Landlords must offer renters ways to avoid online tenant portals

Landlords must accept rental applications outside their online portal and honor written requests for alternatives for certain paperwork. Application-copy rules cover landlords who accept applications through a portal. Written requests trigger alternatives for identity checks, signing agreements, and submitting rental documents. Landlords can still use a portal themselves. A covered person harmed by a violation is entitled to actual damages or $100, whichever is greater. A portal means a landlord-provided app, website, or digital platform; email and text messages are excluded. The law took effect June 5, 2026. Section 2 covers applications screened on or after that date and rental agreements made before, on, or after it.

Landlords must allow payment by check or other commercially reasonable methods and cannot require electronic payment. The rules cover tenants making rent payments or paying other charges to their landlord. If a landlord refuses an allowed payment offered by a tenant, the landlord cannot charge a late fee or end the tenancy for that nonpayment. These rules took effect June 5, 2026, and cover rental agreements entered into before, on, or after that date.

Landlords may pass electronic payment processing fees to tenants when the stated safeguards are met. This covers processing fees charged to landlords for tenants' card, portal, or other electronic payments. The payment processor must allow the fee to be passed along. The landlord must allow nonelectronic payment. Fee records must be available within a reasonable time after the tenant requests them in writing. This provision took effect June 5, 2026, and covers rental agreements entered into before, on, or after that date.

Landlords must provide at least one way to access covered homes and shared spaces without a tenant portal. The requirement covers home entrances and shared areas or facilities the tenant has a right to use, within the law's dwelling maintenance rules. The alternative can be an access code, key card, or physical key. These dwelling maintenance rules do not govern tenant-owned manufactured or floating homes in parks or marinas. This requirement took effect June 5, 2026, and covers rental agreements entered into before, on, or after that date.