Imagine if you will. You have a small property management business and every month you waste a bunch of time on a few problematic tenants. They do not pay their rent until someone physically goes to the property and posts a notice. You call, text, and email but the only thing they respond to is a legal notice posted on their front door. This means that at least once a month someone needs to stop what they are doing, get in a car, drive over to the property, and post a notice. The more you think about it, you also waste a lot of time handling personal checks. They create so many extra steps and can often turn into a drawn-out delay tactic. Who writes a personal check these days? You figure the best way to encourage a tenant to change their behavior is to charge them a fee. After all, you are trying to run a business. So, you decide to charge tenants every time you have to post a legal notice and every time you must handle a personal check. Is this a good idea? I’ll explain.
It is easy to see why property managers want to charge extra fees for certain nuisances caused by tenants. However, there is a new California law called SB-611 that bans charging certain tenant-based fees. Starting April 1, 2025, you cannot charge a fee to a tenant for posting or serving any kind of legal notice such as notices for lease violations, pay or quit notices, or notices to terminate. From now on, those will need to be considered a cost of doing business or passed on to the landlord.
SB-611 also prohibits landlords from charging tenants a fee for paying with a personal check. In case you forgot, Civil Code § 1947.3 states that landlords must allow tenants to pay the rent and security deposit in at least one form of payment other than cash or electronic funds transfer.
This law applies to all residential properties but also to “qualified commercial tenants” which include micro-enterprises with less than 5 employees including the owner, restaurants with less than 10 employees, and non-profits with fewer than 20 employees. Qualified commercial tenants must notice and keep this status current annually with the property owner to keep their status.
Bottom Line
A new law called SB-611 went into effect starting April 1, 2025, probating landlords from charging tenants a fee for posting legal notices or for paying by personal check. This new law applies to all residential properties and small businesses giving proper notice as a “qualified commercial tenant”.
Remember we are not attorneys, so we don’t give legal advice. Laws are always changing and vary depending on the specific municipality in which the property is located. For legal advice please consult a real estate attorney familiar with the laws in your area.
For Real Estate Advice
If you are looking for a reliable property management company to help you handle a rental property or a real estate broker to guide you through the sales process in Long Beach, Los Angeles, or Orange County, California; or you are just considering it and have a few questions about real estate contact the Mike Dunfee Group today! We are happy to help.
Dunfee Real Estate Services, Inc. DRE # 02026232
