law that took effect Monday limits the amount landlords can require as a security deposit to one month’s rent, with some exceptions.This marks the first change to the state’s security deposit limit since 1977, when the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in California was $220 a month. The average rent has since skyrocketed nearly seven-fold to roughly $1,700 per month.Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
That exception does not apply to service members, who can now only be required to pay one month’s rent as a deposit regardless of the landlord’s properties.Mary Lundy is one of those renters impacted by the new law. She has to move out of her East Village apartment while her landlord repairs the building. Lundy said she’s struggling to find a new place to live, in part because she has to put up a security deposit and the first month’s rent on a fixed income.
Lickel said the law will primarily protect renters who have low credit because they’re the ones who are most often asked to put up several months of rent as a deposit — which Lundy has found to be true in her search. Lickel said those who already have a place to live are also protected under the new law from something he’s seen often: a landlord’s sudden request to change the terms of their lease.