AB 628 adds a working stove, one "capable of safely generating heat for cooking purposes," and a working refrigerator, one "capable of safely storing food," to the list of characteristics that Civil Code section 1941.1 requires for a dwelling unit to be considered tenantable. Both appliances must be maintained in good working order. A stove or refrigerator subject to a manufacturer or public safety recall is treated as non-compliant, and the landlord must repair or replace it within 30 days of receiving notice of the recall.

AB 628 applies to leases entered into, renewed, extended, or amended on or after January 1, 2026. Month-to-month tenancies are effectively renewed each month, which means the requirement applied to virtually every month-to-month rental in California as soon as the law took effect. A fixed-term lease that runs its full term without modification is not immediately reached by the new requirement, but the moment that lease is renewed or amended, compliance becomes mandatory.

Concrete example: A landlord in San Jose has a tenant on a month-to-month tenancy in a unit with a broken stove that was never repaired. Because month-to-month tenancies are treated as newly entered into with each renewal period, the landlord was required to have a working stove in place by the January 2026 rent cycle, regardless of how long the stove had been broken before that date.

AB 628 permits a narrow waiver for the refrigerator requirement only. A landlord and tenant may agree, at the time the lease is signed, that the tenant will supply their own refrigerator instead. That waiver must be voluntary, cannot be imposed as a condition of renting the unit, and must use the statutory lease language. It cannot be added after the lease is already signed. A tenant who has agreed to the waiver can later revoke it, at which point the landlord must provide a working refrigerator within a reasonable time. The stove requirement is not subject to a comparable waiver.

Certain housing types are exempt from the new appliance requirements, including permanent supportive housing, single-room occupancy units with shared kitchen facilities, residential hotels, and assisted living facilities with communal kitchens. Landlords who believe their property falls into one of these categories should confirm the exemption applies before assuming compliance is unnecessary.

A unit that lacks a working stove or refrigerator as required by AB 628 is legally deemed uninhabitable. That designation carries significant consequences: the tenant may withhold rent, invoke repair-and-deduct remedies under Civil Code section 1942, file a code enforcement complaint, raise a habitability defense in any eviction proceeding the landlord later files, and bring a civil claim for breach of the warranty of habitability. For landlords managing multiple units throughout Santa Clara County, a single overlooked appliance can become the basis for a broader dispute.

Landlords should audit existing units for appliance compliance, update lease forms to include the statutory refrigerator waiver language where applicable, track appliance models and serial numbers to monitor for recalls, and communicate the new requirements clearly to tenants on month-to-month tenancies. McLellan Law Group advises landlords and property owners throughout Saratoga, San Jose, Cupertino, and Silicon Valley on habitability compliance and lease drafting.