We Managed Ventura County Rentals Through Thomas and Mountain. SB 610 Changes the Next Fire.

Fire is not a hypothetical in Ventura County. Through the Thomas Fire and the Mountain Fire, we placed tenants who lost their previous homes to the flames — families arriving at a showing with everything they own in the car. And we've managed the quieter aftermath: a family in a burn area whose unit survived untouched except for the smoke smell. New filters and a carpet cleaning handled the odor. It didn't handle what the family was actually dealing with. The unit was habitable. Their sense of safety in it wasn't — and no vendor invoice fixes that.

Starting January 1, 2026, SB 610 wrote the aftermath into law. If you own rental property anywhere fire can reach — which in this county is everywhere — here's what changed.

Guilty Until Proven Habitable

The sharpest tooth in SB 610 is a presumption: a rental unit affected by disaster debris is presumed not habitable. Ash, smoke residue, contamination — the burden isn't on the tenant to prove the unit is unsafe. It's on you to prove it's safe.

If that pattern sounds familiar, it should. AB 2801 shifted the burden of proof on deposits. SB 610 shifts it on habitability. Sacramento's direction of travel is consistent: in any dispute, the default now runs against the owner, and documentation is the only way back.

The Obligations Timeline

The evacuation order drops. Rent stops. So do all other fees — for the duration of a mandatory evacuation, whether or not your unit ultimately burns. A standing unit inside an evacuation zone produces zero income by operation of law.

The fire passes. Debris removal is your job, on your dime. Smoke, ash, and disaster debris are the owner's responsibility to remediate — not a condition the tenant lives with while you work out whose problem it is.

The unit is uninhabitable. Prepaid rent and the security deposit go back. The tenant can also terminate the lease without penalty — displaced families aren't locked into paying for homes they can't occupy.

The repairs finish. You notify the tenant the unit is habitable again, and the tenant holds a right to return. You can't quietly re-lease a remediated unit to someone new at a higher rent.

Document each step the way AB 2801 taught you: photos, dated notices, remediation invoices. The presumption against you is rebuttable — but only with a file.

The Rent Stops. Does Your Income?

Here's the question to put to your insurance agent before fire season, not after: does your loss-of-rents coverage pay when a civil-authority evacuation stops the rent but the property itself is undamaged?

Many policies tie loss-of-rents to direct physical damage. A mandatory evacuation with no damage — now a guaranteed income interruption under SB 610 — may fall outside it, or inside a civil-authority extension measured in days, not months. I'm not your insurance advisor and policies vary widely; that's exactly why the call is worth making. Fifteen minutes with your agent now beats discovering the gap while your unit sits empty and legally rent-free.

Tenants: Your Policy Has a Piece of This Too

Renters insurance typically includes loss-of-use coverage — additional living expenses if a covered event makes the unit unlivable. For a displaced family, that can mean a hotel or short-term rental while remediation runs its course, instead of couch-surfing through the worst weeks of their lives. Coverage terms and evacuation provisions vary by policy, so tenants should ask their own agent the mirror-image question: what does this policy do for me the day I can't go home?

We've watched what displacement does to families. The family in that smoke-damaged unit didn't need a habitability lawyer — they needed the ability to breathe somewhere else for a while. A renters policy is often the cheapest version of that option they'll ever buy.

The File We Already Keep

SB 610 compliance is a documentation discipline: evacuation dates, rent abatement math, debris remediation records, habitability notices, return-rights letters. At County Property Management we keep that file as a matter of course, on every door, because in this county the question was never whether there'd be another fire. After four decades here, I can tell you the owners who came through past fires cleanest weren't the luckiest ones. They were the ones whose paperwork was done before the smoke showed up.

This article is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Consult your attorney, CPA, or insurance professional about your specific situation.