BRHC Coalition Corner (February 2025)
The Coalition Corner
Krista Gulbransen, BRHC Executive Director
From a public policy perspective, there are several changes to the law both locally and state-wide. Some of the new state laws went into effect on January 1 and others will be introduced over the course of the first half of the year. Either way, ignorance of the law is no excuse so sharpen your pencil and let’s take some notes!
AB 2493: Rental Application Fees
This law went into effect on January 1, 2025, and adds conditions to those who charge and/or take
rental application/screening fees from prospective tenants. It prohibits rental housing providers from
taking multiple application/screening fees without a more “equitable” process for choosing applicants. It
permits a landlord to charge an applicant an application fee only if the landlord offers an
application screening process that considers applications in the order in which they are received, [OR] an application screening process in which the rental housing provider or their agent returns the entire screening fee to any appli- cant who was not selected for tenancy, regardless of the reason. The return of the fee must be given within 7 days of selecting the final applicant or within 30 days of when the application fee was submitted, whichever occurs first. This law applies to all rental housing providers who take an application fee. If you do not choose to take or charge an applicant a fee, then the law does not apply.
AB 2747: Positive Rental Credit Reporting
This law will go into effect on April 1, 2025, and only applies to certain rental housing providers. It requires
specific landlords to offer each tenant obligated on a lease the option to have positive rental payment information reported to at least one nationwide consumer reporting agency. It’s applicable for owners who have one building that is comprised of more than 15 units OR owners with rental properties that are in a
corporation or an LLC where one of the members of the LLC is a corporation (regardless of the building size).
For leases entered on or after April 1, 2025, the offer to report a positive rental payment must be made at the time of the lease agreement and at least once annually thereafter. For leases outstanding as of January 1, 2025, the offer to report a positive rental payment must be made to the resident no later than April 1, 2025, and at least once annually thereafter. A rental housing provider may charge a tenant the lesser of $10 per month or the actual cost to the housing provider to provide the service, unless the landlord does not incur any actual cost to reporting the positive rental payment. This is only for reporting on-time positive rental payments in which the tenant has opted into the reporting process.
AB 2801: Security Deposits Additional Regulations
In 2024, the security deposit law was rewritten to limit the amount in which certain rental owners could take for security deposit on a rental unit. The most recent modifications to the law refer to the process in which owners document and make repairs in anticipation of the return of the security deposit.
This law specifies that claims made by a rental housing provider for security deposit deductions must be limited to a reasonable amount necessary to restore the premises back to the condition it was in before the tenancy, less standard wear and tear. It requires that owners must take photographs of the unit within a reasonable time after the possession of the unit is returned to the rental housing provider, but before any repairs or cleaning that will be deducted from the security deposit are made. Owners must also take photographs/videos within a reasonable time after the repairs or cleaning have been completed and provide them to the former tenant.
The law will be a two-part phase-in. The first part of the law takes effect starting April 1, 2025,
and will require the rental housing provider to take the photographs/video within a reasonable time
after the tenant has vacated the unit and before and after repairs. Starting July 1, 2025, rental housing providers must take photographs/videos of the leased unit immediately before or right at the inception of the tenancy.
This law applies to all who provide residential rental housing.
The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition is the political and legal arm of the BPOA. We fight against unbalanced, unfair, and poorly thought-out rental housing policy. To support this work, please consider upgrading your membership. The BHRC employs the feet-on-the-ground who hold the elected officials’ feet to the fire. To lend your support, contact Executive Director Krista Gulbransen, krista@bpoa.org or call (510) 304-3575.