Across the country, lawmakers are focused on housing affordability and tenant protections. One of the top issues is fee transparency in rental housing. For owners and operators of apartment communities, this means rules and regulations on how both mandatory and optional fees are disclosed to prospective renters.

In this post, we highlight fee transparency laws passed so far in the 2025 legislative session. 

This post is an abridged version of a lengthier article found in the Entrata Help Center (Entrata Help Center > Compliance > Fee Transparency). In the full version, we also summarize legislation passed prior to 2025. 

Important Note: This post is not legal advice. We strongly encourage you to consult with your local counsel for advice on your legal obligations and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

An Active 2025 Legislative Session

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Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington passed fee transparency laws and implemented regulations which affect the multifamily industry. A high-level summary follows below.

Colorado - HB25-1090 (2025)

Signed into law on April 21, 2025, HB25-1090 (also known as Concerning Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices Act) aims to clarify and reiterate the law governing landlord obligations in setting and communicating the price of rent and other costs associated with a rental agreement. With an effective date of January 1, 2026, the act will join the many deceptive pricing laws enacted in the 2025 legislative cycle.
Starting with fee disclosure requirements, when advertising a rental unit, landlords must include all mandatory fees and charges in a single total price that is more prominent than any other pricing information. 

Additionally, landlords are prohibited from charging tenants the cost of utilities that are above the amount charged by the utility provider for the services to the tenant’s unit or fees that increases by more then two percent over the course of a rental agreement of one year or less, except for the cost of the utilities provided to the tenant’s dwelling unit. 

Landlords are also prohibited from charging: 

• Property taxes or other landlord obligations which are necessary to comply with a landlord’s responsibilities (such as providing a habitable living environment);
• Fees related to payment processing (unless there is a fee-free option and is reasonably accessible);
• Fees related to the late payment of a fee, charge, or amount that is not rent; and
• Fees related to maintenance of common areas.

This bill preserves the ability for landlords to pass-through third-party vendor fees (including those charged by utilities providers) originally provided in HB23-1095 (2023), by allowing landlords to charge a markup of two percent of the amount the landlord was billed or an amount less than $10 per month. These fees must be included in the lease. 

Connecticut - SB No. 3 (2025)

Signed into law on June 3, 2025, with an effective date of July 1, 2026, SB No. 3 introduces new fee disclosure requirements. Businesses are required to advertise the total price, including any fees, charges, or costs, that are required to purchase or lease a good or service. Additionally, the bill prohibits businesses from requiring a consumer to pay a fee unless such fee is disclosed. Certain fees are excluded from initial disclosure, including those which depend on a person’s selections or “cannot be feasibly” calculated in full when the price is first advertised, so long as the existence of such fee is disclosed and the amount is disclosed prior to purchase.

Massachusetts - 940 CMR 38.00 (2025)

The Massachusetts Attorney General introduced new regulations related to “junk fees” (940 CMR 38) under the state’s Consumer Protection Law in March of 2025, with an effective date of September 2, 2025. The regulations establish certain requirements related to disclosing fees in a transaction. 

The regulations require businesses who advertise in Massachusetts to clearly and conspicuously present the total price of the good or service advertised for sale. A landlord may advertise the total price as the monthly rent if the full period of the lease agreement is also disclosed. Additionally, when the total price is presented, mandatory and optional fees charged or other expenses must also be disclosed.  If the fees are optional, the seller must disclose “readily available” instructions on how to avoid such fees. Finally, the seller must disclose the total price of any good or service prior to requiring a consumer to provide any personal information (including billing information).

Virginia - HB 2430 (2025)

Passed with an effective date of July 1, 2025, HB 2430 requires Virginia landlords to provide, beginning on the first page of the written lease agreement, an itemized list of all charges to the tenant that comprise: 

• The security deposit;
• the amount of rent due per payment period pursuant to the lease agreement; and
• any additional one-time charges due prior to the commencement date of the rental agreement or that will be included in the first rental payment. 
  
  

Keeping an Eye on What’s Next

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The following fee transparency laws are under consideration in a number of states in the current legislative session. Note that there may be other aspects of the law which may impact landlords; however, the focus of this post is on fee transparency.

California AB 1248 - Fees Permitted to be Charged (Proposed)

A significant impact of AB 1248 is that certain charges which are commonly passed back to residents today by RUBs or flat fees —such as trash, pest control, hot water, and even services like valet trash and common area electric or gas—would instead need to be included in the rent. An amendment to the bill, introduced on 6/2/2025, pushes out the effective date from January 1, 2026 to April 1, 2026 and leaves room for limited RUBs for water and sewer billing under a number of qualifications.  This marks a substantial shift from current practices and would affect how budgets are set and revenues are structured. Perhaps most importantly, non-compliance with the provisions of AB 1248 could result in steep penalties. 

Nevada - AB 280

Nevada AB 280 is currently before the governor and would require landlords to disclose “a clear and concise explanation of each fee” that may be charged during the tenancy in a “separate appendix.” Previously, the law required landlords to disclose mandatory fees. Now, optional fees are required to be disclosed as well. Further, for each fee, the appendix must explain that for “variable” fees, the cost is the actual cost incurred, and that no additional fee will be added unless it is a charge incurred by the tenant; and that for “fixed” fees, the current cost. Landlords are prohibited from charging any fee that is not listed in the appendix.

Visit the Entrata Help Center for Additional Info

Please visit Entrata Help Center > Compliance > Fee Transparency for the full article regarding fee transparency, including a look into recently passed legislation and several laws being considered.