5 New CA Laws That Take Effect In 2025

CALIFORNIA — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed hundreds of bills into law last year that Californians and its institutions will have to abide by in 2025.

State legislators penned bills bolstering everything from labor rights to consumer protections, fertility health treatment plans and more.

Here are five bills that will take effect in California in 2025:

Tenants Get More Time To Respond To Eviction Notices

AB 2347 extends the time in which a property tenant has to respond to an eviction notice from 5 to 10 days. The bill was authored by Democratic Assemblymember Ash Kalra of San Jose.

"AB 2347 will prevent default judgments that evict a tenant based on improper service of summons by requiring landlords to file proof of service with the court and providing tenants with a meaningful amount of time to respond," Kalra said. "In eviction cases, because the response period for tenants is uniquely short, proper notice of a court filing is critical."

This law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Medical Debt Excluded From Credit Reports

SB 1061 will remove medical debt from consumers' credit reports to ensure that people are "not penalized for the high costs of necessary healthcare," according to Newsom's office. This would prohibit using medical debt that happens to be listed on a credit report as a negative factor against consumers. The bill is backed by Attorney General Rob Bonta and was authored by Sen. Limón.

"No Californian should be unable to secure housing, a loan, or even a job because they accessed necessary medical care," Limón said.

About 40% of Californians are affected by medical debt, according to the California Health Care Foundation.

This law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Legacy And Donor Admissions Outlawed At Universities

AB 1780 will prohibit both private and nonprofit universities from admitting students based on wealth or personal relationships. While this practice has long been banned from the state's public university systems, it has long remained a concern at non-public campuses.

Under the new law, all private colleges and universities will have to demonstrate their compliance by submitting an annual report.

"If we value diversity in higher education, we must level the playing field. That means making the college application process more fair and equitable," said the bill's author, Rep. Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). "Hard work, good grades and a well-rounded background should earn you a spot in the incoming class – not the size of the check your family can write or who you’re related to."

The law requires universities to adhere to the new rules by Sept. 1, 2025.

Companies Must Offer Click-To-Cancel Option For Subscriptions

Beginning July 1, 2025, consumers in California will be able to get out of paid subscriptions a lot easier than they could before. AB 2863 will require companies to cancel subscriptions through the same medium or method a person used to subscribe.

The Federal Trade Commission also mirrored the Golden State's new law in October, enacting a similar click-to-cancel policy to crack down on companies offering continuous subscriptions for gyms, streaming services and more.

California Insurance Companies Must Cover Fertility Treatments

In response to political tension around women's reproductive rights over the past year, SB 729 was penned to strengthen access to fertility treatments and diagnoses as well as in-vitro fertilization, which is commonly called IVF.

The law will require insurance companies to provide coverage for such treatments. Access will also be expanded to LGBTQ+ families.

"It's simple: everyone who wants to should be able to start a family — without going broke," Newsom said.

Earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created and stored for IVF are children, a decision that many feared could limit fertility treatments in the state and spur more implications nationwide.

"As Republicans across the country continue to claw back rights and block access to IVF – all while calling themselves ‘the party of families’ – we are proud to help every Californian make their own choices about the family they want," Newsom said.

This law takes effect on July 1, 2025.