New California law requires refrigerator and stove for all apartments

from Nadia LathanCalMatters

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The refrigerator-free apartments that dot California’s expensive rental market will soon be a dizzying relic.

Starting Jan. 1, landlords will be required to provide all apartments with a working stove and refrigerator thanks to a new state law.

It marks the end of an unusual, decades-long phenomenon, mostly in the Los Angeles area, where some tenants had to buy their own appliances after signing a lease.

the law Assembly Bill 628takes effect Thursday, and of the many housing reform measures passed by the Legislature in 2025, is one of the most unusual.

The MP, a working stove and a refrigerator are not luxuries Tina McKinnerDemocrat from Inglewood, said in a statement earlier this year after introducing the bill. “They are a necessary part of modern life.”

California has the fewest available apartments with refrigerators in the country, according to a 2022 report. Los Angeles Times which was cited in the bill. There’s no clear reason why, and the mysterious trend is largely confined to the Los Angeles and Orange regions.

Most renters don’t need to buy their own bulky appliances. But before that, California law only required plumbing, heating and some other utilities. Apartments without basic appliances will now be illegal, unless they are part of housing with shared kitchens, studios or hotels.

Tenant advocacy groups say the law would help lower housing costs for low-income residents, who must pay for a refrigerator — which can easily run into the hundreds of dollars — in addition to the first month’s rent and security deposit before they move in.

“Having the extra expense of trying to buy a refrigerator and a stove is really economically unfeasible for a lot of renters,” said Larry Gross, executive director of the Los Angeles housing advocacy group Coalition for Economic Survival.

Realtor groups said it would spur burdensome litigation for mum and dad landlords.

The requirement “will result in a greater burden on the courts and a drastic reduction in the supply of rental housing in the state,” Bernice Krieger, a lobbyist for the California Association of Realtors, said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this year.

Implementation will depend on local authorities. In Los Angeles, residents will be able to file a complaint with the city’s housing department if a landlord refuses to provide cooking and refrigeration equipment.

Renters can still bring their own fridge and stove if they wish, but will be on the hook for maintenance if they do.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.