California Apartment Association

Heading to the Assembly floor is a bill aimed at ensuring tenants check their rental agreements before subletting their apartments via short-term home-sharing websites.

While subletting is typically forbidden in rental agreements, and can even lead to eviction, many tenants don’t know this.

SB 761 by Sen. Isadore Hall would put the onus on operators of home-sharing websites — such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Flipkey — to remind apartment renters to check their leases or ask their property managers before engaging in subletting. The hosting platforms would do this by posting an online notice that customers must acknowledge having read before listing a rental.

The bill, sponsored by the California Apartment Association, passed unanimously out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on June 30. If approved by the full Assembly, it will head to the governor’s desk.

Prohibitions on subleting exist for good reasons. Tenants who sublet their apartments often give out security codes and keys, and vacationers who rent the units use the common areas, such as swimming pools, parking spaces and workout rooms, at disproportionate levels. Neighboring tenants complain to landlords about noise and traffic.

Related content: 

• Senate approves CAA-sponsored Airbnb-related bill
• Airbnb-related bills make progress in Legislature