If you owned rentals in only one state, the last eighteen months still probably changed your paperwork. If you own across state lines, they rewrote your checklist. Since January 2025, more than forty states have passed, published, or court-decided something that touches deposits, notices, fees, or evictions. Here is the cross-country tour, organized by what actually changed, with bill numbers so you can verify everything yourself.
Rent caps arrived in the Northwest, and D.C. tightened its math
Washington became the second state with true statewide rent stabilization. HB 1217 took effect at signing in May 2025: increases are capped at the lesser of 7% plus inflation or 10% in any 12-month period, rent is frozen for a tenancy's first 12 months, and increase notices ride a 90-day statutory form (RCW 59.18.720). The Department of Commerce set the 2026 maximum at 9.683%. The details, exemptions included, are in our Washington guide.
Oregon, the first mover, published 9.5% as its 2026 statewide maximum under the SB 611 formula, and HB 3054 cut the cap to 6% for manufactured-home parks and marinas over 30 spaces. Our Oregon guide walks the exemptions. Washington, D.C. went further than any state: the RENTAL Act (D.C. Law 26-80, effective December 31, 2025) cut the nonpayment pre-filing notice from 30 days to 10, and the Rental Housing Commission published Rent Control Year 2026 caps of 4.1% for most stabilized units and 2.1% for elderly and disability tenants. New York City's Rent Guidelines Board set stabilized renewals at 3% for one-year leases starting October 2025, and St. Paul amended its 3% ordinance to exempt newer buildings.
Meanwhile, a dozen legislatures slammed that same door
The counter-trend is just as real. Missouri's HB 595 (effective August 28, 2025) preempts local tenant ordinances statewide, wiping out city deposit caps and source-of-income mandates, including most of Kansas City's 2023 ordinance. Arkansas stripped local governments of authority over application fees and deposit amounts (Act 459 of 2025). And the cap bills that made headlines mostly died: Oklahoma's SB 1296 (7% plus CPI) never left committee, Arizona's HB 2839 failed again, Utah's 60-day increase-notice bill HB 182 lost for the third straight year, and New Mexico's mobile-home cap HB 442 died. If a blog told you one of those passed, it didn't.
The squatter-removal wave kept rolling
Alabama's 2024 affidavit law turned out to be the template. In 2025 alone, Kentucky (HB 10), Mississippi (HB 1200), Idaho (HB 321), Indiana (SEA 157), West Virginia (HB 2434), and Wyoming (SF0006) all created sheriff-affidavit processes to remove never-authorized occupants without a full eviction case, and Tennessee extended its version to commercial property (SB 292). North Carolina followed in December 2025 with SL 2025-88: sheriff service within 24 hours, a hearing within 48. In 2026, Kansas (HB 2378, effective July 1) and South Carolina (Act No. 252, signed June 30) joined. Every one of these laws applies to true squatters only; a holdover tenant still goes through court, and a false affidavit is itself a crime in most versions.
Fees went transparent almost everywhere
The junk-fee wave hit rentals hard. Nevada's AB 121 (October 2025) requires advertising one all-in rent figure that includes mandatory fees. Colorado's HB 25-1090 (January 2026) does the same and bans residential CAM-style pass-throughs. New Jersey capped application fees at $50 (P.L. 2025, c. 405, effective May 2026); New Mexico's SB 267 did the same and also cut the late-fee ceiling from 10% to 5% of rent. New Hampshire now requires application fees above actual cost to be refunded (HB 1400) and, from January 2026, bans electronic-only rent payment (HB 309). Maine limited move-in charges to first month, deposit, and disclosed recurring fees (LD 1490). Rhode Island banned payment-method convenience fees. New York City's FARE Act ended tenant-paid broker fees for landlord-hired brokers, and Massachusetts did the equivalent statewide in its FY2026 budget: whoever hires the broker pays the broker. Virginia now wants every deposit, rent, and pre-move-in charge itemized on page one of the lease, and from July 2026 landlords there must accept checks and money orders and give receipts (HB 1005/SB 313).
Deposits: more documentation, faster clocks
California's AB 2801 phased in photo requirements: move-out and post-repair photos to support deductions from April 2025, move-in photos for new tenancies from July 2025. Colorado's HB 25-1249 (January 2026) wrote a statutory definition of normal wear and tear, restricted carpet and paint charges, and added a pre-surrender walk-through. Connecticut's return window is now 21 days (PA 23-207), Utah authorized electronic deposit returns (HB 480), and Louisiana's Act 63 adjusts itemization timing from August 2026. The 2024 caps that got less attention are still biting: Maryland landlords are limited to one month's deposit, Georgia landlords to two.
Notice math changed in six places you can't ignore
Virginia made the biggest move: the nonpayment pay-or-quit notice goes from 5 days to 14 on July 1, 2026 (HB 15/SB 48, Va. Code § 55.1-1245(F)); details in our Virginia guide. D.C. cut its nonpayment notice to 10 days. Hawaii's Act 278 moved nonpayment notices from 5 business days to 10 calendar days and routed copies to county mediation centers (February 2026). Texas overhauled eviction procedure wholesale with SB 38, effective January 2026: roughly 21-day trial settings and summary disposition, covered in our Texas guide. Maryland got its first statewide entry-notice rule (24 hours, October 2025), and New Hampshire finally made lease expiration an eviction ground for 12-month-plus leases, with 60 days' notice, from July 2026 (HB 60).
The quiet trend: eviction records are disappearing from screening
Massachusetts began sealing eviction records in May 2025. North Dakota created sealing for satisfied judgments (SB 2238). Indiana let courts order non-disclosure (SEA 142), Idaho shields dismissed cases filed since 2025 (SB 1327), Minnesota expanded expungement (2024 ch. 118), and South Carolina's H. 4270 seals resolved cases starting January 2027. If your screening relies on court-record evictions, expect thinner results in these states and lean harder on verified rental history and income.
What this means for your operation
Three practical takeaways. First, if you raised rent freely in Washington or Oregon before, put the published caps (9.683% and 9.5% for 2026) into your renewal process now. Second, audit your fees against your state's new disclosure rules; the all-in advertising laws in Nevada and Colorado carry real penalties. Third, recheck your notice templates: a Virginia 5-day notice served on July 2, 2026 is void, and a D.C. 30-day habit now just delays your own filing by three weeks. Every one of our 51 state guides was rewritten this month with the current statute citations, so start from the state law library or your state's page; Rentari's compliance autopilot also tracks these deadlines per property. The one-page statutory quick references live at /laws for every state.
This roundup is general information, not legal advice. Bill numbers and effective dates were verified against official legislative sources in July 2026, but statutes move and courts reinterpret them; confirm the current text of any law before acting on it.