California Now Requires Landlords to Provide a Refrigerator

For decades, California had an odd gap in its habitability law. A landlord had to provide heat, hot water, working plumbing, weatherproofing, and safe wiring — but not a refrigerator. In much of Southern California, "bring your own fridge" was simply how renting worked. Tenants bought their own, inherited a unit's leftover appliance, or hauled one in off Facebook Marketplace.

That era is over. As of January 1, 2026, Assembly Bill 628 makes a working refrigerator part of the minimum habitability standard for most California rental units. If you own rental property in Ventura County, the refrigerator is now an operating requirement, not an amenity decision.

Here's what actually changed, what it does and doesn't require, and what to do at your next lease renewal.

What the law actually says

AB 628 amended California Civil Code §1941.1, the statute that defines when a dwelling is legally "untenantable." It added a refrigerator in good working order, capable of safely storing food, to the existing list of habitability characteristics — Civil Code §1941.1(a)(11).

In plain terms: a unit that lacks a working refrigerator can now be deemed legally uninhabitable, the same category as a unit with no heat or no running water. The landlord provides the appliance and is responsible for keeping it in working order.

The trigger date matters more than the effective date

This is the single most misunderstood part of AB 628, and the part most relevant to your portfolio.

The law does not require you to install a refrigerator in every occupied unit on January 1, 2026. Instead, it attaches to a lease entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026. An existing fixed-term lease that simply continues unchanged is not immediately affected — the obligation kicks in the next time that agreement is signed, renewed, amended, or extended.

What counts as a trigger:

• A new lease with a new tenant
• A renewal or extension of an existing lease
• An amendment to an existing lease — and yes, a renewal addendum or rent increase addendum can count as an amendment

For month-to-month tenancies, the practical effect is faster: because those arrangements renew continuously, compliance is effectively required from January 2026 forward.

Field note for owners: if you have a lease expiring in late 2025 or any renewal pipeline in early 2026, treat that paperwork as your compliance trigger. Don't wait for a tenant complaint to find out a unit is non-compliant.

The refrigerator opt-out

AB 628 builds in one piece of flexibility.

A tenant and landlord may mutually agree, at the time the lease is signed, that the tenant will provide and maintain their own refrigerator. To use this route, the statute requires specific conditions:

• The agreement must be made at lease signing — not mid-tenancy.
• The lease must include the statutory disclosure language informing the tenant that the landlord is otherwise required to provide a refrigerator and that the tenant is choosing to supply their own.
• The landlord cannot require a tenant to bring their own refrigerator. It has to be the tenant's voluntary choice.
• Once a tenant supplies their own fridge, the landlord is not responsible for maintaining it.

There's an important back-end to this. A tenant who opted to supply their own refrigerator can later change their mind. If they notify the landlord that they no longer want to keep their own fridge in the unit, that notice triggers a 30-day window for the landlord to provide one. So an opt-out is never permanent — it's a deferral that the tenant controls.

Manufacturer recalls: a 30-day clock

AB 628 also ties safety recalls directly to habitability. If a refrigerator you provided becomes subject to a manufacturer or government recall, you must repair or replace it within 30 days of receiving notice of the recall. An un-remediated recalled appliance is treated as non-compliant — which means it can support a habitability claim.

Practical implication: if you buy secondhand appliances to control cost, recall tracking gets harder, because the manufacturer has no record that you own the unit. Keep brand, model, and serial number on file for every refrigerator so you can respond quickly.

Which units are exempt

AB 628 carves out specific housing types under Civil Code §1941.1(b). The requirement does not apply to:

• Permanent supportive housing
• Single-room occupancy (SRO) units providing living and sleeping space exclusively for the occupant, including those with shared kitchen facilities
• Units in residential hotels (as defined in Health & Safety Code §50519(b)(1))
• Dwelling units within housing facilities offering shared or communal kitchens, including assisted living facilities

Short-term and vacation rentals also sit outside the standard residential-lease framework this law governs. For the typical Ventura County single-family home, condo, or standard apartment, none of these exemptions apply — your units are covered.

What about raising rent to cover the cost?

AB 628 does not, by itself, authorize a rent increase to offset the appliance. Any rent adjustment still has to comply with the rules that already govern your property — the California Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482) rent cap where applicable, Costa-Hawkins, and any local ordinance. You cannot use "I had to buy a fridge" as a standalone justification to exceed your lawful cap, and you cannot substitute a rent discount for the appliance. A covered unit must include the working refrigerator, provided and maintained by you.

A practical checklist for your next renewal cycle

1. Inventory every unit. Confirm each has a working refrigerator, and document condition at move-in or renewal.
2. Update your lease templates. Any lease signed, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026, should either confirm the landlord provides the refrigerator or — only where the tenant chooses it — include the compliant opt-out language.
3. Budget for replacements. Treat the refrigerator like a core building system with a realistic replacement reserve, not a surprise expense.
4. Track recalls. Keep make, model, and serial number for each refrigerator and build a 30-day repair/replace response into your maintenance workflow.
5. Watch your renewal pipeline. Units turning or renewing in early 2026 are your first compliance points — handle those first.

Where this lands for owners

For most Ventura County owners we work with, AB 628 isn't a crisis — most standard rentals here already come fully equipped. The real exposure is procedural: a renewal addendum that quietly triggers the requirement, a recalled appliance left in place too long, or a "tenant brings their own fridge" arrangement that wasn't papered correctly at signing. Those are the failure points that turn a routine appliance into a habitability claim.

If you'd like us to review your lease templates for AB 628 compliance or walk your portfolio before your next renewal cycle, that's exactly the kind of operational detail we manage day to day.

County Property Management has managed single-family and condo rentals across Ventura County since 1986. This article is general information, not legal advice; for guidance on a specific lease or unit, consult a qualified California landlord-tenant attorney. Statutory reference: California Civil Code §1941.1(a)(11) and (b), as amended by AB 628 (McKinnor), effective January 1, 2026.