, a court might cut the rent by 25 percent, so a $2,400 rent becomes $1,800. Withholding disputes often reach court when the landlord files an eviction for nonpayment, and the judge usually sets a reduced rent the tenant must pay.

To enter for repairs, you generally must give the tenant written notice at least 24 hours ahead. Our California landlord entry rules explain how to serve it.

When does a code citation stop you from collecting rent?

Section 1942.4 bars you from demanding or collecting rent, raising rent, or serving a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit when all four of these are true:

1. The unit substantially lacks a section 1941.1 item, or a code official has declared it substandard to a degree that endangers occupants.
2. A housing inspector inspected the unit and notified you in writing to fix it.
3. The conditions remain uncorrected 35 days after the notice was served, without good cause. Service is complete when the notice is mailed.
4. The tenant did not cause the conditions.

A landlord who violates this section owes the tenant actual damages plus $100 to $5,000 in special damages, and the winning side recovers reasonable attorney fees. The tenant can sue in small claims court if the claim is within that court's limit. A court can also order the repairs and keep the case open until they are done.

If you receive a notice of violation, put the repair on the calendar to finish well before day 35, and keep the contractor's invoice and the inspector's sign-off.

What counts as retaliation after a repair complaint?

Under section 1942.5(a), if a tenant who is current on rent complains about habitability, you may not evict, force them out, raise rent, or reduce services within 180 days of the latest of these events:

• The tenant's repair notice, oral habitability complaint, or bed bug report to you.
• The tenant's complaint to a housing agency, if you know about it.
• An inspection or citation that resulted from an agency complaint you did not know about.
• The filing of a lawsuit or arbitration over habitability, or a judgment against you in it.

A tenant can use this 180-day protection once in any 12-month period. Subsection (d) separately prohibits retaliation for a tenant's lawful, peaceful exercise of legal rights without those timing limits; the tenant must produce evidence of retaliation. You can still act for a lawful reason, such as nonpayment or a lease violation, if your notice states the ground in good faith and you can prove it. Threatening to report a tenant to immigration authorities counts as retaliation. A landlord found to have retaliated owes actual damages, and if the conduct involved fraud, oppression, or malice, $100 to $2,000 in punitive damages for each retaliatory act. See our California eviction process guide before serving any notice to a tenant who recently complained.

What about repairs after a fire, flood, or other disaster?

Section 1941.8 applies after a disaster declared by the Governor or the President. You must remove disaster debris and address hazards such as smoke, ash, mold, asbestos, or water damage within a reasonable time, following government cleaning protocols. Debris is presumed to make the unit untenantable until a local public health official says it is not toxic. When you finish, notify the tenant in writing, at the address they gave you, that they can view and get copies of any environmental reports. You are not required to rebuild, but unless the tenancy ends lawfully, the tenant can return at the pre-disaster rent once it is safe. A tenant owes no rent for any period a mandatory evacuation order keeps them out. If that rent was already paid, you must refund it within 10 calendar days after the order is lifted, or the tenant may deduct it from the next month's rent.

For the general rules that apply in every state, see how much maintenance and repair the law requires.