California SB 611 Junk Fee Ban: Landlord Compliance Guide (2026)

California SB 611 is the state's first comprehensive crackdown on rental "junk fees," and it directly changes how landlords across Roseville, Rocklin, and the rest of greater Sacramento charge, disclose, and collect anything beyond base rent and a properly handled security deposit. Signed by Governor Newsom in 2025, the SB 611 California landlord junk fees rules require a written rental payment notice at lease signing, ban or restrict several common ancillary fees, and give tenants statutory damages and attorney's fees if a landlord gets it wrong.

This is not a cosmetic disclosure law. SB 611 is structured to be enforceable -- the required rental payment notice is itself a regulated document, and fee violations carry per-violation damages on top of refunds. For California landlords running 1-unit single-family rentals or 50+ door portfolios, the compliance reset is mandatory.

TL;DR: California SB 611 amends Civil Code Section 1947.3 and adjacent statutes to (1) require a written rental payment notice itemizing how rent is paid, when it is due, and every fee that may be charged during the tenancy, (2) prohibit landlords from charging fees that are not disclosed in writing before they are incurred, (3) restrict or ban specific categories of fees including duplicative processing fees, fees for paying rent by a particular method, and certain charges that have no legitimate cost basis, and (4) create statutory damages plus attorney's fees for tenants who prove a violation. Landlords must update lease packets, addenda, and rent ledgers before the effective date. Sources: California Legislature SB 611; Governor Newsom signing actions, October 2025; California Apartment Association 2026 compliance forms.

What SB 611 Actually Does in Plain English

Boil SB 611 down and the rule is simple. Every fee a California landlord charges during a residential tenancy must be disclosed in writing, in a specific notice given to the tenant at or before lease signing, and the fee itself has to be tied to a legitimate cost. Hidden fees, surprise fees, and fees imposed because a tenant chose a particular payment method are out.

Specifically, every California landlord whose tenancy is covered by SB 611 must:

1. Provide a written rental payment notice at or before lease signing that states the rent amount, the due date, accepted payment methods, and every fee the landlord may charge during the tenancy
2. Disclose every fee in writing before it is incurred -- a fee that is not on the notice or in the lease cannot lawfully be collected
3. Avoid prohibited fee categories, including charges imposed solely because a tenant pays rent by a particular method (such as a fee for paying by check or bank transfer when other methods are accepted at no charge)
4. Limit fees to the landlord's actual reasonable cost for the service or processing involved -- arbitrary markups and duplicative processing charges are exposed
5. Update the notice when fees change and provide it to existing tenants when required by the statute
6. Accept statutory damages exposure if the rules are violated, including refund of the unlawful fee plus per-violation damages and attorney's fees

The statute does not eliminate every legitimate ancillary charge. Lawful application screening fees, properly disclosed late fees, pet rent agreed to in the lease, and other genuine cost-based charges remain permissible -- as long as they are disclosed up front and tied to a real cost basis.

Which Tenancies SB 611 Covers

SB 611 applies to California residential tenancies broadly. There is no portfolio-size carve-out and no exemption for single-family rentals owned by individual investors. A duplex owner in Rocklin who rents one unit and lives in the other is subject to the same fee disclosure rules as a corporate operator running a 200-unit Roseville property.

The statute reaches:

• New tenancies -- leases signed on or after the effective date must include the rental payment notice at signing
• Renewed tenancies -- renewals signed on or after the effective date must include the updated notice
• Continuing month-to-month tenancies -- existing periodic tenancies that roll forward into the covered period are subject to the disclosure rules going forward, with the notice required when fees change or as otherwise specified
• Single-family, multifamily, condo, and ADU rentals -- the property type does not exempt the tenancy

If the rental is residential and the tenancy is in California, assume SB 611 applies. The few narrow exemptions (such as certain transient hotel arrangements) are not the kind of housing most Roseville and Rocklin owners operate.

How SB 611 Stacks With Other 2026 California Rental Laws

SB 611 does not replace existing fee statutes -- it sits on top of them. A Roseville landlord in 2026 is now juggling at least five overlapping rules around fees, charges, and disclosures:

• Standard California lease disclosures (lead, mold, bedbug, demolition, flood, etc.)
• AB 414 electronic security deposit refunds for refund delivery
• AB 1414 internet and subscription opt-out for bundled service charges
• AB 2747 positive rent reporting for credit reporting fees and elections
• California utility billing rules for traditional utilities

SB 611 is the umbrella. Every fee disclosed under those other regimes still has to clear SB 611's notice and cost-basis tests.

The Required Rental Payment Notice

The rental payment notice is the centerpiece of SB 611 compliance. It is a discrete, written document (or section of the lease packet) that the landlord delivers to the tenant at or before the start of the tenancy, and it has to do four things in plain language.

What the Notice Must Contain

At a minimum, the rental payment notice must clearly state:

1. The base rent amount for the tenancy, including any agreed escalations during the term
2. The due date for rent each rental period (typically the first of the month, but match what the lease actually says)
3. Every accepted method of payment -- check, ACH, online portal, money order, cashier's check, or whatever the landlord allows -- with any restrictions plainly stated
4. Every fee the landlord may charge during the tenancy, with the amount or calculation method, including: late fees, NSF fees, lease-break fees, pet rent, parking fees, storage fees, utility billing service charges, lockout fees, and any other ancillary charge
5. The address or method for delivering rent payments
6. Any cure or grace period the landlord allows before late fees attach

The principle is that a tenant should be able to read the notice once and predict every dollar that may come out of their pocket during the tenancy. If a charge is missing from the notice and missing from the lease, SB 611 treats it as undisclosed and unrecoverable.

Pro Tip: Build the Notice as a One-Page Lease Addendum

Rather than burying the rental payment notice inside a 30-page lease packet, build it as a standalone one-page addendum titled "Rental Payment Notice (California Civil Code Section 1947.3 / SB 611)." Make the tenant initial it, store the signed copy with the lease, and reuse the template across the portfolio. When a tenant disputes a fee 18 months into the tenancy, the signed standalone notice is the cleanest evidence available.

When the Notice Must Be Delivered or Updated

Delivery rules tighten the compliance window:

• At lease signing for new tenancies -- the notice is part of the move-in packet
• At renewal when the lease is renewed or a new term is signed
• When fees change -- a refreshed notice covering the change must be delivered before the new fee can be charged
• For existing month-to-month tenants when the statute reaches them and any new or modified fee is contemplated

The practical effect: landlords cannot quietly raise an ancillary fee mid-tenancy and expect to collect it. They have to update the notice, deliver it, and only then start charging the new amount on the next rental period after the required notice period.

Fees That Are Now Banned, Capped, or Restricted

SB 611 targets specific fee patterns that have drawn the most enforcement attention in California rental housing. Some are flat bans. Others are limited to actual cost. The common thread is that fees with no legitimate cost basis or fees that punish a tenant for choosing a particular payment method are out.

Payment-Method Fees: The Cleanest Ban

Charging a tenant extra because they chose to pay by a particular method -- when other methods are accepted at no cost -- is one of the clearest violations under SB 611. Examples Roseville and Rocklin landlords should remove from their lease packets immediately:

• $25 fee for paying rent by personal check when ACH is free
• $10 "manual processing" fee for non-portal payments
• Surcharge for paying by money order or cashier's check
• Convenience fee imposed when the convenience option is the only practical method

The narrow exception is a genuine optional convenience fee where (a) a free alternative is plainly offered, (b) the convenience fee reflects an actual third-party processor cost, and (c) the option is clearly disclosed. Credit card processing fees that pass through a payment processor's actual fee can survive this test if structured correctly.

Duplicative and Inflated Processing Fees

Stacking multiple "processing" or "administrative" fees that all reflect the same underlying activity -- or that exceed the landlord's real cost -- is a classic junk fee pattern SB 611 is designed to eliminate. A landlord cannot charge a $50 application fee, a $50 administrative fee, and a $50 onboarding fee for what is essentially one screening and lease-up process.

For application fees specifically, California has long required them to be tied to actual screening costs and capped at a statutory maximum that adjusts for inflation. SB 611 reinforces that limit and adds the rental payment notice as the documentation backbone.

Late Fees and NSF Fees

Late fees and NSF (returned payment) fees remain permissible, but only when:

• Disclosed up front in the lease and the rental payment notice
• Reasonable in amount, tied to the actual harm of the late or returned payment, and consistent with prevailing California case law on liquidated damages clauses
• Not a disguised penalty that exceeds any plausible cost recovery
• Applied only after any required cure or grace period

For a deeper walkthrough of California's specific rules on late rent, the timeline, and the proper notice flow, see our guide to handling late rent in California. Pair that with rent collection best practices for California landlords to lock in the operational side.

Statutory Damages and Enforcement

The reason SB 611 is more than a paperwork law is the remedy structure. A tenant who proves a violation is entitled to:

1. Refund of the unlawful fee -- the tenant gets back every dollar of any fee that was charged without proper disclosure or in violation of the substantive limits
2. Statutory damages -- a fixed per-violation amount the tenant can recover even when the unlawful fee was small, designed to make enforcement worth a tenant attorney's time
3. Attorney's fees and costs -- the prevailing tenant's attorney's fees are recoverable, which is the structural feature that makes private enforcement viable
4. Defense to eviction -- a fee dispute under SB 611 can become a wrongful eviction defense if the landlord treats nonpayment of an unlawful fee as a default

That last point is the operational risk. A Roseville landlord who serves a 3-day notice for unpaid rent that includes $300 of unlawful fees has just handed the tenant a defense -- and depending on jurisdiction, courts can dismiss the unlawful detainer outright when the underlying notice overstates the lawful amount due. For the full eviction sequence and the precision the notice requires, see our California eviction process guide.

Compliance Action Plan for California Landlords

The SB 611 reset is mechanical. Build the rental payment notice, audit the fee schedule, fix the lease packet, train the rent collection workflow, and document everything. Here is the operational sequence Lifetime Property Management runs across our 50+ door portfolio:

1. Audit Every Fee Currently in the Lease Packet

Pull the master lease, every addendum, the move-in packet, and the rent ledger reports for the last 12 months. List every charge that has ever appeared. For each fee, document:

• The charge name and amount or formula
• What underlying cost or service it represents
• Whether it is currently disclosed in writing in the lease
• Whether it depends on the tenant's choice of payment method
• Whether it has any legitimate cost basis the landlord can substantiate

The output is a fee schedule the landlord can defend in writing. Anything that fails the cost-basis test or the payment-method test gets cut.

2. Build the Standalone Rental Payment Notice

Draft the notice as a one-page addendum that includes every element required by Civil Code Section 1947.3 as amended by SB 611. Use plain English. Keep the formatting clean -- numbered sections, dollar amounts in bold, signature and date lines at the bottom for both landlord and tenant.

3. Update the Master Lease and Addendum Stack

Cross-check the lease against the new notice. Every fee on the notice must also appear in the corresponding lease section, and vice versa. If the lease references a fee that is not on the notice, fix one or the other. Our California lease agreement guide has the full structure and disclosure stack for a 2026-compliant residential lease.

4. Train the Rent Collection Workflow

Update the rent ledger software, the late-fee automation, and the 3-day notice template so they only assess fees that appear on the rental payment notice. Train staff -- or in a self-managed portfolio, retrain yourself -- to verify that every line item on a 3-day notice for nonpayment matches the lawful charges before serving. This single discipline closes the most expensive failure mode under SB 611.

5. Issue the Notice to Existing Tenants Where Required

For month-to-month tenants who continue into the covered period, issue an updated rental payment notice when fees change or as otherwise required. Track delivery -- email with read receipt, hand delivery with a witness, or certified mail with return receipt -- and store the proof of delivery alongside the signed notice.

6. Document the Cost Basis for Every Surviving Fee

For each fee that remains on the schedule, build a one-paragraph cost-basis memo: what it costs the landlord to provide the service, the source of that cost number (vendor invoice, processor statement, time-and-materials estimate), and the date the calculation was last reviewed. If a tenant ever challenges the fee, the memo is the contemporaneous documentation.

What This Means for Roseville, Rocklin, and Sacramento Landlords Specifically

The Sacramento and Placer County rental market has been in a competitive period for several years, and landlords have leaned on ancillary fees to push effective rent above asking rent. SB 611 closes most of that runway. The Roseville landlord who has been collecting a $25 monthly "technology fee" with no clear cost basis and a $35 "lease processing fee" that duplicates the application fee is now exposed.

What we have seen across our managed portfolio in Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Granite Bay, Folsom, and Auburn:

• Self-managed owners are most exposed. They picked up old lease templates from prior landlords or generic forms and have been carrying fees the original drafter never substantiated. The audit usually cuts 2-4 line items immediately.
• Single-family rentals get hit hardest. Multifamily operators tend to have legal review built in. A Rocklin homeowner renting out a single SFR is often running on a 5-year-old form with surprise fees scattered across addenda.
• Pet fees are a common trap. Pet rent disclosed in the lease is fine. Undisclosed "pet processing fees" or per-incident pet charges that were never in the rental payment notice are not.
• Convenience fees attached to portal payment are the most common payment-method violation. If the only practical way to pay is the portal and the portal charges a fee, the fee fails the SB 611 test even if it is processor-passed-through.

Mini-Story: The $14 Fee That Cost $4,200

An out-of-area owner in Rocklin had been charging tenants a $14 monthly "rent processing fee" for two years. The fee was buried in a single line on page 27 of a generic lease template, never on a rental payment notice, and never explained as anything other than a flat surcharge. When the tenant fell behind on rent and the owner served a 3-day notice that included the cumulative $336 in processing fees plus the missing rent, the tenant retained counsel.

The defense: SB 611 violation, undisclosed fee never tied to a cost basis, demand for refund of all 24 months of fees, statutory damages, and attorney's fees on top. The owner settled for refund of the fees plus statutory damages plus tenant attorney's fees -- roughly $4,200 -- and the unlawful detainer was dismissed without prejudice while the rent ledger was rewritten. The "fee" had earned the owner $336 over two years and cost more than 12x that to unwind.

The fix would have taken 90 minutes: cut the fee, update the lease template, build the rental payment notice. That is the SB 611 economics in one example.

How SB 611 Interacts With Security Deposits

SB 611 is not the security deposit statute -- that is Civil Code Section 1950.5 -- but the two regimes interact at lease signing and move-out. The rental payment notice should clearly disclose:

• The security deposit amount
• That the deposit is governed by Civil Code Section 1950.5 (capped at one month's rent for residential tenancies under California's amended deposit law)
• The conditions under which deductions may be made at move-out (with reference to the lease for the full disclosure)

For the full security deposit framework -- including AB 414 electronic refund delivery rules and the standard itemization requirements -- see our California security deposit laws guide.

Frequently Asked Questions: SB 611 California Landlord Junk Fees

When does California SB 611 take effect?

SB 611 takes effect in 2026 according to the operative dates in the bill text. The statute amends Civil Code Section 1947.3 and adjacent provisions; landlords should treat the 2026 effective period as the compliance deadline for new and renewed tenancies and update lease packets accordingly. Always verify the operative date in the version of the bill chaptered into law for your specific facts.

What is the rental payment notice required by SB 611?

The rental payment notice is a written disclosure delivered to the tenant at or before lease signing that itemizes the rent amount, the rent due date, the accepted methods of payment, and every fee the landlord may charge during the tenancy. It is the central compliance document under SB 611 and should be built as a standalone one-page addendum signed by both landlord and tenant.

Can a California landlord charge a fee for paying rent by check or ACH?

Generally no. SB 611 prohibits fees imposed solely because a tenant chose a particular payment method when other methods are accepted at no cost. A narrow exception exists for genuine optional convenience fees (such as credit card processing) where a free alternative is offered and the fee reflects an actual third-party processor cost, all properly disclosed in the rental payment notice.

What happens if a landlord charges an undisclosed fee under SB 611?

The fee is not lawfully collectible. The tenant may recover the fee and is entitled to statutory damages plus attorney's fees. If the landlord serves a 3-day notice for nonpayment that includes the unlawful fee, the tenant can use the SB 611 violation as a defense in unlawful detainer, which can result in dismissal of the eviction action and shift fees to the landlord.

Does SB 611 apply to single-family rentals owned by individual landlords?

Yes. SB 611 applies to California residential tenancies broadly without a portfolio-size carve-out. A Roseville homeowner renting out a single SFR is subject to the same rental payment notice and fee disclosure rules as a corporate operator running a 200-unit Rocklin apartment building.

Can a landlord still charge late fees under SB 611?

Yes, when the late fee is disclosed in the lease and the rental payment notice, reasonable in amount, tied to the actual harm of the late payment, and consistent with California case law on liquidated damages clauses. The fee cannot be a disguised penalty that exceeds any plausible cost recovery, and any required cure or grace period must be honored before the fee attaches.

Do existing month-to-month tenants need a new rental payment notice?

For month-to-month tenancies that continue into the covered period, an updated rental payment notice should be delivered when fees change or when otherwise required by the statute. The conservative compliance posture is to issue the notice to all existing periodic tenants alongside the 2026 lease packet refresh, even where not strictly required, to lock in the disclosure record.

The Bottom Line for Roseville and Rocklin Landlords

SB 611 is not the most technically complicated 2026 California rental law, but it is the one with the broadest day-to-day impact. Every California landlord touches fees, every California landlord serves rent notices, and every California landlord is now operating under a disclosure regime backed by statutory damages and attorney's fees.

The fix is mechanical: a clean rental payment notice, a defensible fee schedule, an updated lease packet, and a rent ledger that only assesses lawful, disclosed charges. The failure mode is expensive: refund of years of fees, statutory damages, attorney's fees, and a wrongful unlawful detainer defense all stacked on top of an undisclosed surcharge that earned the landlord pennies in the first place.

For owners across Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Granite Bay, Folsom, and the rest of greater Sacramento, the action plan is the same: audit the fee schedule, build the rental payment notice, rewrite the lease packet, and treat SB 611 as part of the full 2026 compliance reset alongside AB 414, AB 1414, AB 2747, and the rest of the new statutory layer documented in our 2026 California rental laws guide.

Need help getting SB 611 compliance built into your lease packet, rental payment notice, and rent collection workflow? Contact Lifetime Property Management for a free portfolio review. We manage 50+ doors across Placer and Sacramento Counties and run SB 611 fee audits, rental payment notice drafting, and full-stack 2026 compliance under one roof.