Two new California laws tighten self-storage lien notices and pricing disclosure

California’s governor approved two bills affecting self-storage operators on October 6, 2025, according to the bill texts published by the state legislature. SB 709 states it applies to rental agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2026; AB 498 does not state its own effective date, but under California’s default rule for statutes without an urgency clause, it also takes effect that day.

AB 498 amends the state’s Self-Service Storage Facility Act to give owners four ways to prove an emailed lien notice was delivered and received, not one: an electronic signature; delivery to the occupant’s email plus evidence they viewed or acknowledged it; delivery through a secured app plus evidence they logged in and viewed it; or a reply from the occupant’s own email address. Without one of these, the owner must resend the notice by mail, replacing a standard built only around logging into a secure website.

SB 709 adds a new section requiring rental agreements to disclose, on their first page in larger or contrasting type, whether the rent is promotional or discounted, how long a discount lasts, and the maximum rent the owner could charge in the tenant’s first 12 months, along with the steps needed to cancel and avoid future charges. It applies to agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2026.