The 2027 Rulebook: The New California Landlord Laws to Prepare For Now
Most of the housing laws California enacted in 2026 take effect January 1, 2027. The ones that change day-to-day practice for owners are SB 1296, which from April 1, 2027 requires every rental to have a written pet policy given to applicants before an application fee is collected; SB 1365, which from January 1, 2027 extends the state's 10% emergency rent cap to leases of any length; and a new multilingual eviction summons due by January 1, 2027. A proposed cap on pet rent and pet deposits did not pass, and owners may still prohibit pets. The months before April are the time to update listings, applications, and pet addenda.
California's 2026 legislative session produced 97 signed housing bills and 7 vetoes, with most of the new laws taking effect on January 1, 2027. Many of them concern housing finance and development and ask nothing of individual owners. A handful, though, change what you do when you list a unit, screen an applicant, raise rent during an emergency, or pursue an eviction. Those are the ones worth preparing for before the calendar turns.
SB 1296: a written pet policy for every rental (April 1, 2027)
Signed September 30, 2026, SB 1296, sometimes called the Pet Policy Transparency Act, requires every residential rental to have a written pet policy or pet addendum describing the material rules, conditions, and restrictions that apply to pets at the property. Starting April 1, 2027, that policy must be provided with rental applications and included in applicable digital advertisements, and applicants must receive it before they pay an application fee. Failure to disclose can require refunding the application fee in some circumstances.
Two points matter for owners. First, the law does not require you to allow pets. A no-pets building still needs its policy in writing, but a lawful no-pets rule remains permitted, and the law leaves service and assistance animal protections unchanged. Second, any refundable pet deposit counts toward California's one-month security deposit cap, so a pet deposit has to fit inside that limit.
SB 1365: the emergency rent cap now covers every lease (January 1, 2027)
California's price-gouging law limits rent increases to 10% during a declared state of emergency. Until now, rental housing with an initial lease term longer than one year was exempt from that limit. SB 1365 removes that exemption as of January 1, 2027, so the 10% emergency cap applies to residential leases of any length. For owners in areas prone to wildfire, flood, or other emergency declarations, this is worth building into how you set rent on longer leases.
A multilingual eviction summons and new court reporting (January 1, 2027)
By January 1, 2027, the state's eviction summons forms must be available in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean. A separate law, SB 1160, adds court reporting on eviction cases. Neither requires an owner to do anything differently, but the translated summons is a procedural change in unlawful detainer practice that your attorney will work with in the new year.
What did not pass
AB 2609, which would have capped pet rent and pet deposits, was not enacted this session. As a result, no state law restricts a no-pets policy, and pet rent remains a matter of what the market will bear, subject to the deposit cap noted above.
How to prepare before January
Write or update a pet policy for each property, including the ones that prohibit pets, and attach it to your application with an acknowledgment line. Add the policy to your online listings. Review how you set rent on multi-year leases in light of the expanded emergency cap. And if you are planning an eviction that may run into the new year, expect the updated summons forms. None of these are complicated, but they are the kind of changes that are easy to miss until a dispute surfaces them. A quick review of your forms before the deadlines is the simplest protection.