As 2025 draws to a close, policymakers at all levels of government prioritized solutions to address housing affordability for renters this year. States and localities remain a hotbed for activity, focusing much attention on regulating rent housing costs and prescribing how and when fees and other charges associated with tenancy are disclosed to renters.
These efforts ignore communications that occur throughout the leasing process and disclosures in lease documents, and often lose sight of the rationale for assessing fees and other charges. They do not reflect the ever-rising costs to own and operate rental housing and provide a quality housing experience to renters.
By The Numbers
NAA tracked 140 fee-related bills for the 2025 legislative session, along with 6 proposals at the local level. This year, 56 bills pertaining to fees have failed.
NAA’s legislative tracker shows that fee transparency mandates are the leading fee regulation trend for 2025. Across the nation, 30 states do not impose any requirements for fee disclosure; however:
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10 states and Washington, D.C. have laws on the books that requires complete disclosure of all fees, meaning that all possible fees must be itemized, and their price be listed prior to lease-signing;
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4 states require the disclosure of the “total price” of fees, meaning that fees must be combined with rent into a single maximum price when advertising the unit;
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2 states require disclosure of mandatory fees but not optional ones;
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2 states require disclosure of application fees; and
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1 state requires disclosure of utility fees.
State Outlook
Although numerous bills have failed this year, the fee disclosure laws listed below have either already been enacted or are scheduled to become effective in 2026:
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Colorado: Effective January 1, 2026, Colorado HB 25-1090 prohibits housing providers from offering, displaying or advertising housing costs as a single number without separating the total price into separate fees, charges or amounts. The total price also must be disclosed more prominently than other pricing information. According to the new law, a housing provider may not assess a fee to cover the costs for maintenance of common areas. They also may not require a resident to pay a markup or fee for a third-party service, "except that a written rental agreement may include a provision that requires a tenant to pay either a markup or fee in an amount that does not exceed two percent of the amount that the landlord was billed or a markup or fee in an amount that does not exceed a total of ten dollars per month, but not both.
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Connecticut: Effective October 1, 2025, Connecticut SB 3, requires housing providers to disclose rent, including fees, charges and costs that renters "shall be required to pay on a periodic basis" with exceptions for certain types of fees, including for pets, utilities and damages. This would impact advertisements or any other place that rent is displayed or offered.
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Massachusetts: Effective October 1 2025, Massachusetts H. 4761, landlord shall not impose a late fee for nonpayment of rent for a residential dwelling unit or furnish rental payment data to a consumer reporting agency, related to the nonpayment of rent, if, not later than 30 days after the missed rent payment, the tenant is an impacted federal worker and the nonpayment of rent was due to a significant financial impact from a federal government shutdown.
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Nevada: Effective October 1, 2025, Nevada AB 121 requires housing providers to offer at least one method of paying rent or fees that does not require the tenant to pay an additional fee for use. An option must also be available that does not require providing banking information. If the landlord allows the use of a website or online portal, they shall not “charge the tenant a fee to make a payment through the Internet website or online portal in an amount that exceeds the amount of any fee charged by the operator of the Internet website or online portal for the use of the Internet website or online portal”. Any fee charged to the tenant by the landlord for use of the website or online portal must be separately disclosed in the rental agreement.
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Oregon: Effective January 1, 2026, Oregon HB 3521 requires housing providers to disclose the amount of rent, fees, and deposits required for entering the lease agreement before receiving a security deposit.
Local Approaches
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Proposals in both San Diego, Calif. city and county would require landlords to disclose the total monthly rent and any fees in addition to rent in advertising, on their website, and in any document that lists rental cost. They may charge up to 5% of rent for fees that are in addition to monthly rent. In addition, landlords may charge late fees for the late payment of rent up to 2% of monthly rent. The proposal also prohibits landlords from charging pest control, valet trash, and pet ownership fees. These proposals were heard on October 30 for the city, and November 4 for the county, and have been directed to Counsel to draft an ordinance.
NAA’s Perspective
NAA will continue to work with its affiliate partners to support their advocacy at the state and local levels and remains the voice of the industry at the federal level. Recent actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appear to indicate the agency's willingness to regulate rental housing costs and fees and standardize their disclosure nationally.
Policymakers should pursue balanced housing policies that address the root causes of affordability challenges, namely, the underproduction of rental housing, while ensuring that providers retain the tools they need to operate that housing effectively.
NAA encourages members to consult their local counsel with questions related to fee transparency mandates. For more information on NAA’s advocacy, contact publicpolicy@naahq.org.