This New CA Law May Change Your Vacation Booking Experience

Booking that dreamy Airbnb beach house or cozy mountain cabin is about to get clearer—and maybe a bit cheaper —as California’s latest law cracking down on hidden fees takes effect July 1.

Under AB 2202, rental platforms must disclose cleaning and extra charges upfront, ending a frustrating surprise at checkout and potentially reshaping how Californians book their getaways.

The rule applies to any advertising, display or public-facing offer. Violators of this new law, which aims to banish "hidden fees," could be subject to a civil penalty up to $10,000.

The law also requires booking platforms to give consumers a 24-hour grace period to cancel their reservations without a financial penalty.

The law, penned by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, was born out of a situation that travelers are likely all too familiar with. At the tail end of a group trip to Tahoe, Rendon and his sister-in-law found themselves scrambling to get through a long list of cleaning tasks that they only discovered after other members of their party had already left.

“We thought, ‘crap, we wish the three other carloads hadn’t left,’” he said, according to Politico. “All that would’ve been fine if we had budgeted it into our day, if we had known ahead of time.”

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Rendon said the experience is common among guests, who are often unaware of extensive cleaning requirements until checkout. The bill faced no formal opposition.

The new consumer protection law follows widespread reports of vacationers being charged steep cleaning fees — sometimes alongside lengthy chore lists requiring tasks like mopping floors or taking out the trash.

While Airbnb did not publicly comment on the bill, Expedia did.

"We encourage policymakers to focus on the importance of vacation rental operators sharing clear expectations ahead of the guest’s stay,” Alyssa Stinson, Expedia’s senior government and corporate affairs manager for California, wrote in a statement, according to Politico.

In response to Rendon's bill and a new rule from the Federal Trade Commission also cracking down on "deceptive fees", Airbnb added transparent checkout instructions.

The FTC banned "bait-and-switch pricing" and any actions that hide or misrepresent total prices on May 12.

While the FTC’s nationwide “junk fees” rule requires all mandatory charges to be disclosed upfront, California’s AB 2202 goes a step further by specifically targeting cleaning fees and penalties in short-term rentals, with its own state-level enforcement and $10,000 penalty per violation.