California lease signing checklist

Everything to check before you sign an apartment lease in California, in the order you’ll need it: before you apply, at the viewing, the questions to ask, the real cost, the lease itself, signing day and move-in. Each item that depends on California law shows the rule and the statute behind it.

57 checks · about 30 minutes, spread over the viewing and reading the lease · Updated October 16, 2026

California rules to know before you sign

California caps security deposits at one month’s rent, treats most flat late fees and lease-break fees as void penalties, and won’t let a lease take away the repair-and-deduct remedy. Many cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, add rent control and just-cause rules.

Application fee
$30 cap, inflation-adjusted. A screening fee is capped at $30 per applicant, adjusted only for inflation since 1998, and must cover real screening costs. You’re owed an itemized receipt. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6)
Security deposit
1 month (2 for some small landlords). All deposits together (security, last month’s rent, pet, cleaning) can’t exceed one month’s rent, except up to two months from a small landlord owning two or fewer properties with four or fewer units total. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5)
Late fee
Must match real losses. A late fee is void unless it’s a genuine advance estimate of the landlord’s real, hard-to-calculate losses. There’s no percentage safe harbor. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1671)
Landlord entry
24 hours’ written notice. Except in an emergency, entry needs reasonable written notice (24 hours is presumed reasonable) and must be during normal business hours. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1954)
Housing vouchers
Protected. A landlord can’t refuse you because you’d pay part of the rent with a Section 8 voucher or other housing subsidy. (Cal. Gov. Code § 12955)
Leaving early
Flat lease-break fees usually void. A preset lease-break, reletting or early-termination fee is a void penalty unless it’s a genuine estimate of losses that would be hard to calculate. Because the landlord’s loss from an early move-out (rent until the unit is re-rented, less what it could reasonably avoid) can be calculated, a flat fee generally can’t be enforced. Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking and other listed crimes can end the lease by written notice with documentation, owing no more than 14 days’ rent after the notice, and can’t be made to forfeit the deposit for leaving. You can also end the lease early if, after you ask, the landlord doesn’t provide quiet possession or make repairs it owes within a reasonable time, or if most of the home is destroyed through no lack of care on your part; if the home is destroyed, the lease ends. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1671; Cal. Civ. Code § 1951.2; Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.7; Cal. Civ. Code § 1932; Cal. Civ. Code § 1933)

9 things almost nobody checks

0 of 57 done

  1. 1. Before you apply or pay anything

    As soon as you find a listing

    • Listing scams copy real apartments and collect deposits for homes the scammer doesn’t own. Look the address up on the county assessor or property records site and check that the owner matches the landlord or management company you’re dealing with. If a company is managing it, its name should appear on the lease.

      Watch out for: They can’t show you inside, say they’re out of the country, push you to decide today, or the rent is far below similar units nearby.

      FTC: rental listing scams

    • The FTC treats these as the same as sending cash: once sent, it’s usually gone. Pay fees and deposits by check or another traceable method, to the business named on the lease, and get a receipt.

      Watch out for: Anyone who insists on one of those payment methods, or asks for money before you’ve seen the unit and the lease.

      FTC: rental listing scams

    • Ask the exact fee, what it pays for, and whether it’s refundable if you’re turned down or the unit goes to someone else. With several applications in a hot market, these add up fast.

      California rule: A screening fee is capped at $30 per applicant, adjusted only for inflation since 1998, and must cover real screening costs. You’re owed an itemized receipt.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6

    • A rejection after paying is money lost. Ask the minimum credit score, the income requirement (usually a multiple of the rent), whether co-signers or guarantors are accepted, and whether they’ll take a screening report you already have.

      Ask: “What would cause an application to be denied, and do you accept a recent screening report I already have?”

    • Whether a landlord may refuse a voucher, and how an income test must treat it, depends on your state.

      California rule: A landlord can’t refuse you because you’d pay part of the rent with a Section 8 voucher or other housing subsidy.

      Cal. Gov. Code § 12955

    • A holding deposit takes the unit off the market for you. Before paying, get in writing: the amount, how many days it holds the unit, whether it’s credited to your first month or deposit, and what happens to it if you back out, the landlord backs out, or your application is denied.

      Watch out for: “Non-refundable no matter what,” paid before you’ve seen the lease.

    • You can’t judge a lease you first see at the signing table. Ask for a PDF of the lease plus every addendum, rules page and policy it mentions.

      Watch out for: “We’ll go over it when you come in to sign,” or only a one-page summary.

  2. 2. At the viewing

    Bring a phone charger and 20 minutes

    • Model units are staged and often newly renovated. Ask which unit number will be on your lease and tour that one. If it’s still occupied, get its condition and any promised work written into the lease.

    • Weak pressure, slow drains and a long wait for hot water are rarely fixed after you sign. Look under every sink for stains, warping, buckets or fresh patches.

    • Electric baseboard heat, old windows or window AC units can push bills far past what the rent suggests. Find the thermostat and the heat source. In a cold climate, ask when the building turns the heat on.

      Ask: “Is heat included, and what did the last tenant pay for it in winter?”

    • Brown rings, bubbling paint and a musty smell point to leaks or mold. One freshly painted patch on a ceiling is worth asking about.

    • Look inside kitchen cabinets, under the sink and behind the fridge and stove for droppings, traps or bait stations.

      Ask: “Has this unit or building been treated for pests in the past year, and for what?”

    • Plug your charger into outlets in each room. Every window should open, close and lock, and the entry door should have a working deadbolt.

      Ask: “Will the locks be changed before I move in?”

    • Missing or dead detectors are a safety problem and a preview of how maintenance is handled.

    • Thick walls and basement units can kill reception. Look the address up on the FCC broadband map to see which providers and speeds are actually available, especially if you work from home.

      FCC National Broadband Map

    • A quiet weekday tour hides bar traffic, a busy upstairs neighbor, a lit parking lot or a dark walk from the bus. Walk the block after dark.

    • If something promised at the tour (new carpet, a repaired window, an appliance) isn’t done at move-in, your photos show what you were shown.

  3. 3. Questions to ask the landlord or manager

    At the viewing, or by email so you have it in writing

    • You want a name or portal, an after-hours number, and a sense of how long routine repairs take.

      Ask: “If the heat or water stops on a Saturday night, who do I call and how fast does someone come?”

      Watch out for: Only a personal cell number with no backup, or “just text me.”

    • Amenity, trash, technology, pest, parking, pet and “utility billing” fees can add hundreds a month. Get every recurring charge listed in writing so you can compare apartments on total cost.

    • Ask for recent bills or monthly averages. If your meter also serves common areas or other units, ask in writing what it covers.

    • The renewal increase is often the biggest cost of staying a second year. In New York City, also ask whether the unit is rent stabilized.

    • Ask about the lease-break fee, notice required, and whether you can sublet or find a replacement tenant. Get the answer from the lease, not a verbal promise.

    • Compare the answer with your state’s notice rule and with what the lease says.

      California rule: Except in an emergency, entry needs reasonable written notice (24 hours is presumed reasonable) and must be during normal business hours.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1954

    • Move-in and moving-elevator fees, quiet hours, guest limits and package rules often live in a separate document the lease says you agree to.

    • Ask for the move-out checklist and any standard cleaning, painting or carpet charges before you sign, not after.

    • You’ll need the owner’s or manager’s legal name and mailing address for repair requests in writing, your forwarding address, deposit disputes and any formal notice. Make sure it’s in the lease.

  4. 4. Add up the real cost

    Before you commit

    • First month, last month, deposit, broker fee, application and admin fees, pet deposit, parking, key fobs, moving-elevator deposit. Then check the deposit against your state’s limit.

      California rule: All deposits together (security, last month’s rent, pet, cleaning) can’t exceed one month’s rent, except up to two months from a small landlord owning two or fewer properties with four or fewer units total.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5

    • Rent plus every mandatory fee, average utilities, renters insurance, parking and pet rent. Two apartments with the same rent can be hundreds of dollars a month apart.

    • “One month free” is usually a discount spread over the lease, while the lease itself states the full rent. Renewal increases, late fees and lease-break charges are often calculated from that full figure. Ask how the concession is applied and get it in writing.

      Ask: “Will the lease show the full rent or the discounted rent, and what will my renewal be based on?”

    • Some buildings split one shared bill among units by a formula based on square footage or number of occupants (often called RUBS, ratio utility billing), not on what you use. Conserving won’t lower it. Ask how it’s calculated and what a similar unit pays.

    • Many leases require a minimum liability amount and naming the landlord as an “interested party.” Get a quote before you sign so it’s in your budget.

    • Standard renters insurance usually doesn’t cover flood damage to your belongings. Look the address up on FEMA’s flood map. Flood coverage for renters is sold separately through the National Flood Insurance Program and generally takes effect 30 days after you buy it.

      FEMA Flood Map Service CenterFloodSmart: flood insurance for renters

    • Find the due date, grace period and late fee in the lease and compare them with your state’s rule.

      California rule: A late fee is void unless it’s a genuine advance estimate of the landlord’s real, hard-to-calculate losses. There’s no percentage safe harbor.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1671

  5. 5. Read the lease, clause by clause

    With the full lease and addenda in hand

    • Every adult who’ll live there should be on the lease, the unit number should be the one you saw, and the start date should match when you can actually move in.

      Ask: “What happens, and what do I pay, if the unit isn’t ready on the start date?”

    • That phrase usually means each of you can be held responsible for the full rent and any damage, not just your share. If a roommate leaves, you may owe their part. Agree in writing among yourselves how you’ll handle it.

    • Watch for clauses making you responsible for “all repairs” or appliances, or saying you accept the unit “as-is.” In many states a lease can’t take away the landlord’s duty to keep the home livable.

      Lease clauses California law won’t enforce

    • Compare it with your state’s notice rule.

      Watch out for: “At any time,” “without notice,” or “with or without Tenant present.”

      California rule: Except in an emergency, entry needs reasonable written notice (24 hours is presumed reasonable) and must be during normal business hours.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1954

    • Some leases renew automatically, or switch to month-to-month at a higher rent, unless you give notice 30, 60 or 90 days before the end. Miss that date and you may be committed to another term.

    • Look for a fixed lease-break fee, how much notice you must give, whether you keep paying until the unit is re-rented, and whether you may sublet. Several states limit these fees or require the landlord to try to re-rent.

      California rule: A preset lease-break, reletting or early-termination fee is a void penalty unless it’s a genuine estimate of losses that would be hard to calculate. Because the landlord’s loss from an early move-out (rent until the unit is re-rented, less what it could reasonably avoid) can be calculated, a flat fee generally can’t be enforced. Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking and other listed crimes can end the lease by written notice with documentation, owing no more than 14 days’ rent after the notice, and can’t be made to forfeit the deposit for leaving. You can also end the lease early if, after you ask, the landlord doesn’t provide quiet possession or make repairs it owes within a reasonable time, or if most of the home is destroyed through no lack of care on your part; if the home is destroyed, the lease ends.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1671Cal. Civ. Code § 1951.2Cal. Civ. Code § 1946.7Cal. Civ. Code § 1932Cal. Civ. Code § 1933

      Lease clauses California law won’t enforce

    • Late, returned-payment, lockout, key replacement, “administrative,” pet, guest, parking and move-out charges. Any fee you didn’t hear about at the tour is worth asking about before you sign.

    • Flat cleaning, painting or carpet charges apply no matter how you leave the place. Several states don’t allow deposits to be kept for normal wear and tear.

      Lease clauses California law won’t enforce

    • Clauses excusing the landlord’s own negligence, waiving a jury, making you pay the landlord’s legal fees, or letting the landlord lock you out are among the most common terms a state’s law won’t enforce.

      Lease clauses California law won’t enforce

    • A line like “Tenant agrees to the Community Policies” makes another document part of your lease. Ask for each one: house rules, parking, pet, amenity and move-in or move-out policies.

    • Guest limits, bans on nails, painting or mounting a TV, and pet restrictions are common sources of fines and deposit deductions.

    • A blank can be filled in after you sign. Anything promised at the tour (painting, an appliance, a repair, parking) belongs in the lease or a signed addendum with a completion date.

    • Our free scan reads every clause, including addenda, and flags the ones your state’s law doesn’t allow, with the statute behind each flag.

      Scan my California lease free

  6. 6. Signing and paying

    The day you sign

    • A copy with only your signature isn’t proof of what the landlord agreed to. Keep a PDF and a printed copy.

    • Check or bank transfer to the business named on the lease. If you pay cash, insist on a written receipt showing the amount, date and what it was for.

    • Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead paint and hazards, give you the EPA lead pamphlet, and include a lead warning statement in the lease. It matters most if a child or pregnant person will live there.

      Federal law, every state

      42 U.S.C. § 4852d

    • Get a receipt, ask how the deposit is held, and note the return deadline in your state.

      California rule: All deposits together (security, last month’s rent, pet, cleaning) can’t exceed one month’s rent, except up to two months from a small landlord owning two or fewer properties with four or fewer units total.

      Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5

    • Lost key and fob charges are common at move-out. A dated note of what you were given settles it.

  7. 7. Move-in day and the first week

    Before you unpack

    • Walls, floors, appliances, inside cabinets, windows and bathrooms, with timestamps. Email them to yourself and the landlord so there’s a dated record.

    • Note every scratch, stain and broken item, sign it, and keep a copy. In some states it carries legal weight: in Washington, for example, a landlord can’t keep a deposit at all without a signed move-in checklist.

    • Put every problem in one email or portal request in the first days, so there’s a dated record that it was there before you.

    • A day-one meter reading keeps you from paying the last tenant’s usage.

    • Not the day you remember to buy it. (Flood coverage, if you need it, takes 30 days to start.)

    • Knowing where these are turns a midnight leak from a disaster into an inconvenience.

Clauses to watch for in a California lease

These terms show up in real leases but California law voids or limits them. If you see one, ask for it to be struck before you sign.

Legal in California, even if it feels unfair: two months’ deposit from a small landlord; a no-sublet clause, at the state level.

Questions renters ask

What should I check before signing a lease in California?

Check four things. That the landlord is real and your payment is safe. The unit itself: water, heat, leaks, pests, locks and cell signal. The true cost: every recurring fee, utilities, and how any free month is applied. And the lease terms that cost money later: renewal deadlines, early termination, move-out charges, roommate liability and any rights you’d give up. Then compare the fees and deposit with California’s limits.

What questions should I ask a landlord before signing?

Who handles repairs and emergencies; every charge you’ll pay monthly besides rent; what utilities cost over the last year; how renewal increases are decided; what happens if you leave early; how they’ll notify you before entering; which building rules you’ll have to follow; what’s charged at move-out; and the legal name and address for notices.

What do most renters forget to check?

The items generic checklists skip: check cell signal inside, and which internet providers serve the address; what is the legal name and address for notices?; if there’s a free month, check which rent the lease states; ask how water, sewer and trash are billed; for basement and ground-floor units, check the flood map; with roommates, look for “jointly and severally”; find the renewal and notice-to-leave deadlines, and put them in your calendar today; get every document the lease “incorporates by reference”; photograph the utility meters and put accounts in your name.

Is there a limit on application fees in California?

A screening fee is capped at $30 per applicant, adjusted only for inflation since 1998, and must cover real screening costs. You’re owed an itemized receipt.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in California?

All deposits together (security, last month’s rent, pet, cleaning) can’t exceed one month’s rent, except up to two months from a small landlord owning two or fewer properties with four or fewer units total.

When can a landlord charge a late fee in California?

A late fee is void unless it’s a genuine advance estimate of the landlord’s real, hard-to-calculate losses. There’s no percentage safe harbor.

How much notice does a California landlord need before entering?

Except in an emergency, entry needs reasonable written notice (24 hours is presumed reasonable) and must be during normal business hours.

Can a California landlord refuse a housing voucher?

A landlord can’t refuse you because you’d pay part of the rent with a Section 8 voucher or other housing subsidy.

Can I end a lease early in California?

A preset lease-break, reletting or early-termination fee is a void penalty unless it’s a genuine estimate of losses that would be hard to calculate. Because the landlord’s loss from an early move-out (rent until the unit is re-rented, less what it could reasonably avoid) can be calculated, a flat fee generally can’t be enforced. Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking and other listed crimes can end the lease by written notice with documentation, owing no more than 14 days’ rent after the notice, and can’t be made to forfeit the deposit for leaving. You can also end the lease early if, after you ask, the landlord doesn’t provide quiet possession or make repairs it owes within a reasonable time, or if most of the home is destroyed through no lack of care on your part; if the home is destroyed, the lease ends.

Is every clause enforceable once I sign the lease?

No. Each state’s law voids certain lease terms even when you’ve signed them, such as illegal fees or clauses waiving rights the law gives you. Which terms are void depends on your state.

Can I print this checklist?

Yes. Use the Print button at the top. The printed copy includes California’s rules on application fees, deposits, late fees and entry next to the items they affect.

Everything we check in a California leaseCompare all 9 states

LeasePatrol provides rental law information, not legal advice, and is not a law firm. State rules here describe the law as of the “updated” date above; if you’re facing an eviction or a lawsuit, talk to a tenant lawyer or your local legal aid office.