Do Landlords Have to Provide a Refrigerator in California?

Yes. In California, landlords have to provide a refrigerator in almost every residential rental. Assembly Bill 628 took effect January 1, 2026, and added a working refrigerator and a working stove to the list of conditions a unit must meet to be legally habitable under Civil Code 1941.1.¹ Before this change, a landlord could hand you keys to a unit with no fridge and the place still counted as habitable. That is no longer true for most leases signed, renewed, or amended in 2026 or later.

What the Law Now Requires

Civil Code 1941.1 sets California’s baseline for a habitable rental. AB 628 added two items to that list: a stove that can safely generate heat for cooking, and a refrigerator capable of safely storing food, both kept in good working order.¹ A refrigerator now sits in the same legal category as running water, working locks, and adequate heat. If it isn’t there, or it doesn’t work, the unit fails the habitability standard.

The requirement applies to leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026.² If you signed before that date and your lease has not been renewed or modified since, the older rules still govern your agreement. Most leases turn over within a year or two, so that window is closing quickly.

Rentals That Are Exempt

AB 628 does not reach every type of housing. The law carves out four categories where a landlord is not required to supply a refrigerator:²

Buildings with communal kitchens, where residents share cooking facilities rather than having a kitchen inside each unit.
Single-room occupancy (SRO) units, which typically rent individual rooms without a full kitchen setup.
Hotels and other transient lodging, which operate under different regulatory standards.
Permanent supportive housing, which has its own operational rules.

If you rent a standard apartment, duplex, single-family home, or similar unit with its own kitchen, none of these exemptions apply to you. Your landlord must provide both a working refrigerator and a working stove.

When You Can Supply Your Own Refrigerator

The law allows one workaround. At the time of lease signing, you and your landlord can agree in writing that you will provide and maintain your own refrigerator. That agreement has to appear in the lease itself and has to put you on notice that you are taking on responsibility for keeping the appliance working.² A landlord cannot spring this on you after move-in and cannot force it on you at renewal without your agreement.

The option is refrigerator-only. There is no version of this deal for the stove; the landlord always has to provide that. And if you do agree to bring your own fridge, repairs are on you. A dying compressor or a failed door seal becomes your bill, not the landlord’s.

Keeping the Refrigerator Working During Your Tenancy

When the landlord provides the refrigerator, the duty to keep it working runs the entire length of the tenancy. Civil Code 1941.1 requires landlord-provided facilities to be maintained and functional, and a refrigerator that cannot hold a safe food-storage temperature fails that standard.¹

Normal wear and tear is the landlord’s problem. Compressors give out. Thermostats drift. Gaskets wear down. None of that is charged to you. The picture changes if you caused the damage yourself: Civil Code 1941.2 relieves the landlord of repair duties when the tenant’s own actions substantially contributed to the problem, such as misuse or neglect.³

An “as-is” clause will not save a landlord who wants out of appliance repairs. California’s warranty of habitability cannot be waived. Any lease language that tries to eliminate the landlord’s duty to maintain habitable conditions is void, and because the refrigerator is now part of that duty, a disclaimer aimed at appliances carries no legal weight.

What to Do If Your Landlord Won’t Provide or Fix the Refrigerator

Put the request in writing. An email or text is fine. What matters is that you create a dated record. Give the landlord a reasonable window to respond, keeping in mind that a fridge losing food is more urgent than a minor temperature swing.

If the landlord ignores you, California law gives you several remedies:

Repair and deduct. You can arrange the repair yourself and take the cost off your next rent payment. The repair cannot exceed one month’s rent, and you can only use this remedy twice in any 12-month period.⁴
Move out. If the landlord neglects repairs after reasonable notice and the condition makes the unit unlivable, you can vacate and stop paying rent.⁴
File a complaint with your local housing department or code enforcement agency. In Los Angeles, for example, tenants can report a landlord who refuses to provide the required appliances.
Sue in small claims court for losses tied to the failure, such as spoiled food or the cost of eating out while you had no way to store food.

The landlord cannot punish you for using any of these remedies. Civil Code 1942.5 bars retaliation, including rent hikes, cuts in services, and eviction attempts, for 180 days after you report a habitability issue or file a complaint with a government agency. Any waiver of those protections is void.⁵

If You Damage the Refrigerator

Damage beyond normal wear and tear is a different story. If you break a landlord-provided refrigerator, the landlord can deduct repair or replacement costs from your security deposit at move-out.⁶ Dented doors from moving furniture, broken shelves from overloading, and water damage from an ignored leak land on your side of the ledger.

Deposit exposure is worth thinking about because California capped most security deposits at one month’s rent under AB 12 in 2024. A narrow exception lets small landlords (natural persons who own no more than two rental properties with four or fewer units combined) collect up to two months’ rent.⁶ A refrigerator replacement can easily eat that whole deposit, and if it does, the landlord can pursue you for the balance. Photographing the fridge at move-in and noting its model and condition protects you against being charged for damage that was already there.

1
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1941.1
2
California Legislative Information. AB 628 (McKinnor)
3
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1941.2
4
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1942
5
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1942.5
6
Judicial Branch of California. Guide to Security Deposits in California