July 14, 2025
New Residential Property Management Laws: Leasing Compliance Shifts for Summer 2025
With the summer wave of state legislative adjournments ending, residential property managers are confronting a new landscape of regulatory obligations. Several states and municipalities have enacted or finalized laws and rules that directly affect lease terms, marketing practices, operational protocols, and fee structures. As of today, all but eight state legislatures have adjourned, with many leaving behind a flurry of activity in housing regulation. The following key developments previews what is ahead for operators navigating risk in a rapidly evolving compliance environment.
Colorado Leads the Charge on Fee and Price Disclosure
Colorado enacted a suite of reforms that reshape fee practices and marketing disclosures. Effective February 2026, rental housing providers must disclose the total price—including rent and all required fees—when marketing units. The law also prohibits charging tenants for routine pest control services and caps annual increases in fees at 2%. Separately, HB 1249—signed into law in early June—will tighten restrictions on permissible security deposit charges and increase property managers' disclosure obligations.
Efforts to overhaul Colorado's Anti-Discrimination in AI (ADAI) law fell short this session, but the Attorney General will initiate formal rulemaking to clarify disclosure obligations for developers and deployers of "high-risk" AI tools used in consequential decisions like rental screening. ADAI requirements, including detailed disclosure obligations for covered developers and deployers of AI used in high-risk decisions, are scheduled to take effect February 1, 2026.
Targeted Reforms in Virginia, Florida, Utah
Virginia amended its laws to relax staff licensing requirements for certain administrative leasing tasks. The state also narrowed its fee disclosure mandates—clarifying that only select charges must appear on the first page of the lease. These changes took effect July 1, 2025.
In Florida, lawmakers passed a measure enabling electronic notice delivery where agreed in the lease. The new rule, effective July 1, 2025, provides flexibility for digital communications related to tenancy.
Utah updated its AI communication disclosure law to require transparency at the outset of financial data collection or when delivering financial or legal advice through automated tools. This law could affect the use of AI-driven leasing assistants and financial or collections-related chatbots.
Washington State Adopts Rent Control, Extends Fee Restrictions
Washington adopted statewide rent control measures, limits on move-in fees and security deposits, and new restrictions on resident enrollment and opt-out of "nonessential services." The law limits the frequency and scope of discretionary charges that landlords may impose on tenants, including administrative and convenience fees. Washington localities such as Bellingham have also recently enacted ordinances requiring total price disclosures and limiting permissible fees, making the Evergreen State among the most active states in regulating fees in leasing practices.
Fee Transparency Gains Momentum in Cities and States
The FARE Act, New York City's sweeping fee transparency and broker fee ordinance, survived a legal challenge by the Real Estate Board of New York and is now in effect. The ordinance requires landlords to disclose the full cost of housing—including all non-optional fees—when advertised and requires applicants to sign an itemized fee disclosure prior to lease signing.
Massachusetts finalized a similar transparency rule, effective September 2025. It mandates disclosure of the total transaction cost in rental ads, requires disclosure of mandatory and optional fees, and requires landlords to list all charges before collecting personal information in the leasing process. Our previous Insight provides a detailed analysis of this rule.
New Mexico rental housing providers already fall under new laws requiring "published listings" to include "plain language" disclosures of "all costs of a rental agreement...including the base rent and a description of all fees or charges that will be assessed during the residency, which shall be itemized and readily identifiable in the listing." The law also puts new limits on applicant screening fees.
New fee transparency and fee limit laws also take effect October 1, 2025, in Connecticut and Nevada. Connecticut housing providers must include all recurring mandatory fees in advertised rent, subject to specified exclusions. Where a Nevada landlord "lists" an amount due under a rental agreement, and in any rental agreement, "rent" must reflect the maximum total amount of periodic rent, including any mandatory fees and base rent.
Rent Pricing Algorithms Under Scrutiny
Several cities, including San Francisco, San Diego, Berkeley, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis, have adopted ordinances that restrict the use of rent pricing algorithms. Most of these local rules generally prohibit reliance on non-public data sources when using an algorithm to set rental prices. Colorado passed a similar bill, which precludes the use of an algorithmic device that "uses, incorporates, or was trained with nonpublic competitor data." Adjacently, New York's general business law now requires new disclosures in ads with "personal algorithmic pricing."
California Expands Rent Reporting Obligations
Effective April 1, 2025, California law now requires most market-rate and affordable rental housing providers to offer tenants annually the ability to report rent payments to credit bureaus. The law aims to improve credit access for renters and has implications for property management systems and third-party service providers offering rent reporting solutions.
More to Come This Fall
Several key state legislatures - including California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania - remain in session through the Fall or are expected to continue to consider property management legislation in 2026, including bills affecting fee transparency and permissibility, resident services, background screening, and algorithmic decision-making. Join us on July 24 for our RPM Summer Wrap-Up Webinar to review final legislation, rulemaking, and enforcement trends across jurisdictions. Register here.