Landlords may soon be required to provide stoves, fridges under proposed California bill

A recently introduced California bill aims to require landlords to provide stoves and fridges in rental housing.

State law doesn’t require units to include a refrigerator, a standard in other parts of the country.

A 2022 Los Angeles Times story found that L.A. and Orange Counties have the fewest refrigerator units among large urban areas nationwide.

Assembly Bill 628 was introduced by State Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood); if passed, it would require California landlords to provide stoves and refrigerators for all apartment leases after Jan. 1, 2026.

The bill initially called for landlords to provide stoves and fridges purchased within the last 10 years, but after pushback from the California Apartment Association, that was removed, according to LAist.

Now, the bill specifies that stoves and fridges must be in good working order and “capable of safely generating heat for cooking purposes and capable of safely storing food, respectively.”

However, the bill will include some exemptions.

Permanent supportive housing, single-room occupancy, a unit in a residential hotel, and a dwelling unit within a housing facility that offers shared or communal kitchen spaces to its residents, like an assisted living facility, would be exempt from the bill.

The bill is currently undergoing a first committee review.