California's SB 478, known as the Honest Pricing Law, took effect July 1, 2024, and it targets a specific practice: advertising a low headline rent while mandatory fees are revealed only later in the leasing process, a pattern regulators call drip pricing. The law does not ban fees themselves — it bans advertising a price that does not include them.
What the law actually requires
Any mandatory or required charge — the kind a tenant cannot decline and still rent the unit — has to be folded into the advertised price shown in a listing, not disclosed as an add-on once someone has already engaged with the application. Government-imposed taxes and shipping-type charges are excluded from this requirement, but application fees, mandatory amenity fees, and similar required charges generally are not.
Where in the leasing flow this applies
The total price has to be visible before a prospective tenant is asked to hand over personal information to move forward in the process — not buried in a lease addendum they see only after applying. That timing detail is what separates compliant listings from ones that technically mention fees somewhere but not where or when it matters for the law's intent.
What to actually check in your own listings
Audit each active listing for whether the advertised number is the full mandatory total a tenant would actually pay, restructure the application flow so total pricing appears before any personal or billing information is collected, and review lease renewal language for the same drip-pricing pattern at renewal time, not just at initial move-in.
SB 478 does not spell out a specific dollar penalty in most public summaries, and it is enforced under California's broader unfair competition and false advertising statutes — worth a specific compliance check with counsel if your listings currently separate a base rent from mandatory fees anywhere in the funnel. Keeping every fee tied to a lease attached to the same record you use to publish a listing is the practical fix: owner statements and lease and document tracking already keep fees, rent, and lease terms as one connected record rather than separate line items assembled by hand.
For how this compares with other states and the federal rules on short-stay pricing, see fee transparency laws by state.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Landlord-tenant rules change and vary by jurisdiction; check the current statute or consult a local attorney before acting on it.
Common questions
What is California's fee transparency law for rentals?
SB 478, the Honest Pricing Law, effective July 1, 2024. It requires the advertised rental price to include all mandatory fees rather than revealing them later in the application process.
Are application fees covered under SB 478?
Mandatory fees a tenant cannot avoid and still rent the unit generally need to be included in the advertised total. Government taxes and shipping-type charges are excluded.
When does the total price need to be shown to a renter?
Before the renter is asked to provide personal or billing information to continue the application, not after.
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