Rental Fee Disclosure Rules Just Changed. Here's Where They Apply.

Since October 1, 2026, housing providers in Austin, Texas, that rent or manage 50 or more homes must give prospective tenants a written, itemized list of every mandatory, optional and estimated variable fee before they quote rent or accept an application. If you rent from a covered landlord in Austin, or anywhere in Colorado, Connecticut or New York City, required fees must now be built into the price you see or listed in writing before you commit. Elsewhere there is no national rule yet, so whether you get a fee breakdown, a flood-history notice or a bedbug disclosure depends on your state and city.

Key takeaways

Austin's ordinance (approved May 28, 2026) covers providers with 50 or more dwellings from October 1, 2026 and those with 5 to 49 from January 1, 2027; smaller landlords are exempt.
Colorado's HB25-1090 has required landlords to disclose the total price, including mandatory fees, since January 1, 2026. Connecticut folds recurring fees into advertised rent, and New York City requires a signed, itemized fee disclosure before the lease.
California has no rental-specific all-in rent law: AB 1248 died on February 2, 2026. Its deposit cap, photo and screening-fee rules do apply.
Texas, New York and New Jersey require written flood disclosures for many residential leases, and each notice warns that standard renter's insurance typically does not cover flood damage.
The FTC asked for comment on a national rental-fee rule in March 2026; no proposed rule had followed as of October 14, 2026.

What it means for you

Details and conditions for each are in the sections below.

Renters anywhere: ask for the total monthly cost, including every required fee, in writing before paying an application fee; outside the places below, the landlord may not have to volunteer it.
Renters in Austin: larger landlords must hand you an itemized fee list before quoting rent or taking an application; buildings with 5 to 49 units follow on January 1, 2027.
Renters in Colorado: the price disclosed must be the total including mandatory fees, and some fees are banned outright.
Renters in Connecticut: recurring fees belong in the advertised rent, and since April 1, 2026 a written lease must open with a standardized terms summary.
Renters in New York City: you sign an itemized fee disclosure before the lease and get a one-year bedbug history; leases across New York State carry a flood disclosure.
Renters in California: deposits are generally capped at one month's rent, move-in photos are required, and screening-fee rules tightened in 2025.
Renters in Washington: you get a written screening notice before any background check, or the landlord can't charge for screening.
People in flood-prone areas: Texas, New York, New Jersey and, in narrower cases, California require written flood disclosures.
Small landlords: Austin exempts those with fewer than five homes, New Jersey's flood notice exempts the smallest buildings, and California lets qualifying small landlords take two months' deposit.

Where rent must show all fees

A "junk fee" is a mandatory charge added on top of the advertised price, such as a monthly amenity fee. The new rules mostly don't ban these fees; they make landlords show them before you commit.

Where	Rule	Applies	Key conditions
Austin, Texas	Itemized written fee list before quoting rent or accepting applications; ads show rent plus recurring fixed fees	Oct 1, 2026 (50+ units); Jan 1, 2027 (5–49 units, mobile home and RV spaces)	Fewer than five dwellings exempt; damage and lease-violation fees not covered
Colorado	Total price, including mandatory fees, must be disclosed; certain fees banned	Jan 1, 2026	Landlords need not state actual utility amounts; unlawful fees can be challenged with a written demand
Connecticut	Advertised rent must include all periodic fees, prorated, even opt-out fees charged by default	In force; lease summary form required from Apr 1, 2026	Pet fees, submetered or directly billed utilities, damage charges, one-off services such as lockouts, and payment-processing fees (if a free option exists) may be left out
New York City	All tenant-paid fees shown in listings; signed itemized disclosure before the lease	June 11, 2025	Landlord's broker can't charge the tenant; background and credit check fees are not banned
California	No rental-specific all-in rent rule	AB 1248 died Feb 2, 2026	General hidden-fee law since July 1, 2024; state guidance doesn't address leases

Austin: what the list must include

The City of Austin's ordinance page splits fees into three groups: mandatory (rent plus required charges such as trash, amenities, pest control, renter's insurance, and application or move-in fees), optional (such as pet or parking fees) and variable (estimated ranges for usage-based costs like utilities). For 2026–27 the city gives typical utility estimates of $120.73 a month for Austin Energy and $107.67 for Austin Water, about $228 combined.

Colorado: a demand letter with a deadline

Under the Colorado General Assembly's summary of HB25-1090, signed April 21, 2025, a violation is a deceptive trade practice. A tenant charged a prohibited fee can send a written demand for reimbursement or refuse to pay; if the landlord doesn't pay or stop charging within 14 days, it owes actual damages plus 18% annual interest.

Penalties in Connecticut, rules in NYC

Under Connecticut's General Statutes section 47a-7d, a landlord who breaks the rule owes the tenant a civil penalty of one month's rent, and a court may add attorney's fees. New York City's FARE Act guidance says the landlord keeps your signed fee disclosure for three years and gives you a copy.

California: what did not pass

California's AB 1248 would have required advertised rent to include all required fees; it died on February 2, 2026. The general Honest Pricing Law (SB 478) has banned prices that omit mandatory fees since July 1, 2024, but the Attorney General's examples are tickets, short-term rentals and hotels, not apartment leases.

Illustrative example. A listing shows $1,650 a month, but required fees add $110 a month (trash $25, amenities $45, valet trash $30, pest control $10), plus a one-time $75 application fee and $250 administration fee. The real monthly cost is $1,760, or 6.7% more than advertised, and the first year costs $21,445 against $19,800 implied by the ad: a gap of $1,645.

In Colorado the total price must be disclosed, and in Connecticut the $110 must be built into the advertised rent. In Austin, a covered landlord must list each fee next to the $1,650 rent.

Monthly total = advertised rent + sum of mandatory monthly fees
First-year cost = (monthly total × 12) + one-time mandatory fees
  mandatory fees: charges you can't decline to rent the unit
  one-time fees: application, administration or move-in charges

Flood notices before you sign

Texas. Under Property Code section 92.0135, in effect since January 1, 2022, the landlord must say in a separate written notice, at or before lease signing, whether it is aware the home is in a 100-year floodplain (homes elevated above flood level are excepted), and must also tell you if it knows flooding has damaged the home in the past five years. If the landlord violates the rule and flooding causes a substantial loss to your belongings (repair or replacement cost of 50% or more of their market value), you can end the lease by written notice within 30 days of the loss and get back any rent paid in advance for the period after the lease ends.
New York. Real Property Law section 231-b applies to every residential lease. The lease must state whether the unit is in a FEMA 100-year or 500-year flood area and disclose damage from natural flood events, such as heavy rain, storm surge or river overflow, that the landlord knows or reasonably should know of.
New Jersey. Landlords must give written notice of flood risk before a lease is signed or renewed, using the state's model form, with forms in use from March 20, 2024, according to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. Buildings with two or fewer units, owner-occupied buildings of up to three units, and hotels and seasonal guest houses are exempt.
California. For rental agreements entered into after July 1, 2018, an owner who actually knows the unit is in a special flood hazard area or an area of potential flooding must disclose it, according to the state's 2025 California Tenants guide from the Department of Real Estate.

Even without a notice, you can look up any address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center.

Deposits, screening and notices

Lead-paint, smoke-alarm and other safety disclosures and repair rights are separate rules and are not covered here.

California

Deposit cap. Since July 1, 2024, most landlords may charge no more than one month's rent as a security deposit, with pet, key or cleaning deposits counted toward it; qualifying small landlords may take two months (see FAQ).
Photos. For tenancies starting on or after July 1, 2025, the landlord must photograph the unit at move-in. Since April 1, 2025, it must also photograph it after move-out and before and after any repairs it deducts for.
Screening fees. Since January 1, 2025, a screening fee is allowed only if the landlord gives you its screening process in writing and considers applications in the order received. If someone else is picked first, the fee comes back within 7 days of that choice or 30 days after you applied, whichever is sooner.
Bedbugs. Before a new tenancy, the landlord must give a written bedbug notice and can't rent a unit with a known infestation until it is cleared.

Source for all four: the Department of Real Estate's tenant guide.

Washington

Before obtaining any screening information, a Washington landlord must tell you in writing what it will check, what could lead to denial, and whether it accepts a reusable screening report, under RCW 59.18.257. If it skips that notice, it can't charge for screening, and it can be liable to you for up to $100, with court costs and reasonable attorney's fees going to whichever side wins.

New York City

The city's housing agency, HPD, says state law requires owners to disclose one year of bedbug infestation history to new tenants on the Bedbug Disclosure Form.

What federal agencies are doing

No federal rule specifically requires landlords to show total rent, though the FTC has pursued large rental companies over fees left out of advertised rent. On March 12, 2026, the FTC announced an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on rental housing fees, covering fees from application to move-out, including whether total rent with all mandatory fees is disclosed. The notice was published in the Federal Register on March 13, 2026, with comments due April 13, 2026.

An advance notice comes before a proposed rule, so nothing in it binds landlords yet, and as of October 14, 2026 no proposed rule had been published. The FTC cited two cases: Invitation Homes agreed to pay $48 million, and Greystar agreed in a December 2025 settlement with the FTC and Colorado to pay $24 million, $23 million of it for consumer refunds.

Frequently asked questions

Can a landlord still charge these fees if it discloses them?

Mostly, yes. Austin's, Connecticut's and New York City's rules govern how fees are shown, not their size, apart from New York City's ban on tenants paying the landlord's broker; Colorado also bars certain fees outright. Austin's process does not reimburse tenants for undisclosed fees.

Does a flood notice mean I need flood insurance?

No law requires a renter to buy it, but the Texas, New York and New Jersey notices all warn that most renter's policies don't cover flood losses. New York leases and New Jersey's flood notice must also mention flood insurance available to renters through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program.

Do I get a copy of the screening report I paid for?

In California, a landlord that obtains your consumer credit report must give you a copy within seven days of receiving it. In Washington, if the landlord will use a consumer report, the pre-screening notice must name the reporting agency and tell you that you can get a free copy if you are denied or face another adverse action, and can dispute errors. In other states, ask before paying whether you will receive a copy and which agency prepares the report.

Can a California landlord ask for two months' deposit?

Only a small landlord can: an individual, or an LLC owned by individuals, renting out no more than two properties with four or fewer units in total. Even then, a service member can be charged no more than one month's rent. Since April 1, 2025, any landlord that charges a service member a higher deposit must explain why in writing and return the extra after six months of on-time rent.

Where do I complain if a landlord hides fees?

Austin's investigators take complaints by online form or at 512-974-3251, and New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection takes them through an online form. In Colorado, a violation is a deceptive trade practice under the state Consumer Protection Act, and a tenant can send the landlord a written demand that starts the 14-day deadline; Connecticut tenants can sue for the one-month-rent penalty. Elsewhere, start with your state consumer protection office.

Before you sign: a checklist

Get the total monthly cost in writing: rent, every fee you can't decline, a utility estimate, and which fees are optional.
Get the screening criteria and application fee in writing before paying.
Look for the flood notice in Texas, New York, New Jersey or California, and check FEMA's map anyway.
Compare the deposit with your state's cap, and take dated move-in photos.
Save the listing screenshot and any fee disclosure you sign as evidence.

This article is general educational information, not legal advice. For a dispute over a specific lease, a local tenant-rights organization or a licensed attorney in your state can apply these rules to your situation.