Salinas residents react to new law that caps rental security deposits

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV): A handful of state laws went into effect this Monday. One giving more protection to renters.

Starting Monday, certain landlords will no longer be able to charge tenants more than one month's rent for a security deposit. This is after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill putting a cap on security deposits statewide.

"[I] feel that's fair," said Carlos Hernandez, who is a renter in Salinas. "It's pretty good on our part as well, because it's pretty expensive and I think a lot of people can use that money towards other needs."

The bill stops the practice of California landlords charging two times or even three times the monthly rent as a security deposit. Something that Hernandez said he had to do before AB-12 went into effect.

The bill does make some exceptions, however.

Those exemptions are for landlords who own no more than two rental properties with a collective total of four units or fewer, and who are "a natural person or a limited liability company in which all members are natural persons," according to the law.

While many tenants are happy about the new law and think California is moving in the right direction, some brokers in Salinas are worried it will create challenges for property owners. ​

"If a tenant didn't pay their rent, then we could try to recoup that one month's rent," said Amy Salmina, broker and owner of Coast & Valley Properties. "The other expenses--hoping that they left [the rental] in great condition--[will] need to cover the cost of cleaning up [because] expenses will end up coming out of the property owner's pocket."

Salmina also said the law will create more challenges for tenants in the future.

"[They will try] to find the best tenant because they're going to try to get somebody in there that they feel they're going to have the least amount of risk for," said Salmina.

For people like Josiah Gonzales who is looking to become a renter soon, he said this law comes at a right time. "I think that charging tenants three times the rent is a big problem and it was always a big problem," said Gonzales.

California now joins 11 other states in the country to limit security deposits to only one month’s rent, according to Times of San Diego.