Updated August 2026 | Scott Engle, Broker DRE #01332676, Corp DRE #02075336 | Realty Management Group | Managing San Diego County rentals since 2005
Since January 1, 2026, a working stove and refrigerator have been part of California's legal definition of a habitable rental. AB 628 added them to Civil Code §1941.1, which means a unit without them is not merely poorly equipped — it is untenantable, and the tenant has remedies.
The requirement is narrower than most summaries suggest, and the part that catches owners out is not the appliances themselves. It is when the obligation attaches. AB 628 applies to leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026 — so an existing month-to-month tenancy was not swept in automatically on that date, but a routine rent increase can pull it in.
This page covers what the statute requires, exactly when it attaches, who is exempt, what happens if a unit falls short, and the operational decisions worth making before your next renewal cycle.
Quick Answer
What does AB 628 require? A working stove and a working refrigerator, both maintained in good order, in any California residential lease entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026. The stove must safely produce heat for cooking; the refrigerator must safely store food. The law amends Civil Code §1941.1, the statute defining habitability.
Do the appliances have to be new? No. There is no age limit. An earlier draft of the bill proposed one and it did not survive. A working ten-year-old refrigerator satisfies the requirement; a broken one from last year does not.
Did it apply to every unit on January 1, 2026? No, and this is the most commonly misreported part. It attaches when a lease is entered into, amended, or extended on or after that date. An existing month-to-month tenancy was not automatically covered — but a change of terms after January 1, including a rent increase, can trigger it.
Can the tenant supply their own? Yes. A tenant may choose to provide their own refrigerator, and where they do, the landlord is not responsible for maintaining or replacing it. That arrangement should be documented in the lease rather than assumed.
What happens if a unit does not comply? The unit is treated as untenantable under §1941.1. That opens the standard habitability remedies: repair-and-deduct up to one month's rent under Civil Code §1942, rent withholding, and in serious cases lease termination without penalty.
AB 628 amends California Civil Code §1941.1, effective January 1, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
The trap: a rent increase is a change of terms. If you have month-to-month tenancies in units without a stove or refrigerator, serving a rent increase can bring the unit under AB 628 at the moment the new terms take effect. Audit appliance status before you serve the notice, not after.
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We'll tell you which ones the notice would pull under AB 628.
TL;DR
- Working stove and refrigerator required, effective January 1, 2026
- Attaches on leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after that date — not automatically on all existing tenancies
- A rent increase counts as a change of terms and can trigger it
- No age requirement — the appliances must work, not be new
- Tenant may supply their own refrigerator; document it in the lease
- Recalled appliances must be repaired or replaced within 30 days of notice
- Non-compliance makes the unit untenantable under Civil Code §1941.1
- Exempt: units with shared or communal kitchens, certain supportive housing, and single-room occupancy units
What the Statute Actually Requires
AB 628 did not create a new penalty scheme or a registration requirement. It did something simpler and more consequential: it added two items to the list of conditions that make a dwelling legally habitable.
Civil Code §1941.1 already enumerated effective waterproofing, working plumbing, functioning heating, adequate electrical lighting, and safe floors and stairways. A stove and refrigerator now sit on that same list. That is why the consequences are the standard habitability remedies rather than a fine — the enforcement mechanism was already built.
The stove. Must be capable of safely generating heat for cooking. No brand, fuel type, or age is specified. A functioning gas range and a functioning electric cooktop both satisfy it.
The refrigerator. Must be capable of safely storing food at appropriate temperature. Again, no age or model requirement.
Maintained in good working order. This is the part that keeps applying after move-in. Supplying an appliance is not a one-time act — a landlord-supplied appliance that fails during the tenancy becomes a habitability issue, not a courtesy repair.
Recalled appliances. If a supplied stove or refrigerator is subject to a manufacturer recall, it must be repaired or replaced within 30 days of the landlord receiving notice of the recall. This is a specific deadline in an area where the general standard is otherwise "reasonable time," which makes it unusually easy to miss and unusually easy to prove.
Tenant-supplied appliances. A tenant may elect to provide their own refrigerator. Where they do, the maintenance and replacement obligation does not transfer to the landlord. Put the arrangement in writing — who supplied what, and who is responsible — because at move-out the question becomes whose appliance it was.
When the Obligation Attaches
| Situation | Covered by AB 628? |
|---|---|
| New lease signed on or after January 1, 2026 | Yes |
| Fixed-term lease renewed or extended on or after January 1, 2026 | Yes |
| Existing lease amended on or after January 1, 2026 | Yes — an amendment is a trigger |
| Month-to-month tenancy, untouched since before January 1, 2026 | Not automatically |
| Month-to-month tenancy served a rent increase after January 1, 2026 | Likely yes — a change of terms is an amendment |
| Fixed-term lease signed in 2025, still running, untouched | Not until it renews, extends, or is amended |
The practical consequence is a sequencing problem, not a purchasing problem. If you own units without appliances and you are planning renewals or increases, the appliance decision has to come before the notice — because the notice is what creates the obligation.
The San Diego County AB 1482 rent cap is currently 8.2% for August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027. If you are planning to take that increase on a month-to-month tenancy in a unit without a stove or refrigerator, understand that the increase itself may bring the unit under AB 628. See our San Diego rent increase guide for the notice requirements.
We source, deliver, and install the appliances.
Not just a note on a statement telling you to handle it. Realty Management Group audits appliance status across your units, sources the replacements, coordinates delivery and installation, and documents the whole thing for the file — at vendor cost, with no markup on the invoice. Included in the flat $199/month.
Audit My Units Free Call (619) 456-0000Who Is Exempt
Three categories of housing sit outside the requirement:
- Units with shared or communal kitchens — where cooking and food storage facilities are provided in a common area rather than in the unit
- Certain supportive housing — where the housing model itself provides food service or communal facilities
- Single-room occupancy (SRO) units
If you own a property with a shared kitchen and believe you are exempt, document the shared facility and its condition. An exemption you can demonstrate is worth considerably more than one you assert, and shared kitchen arrangements are exactly the kind of thing that gets ambiguous three years into a tenancy.
What Happens If a Unit Falls Short
Because AB 628 works through the habitability statute rather than creating its own penalty, the consequences are the ones California landlords already know — which also means they are well-established and readily enforced.
Repair and deduct. Under Civil Code §1942, a tenant who gives notice of a habitability defect and does not see it addressed within a reasonable time may arrange the repair and deduct the cost from rent, up to one month's rent. On an appliance, that is a realistic single-transaction remedy — a tenant can buy a refrigerator and deduct it.
Rent withholding. Available where the defect is substantial. An entirely absent stove or refrigerator in a covered unit is not a marginal case.
Lease termination without penalty. In serious or persistent cases, a tenant may treat the tenancy as constructively terminated. On a covered unit that means a vacancy you did not plan for.
Weakened position in any other dispute. This is the underrated one. A habitability defect on the record undermines an owner's position in an unrelated matter — a deposit deduction, a lease violation, an unlawful detainer. It becomes the tenant's first line of defense regardless of what the case is actually about.
There is a second-order effect worth naming. AB 628 increases repair volume across the whole rental market — more required appliances means more service calls, more failures, and more replacements per unit per year. If your management company adds a percentage markup to vendor invoices, this statute quietly raised your annual management cost with no change in service.
Published San Diego maintenance markups run up to 10% of the vendor invoice. On a $650 refrigerator replacement that is $65 in management fees on top of the appliance. Across a portfolio and a full year of appliance events, it adds up — see our complete San Diego fee guide for what each company publishes.
What to Do Now
The statute has been in effect since January. If you have not audited yet, the work is straightforward and the sequence matters.
- ☐ Inventory every unit. Stove present and working. Refrigerator present and working. Landlord-supplied or tenant-supplied. Record it per unit, not per property.
- ☐ Identify which tenancies are already covered. Anything signed, renewed, extended, or amended since January 1, 2026. Those units need to comply now.
- ☐ Flag month-to-month tenancies without appliances. These are the timing risk. Decide on appliances before serving any rent increase or change of terms.
- ☐ Update the lease template. Specify which appliances are landlord-supplied, which are tenant-supplied, and who maintains and replaces each. Do this once, in the template, rather than negotiating it per tenancy.
- ☐ Check recall status on anything you supplied. The 30-day clock runs from notice of recall, and it is a hard deadline in a statute otherwise governed by "reasonable time."
- ☐ Photograph and document what you install. Model, serial, install date, condition. This does double duty — AB 628 compliance and AB 2801 deposit documentation both need it.
- ☐ Set a replacement horizon, do not wait for failure. An appliance that dies mid-tenancy is now a habitability event on a clock. Replacing on your schedule is cheaper than replacing on the tenant's.
The Cost, Honestly
A basic range and a basic refrigerator are a real expense on a unit that has never had them, and there is no way to present that as anything else. Two things make it less painful than it first looks.
Appliance-included units lease faster. A tenant comparing two otherwise similar listings will take the one they can move into without buying a refrigerator. In a county where vacancy reached 5.5% in Q2 2026 (Kidder Mathews), leasing speed is worth more than most owners price it at.
And it is a one-time capital cost against a recurring risk. The alternative is a habitability exposure that persists for the life of every covered tenancy, plus a weakened position in any dispute that arises during it. That trade is not close.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does AB 628 require for California rentals?
A working stove and refrigerator, maintained in good working order, in any residential lease entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026. The law amends Civil Code §1941.1, adding both appliances to the statutory definition of a habitable dwelling.
Did AB 628 apply to all rentals on January 1, 2026?
No. It attaches when a lease is entered into, amended, or extended on or after that date. A month-to-month tenancy that has not been touched since before January 1, 2026 was not automatically covered. However, a change of terms after that date — including a rent increase — can trigger compliance, which is the nuance most summaries omit.
Do the appliances have to be new?
No. AB 628 sets no age limit — an earlier draft proposed one and it did not make it into the final bill. The requirement is that both appliances work and are maintained in good working order. A functioning older unit complies; a new one that has failed does not.
Which units are exempt from AB 628?
Units with shared or communal kitchens, certain supportive housing where the model provides food service or communal facilities, and single-room occupancy units. If you believe a property qualifies, document the shared facility rather than relying on the assumption.
Can a tenant use their own refrigerator?
Yes. Where a tenant elects to supply their own, the landlord is not responsible for maintaining or replacing it. Document the arrangement in the lease — which appliance is whose, and who is responsible — because ownership becomes contested at move-out otherwise.
What if a supplied appliance is recalled?
It must be repaired or replaced within 30 days of the landlord receiving notice of the recall. This is a fixed deadline, unusual in a statute otherwise governed by the "reasonable time" standard under Civil Code §1942 — which makes it both easy to miss and easy for a tenant to establish.
What happens if a unit does not have a stove or refrigerator?
On a covered tenancy the unit is untenantable under Civil Code §1941.1. The tenant may repair and deduct up to one month's rent under §1942, withhold rent where the defect is substantial, or in serious cases terminate without penalty. A habitability defect on the record also weakens the owner's position in any unrelated dispute during that tenancy.
Does Realty Management Group handle appliance compliance?
Yes. We audit appliance status across managed units, source replacements, coordinate delivery and installation, and document model, serial, and condition for the property file. Appliances and installation are billed at vendor cost with no markup added. It is included in the flat $199/month management fee — $179 per unit per month for 4–16 unit properties.
Sources
The requirement: AB 628, amending California Civil Code §1941.1, effective January 1, 2026.
Tenant remedies: Civil Code §1942 (repair and deduct, reasonable time standard).
Rent cap: AB 1482 / Civil Code §1947.12. San Diego County cap of 8.2% for August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027.
Market data: San Diego County apartment vacancy 5.5%, Kidder Mathews Q2 2026. Maintenance markup ranges from published San Diego management company fee schedules, retrieved August 2026.
This guide reflects California law as of August 2026. AB 628 amends Civil Code §1941.1 effective January 1, 2026. Statutory interpretation of when an amendment or change of terms triggers the requirement has not been extensively tested, and owners with month-to-month tenancies in units without appliances should seek specific advice before serving a change of terms. This is general information, not legal advice — consult a qualified California attorney for your property.
About the Author
Scott Engle is a California licensed real estate broker (DRE #01332676, Corp DRE #02075336), licensed since 2003, and Broker/Owner of Realty Management Group, a flat-fee San Diego property management company serving San Diego County since 2005. RMG manages 400+ units countywide across 1–16 unit properties and handles appliance sourcing, delivery, installation, and AB 628 documentation as part of the flat $199/month fee — appliances billed at vendor cost with no markup.
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Which of your units are already covered?
Any lease you signed, renewed, or amended since January 1 is under AB 628 now — and any month-to-month you serve an increase on is about to be. Send us your unit list and we will tell you which ones comply, which do not, and what the gap costs to close. Free, and the answers are yours either way.
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