u/Dannyz

I’ve been looking for new rental, and a lot of the landlords seem scummy.

For example JTS property management lists properties at a low price on Facebook and Redfin, then adds hundreds of dollars in mandatory fees. I tried to schedule a showing on property that says available June 1, so called and they then sent me a text to schedule, the text had a web form that needed email + email verification only to to say there’s no showing available. I called to ask what was up and they said the property was a hazard needing repairs and they didn’t know when it was available. Whole thing seems like it was just to harvest my data.

Sacramento Delta property management has a property on apartments.com listed for $2000, but when I called them, they want $2295 a month. They told me I had to pay an application fee and a credit check before showing the property. I asked about move in date and they couldn’t tell me when the move in date would be. Told me I’d have to wait in line for people who have already applied. They wouldn’t tell me how many people have already applied.

I reached out to several listing on Craigslist but they’ve either ghosted or seem like scams.

What’s are good ways to find a rental in 2026?

Had an initial free new potential client estate planning consult, retired husband and wife in their 70s, both wearing meta camera glasses. Both were recording but didn’t tell me until I asked about it. When I asked they bragged about hiding the recording led. I’m in a two party consent state. I have very mixed feelings about it.

I educated how videoing was unlawful without my consent and not advisable. They said they were paying for my time so they’d record it. Again, free consult. Also said they were highly forgetful lately and the glasses were a godsend. Not great to have on record for estate planning.

I wrapped the meeting up pretty quick and sent the letter of non rep afterwards. They responded with an AI analysis the meeting and all the things I got “wrong.” Their analysis recommend an offshore irrevocable trust to protect their small nest egg that was significantly <$500k. The AI offered to write the estate plan, recommended legal zoom, and cautioned not to pay more than $2000 for a revocable trust estate plan and $3000-3500 for an offshore trusts.

The lawyers in my city charge $4-10k+ for revocable trusts. The annual maintenance fees for offshore trust usually exceed $3500.

Equal parts funny and frustrating.

In early February, my weight tipped over 200 lbs (6’ male 30-40 years old) for the first time. I asked a nutritionist friend for dietary advice. They gave lots of advice, but only two things have stuck: I should increase my fiber by adding a tablespoon of chia seeds to my morning coffee and I should eat a handful of walnuts every morning. The walnuts somehow allegedly lower my cholesterol and are slow to digest, which helps people feel full which leads to snack avoidance.

Adding these 360 calories to my diet counter intuitively has helped me lose 10 lbs in 12 weeks without making any other conscious changes to my sedentary lifestyle. I feel full all morning, so I no longer have a mid morning snack (most days!). At lunch, I naturally order less and order less high calorie greasy foods as I don’t feel as hungry. Since I’m eating less at lunch, I no longer as tired in the early afternoons. I also save more money.

As a heads up the chia seeds in coffee is weird and took a bit to get used to, but I now love them. You soak the chia seeds for like 15 minutes (or overnight) and they produce this gel like consistency which I then stir in to my morning coffee. It makes the coffee thicker and feels textured from the seeds. I now like it, but definitely not for everyone.

Not sure this will help anyone else, but has been very useful for me to consistently lose weight in a very low effort way.

While this has anecdotally worked great for me, there is also a lot of literature on the benefits.

Here’s one discussing benefits and recipes for chia seeds: https://www.healthcentral.com/nutrition/how-to-use-chia-seeds-for-weight-loss

Other health benefits of chia seeds: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9834868/

Article on walnuts reducing inflammation, reducing weight, promoting healthy gut flora / fauna, and reducing cholesterol https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-walnuts#gut-health

Second source: https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/walnuts-health-benefits

TL; DR: I thought CA banned hidden fees. The majority of professional property managers around me still list hidden mandatory fees. Does the ban on hidden fees apply to rental properties? I see nothing in the plain text for why it would not.

Good afternoon, I’m an idiot estate planner and I feel like I’m missing something. California prohibited junk fees with SB 478 / Civil Code 1770. It is unlawful to advertise a price for a good or service that “does not include all mandatory fees or charges,” except government imposed taxes and shipping. The Attorney General guidance states that the “price advertised to the consumer must be the full price that the consumer is required to pay.”

That seems fairly straight forward. Per the plain English, I think it applies to property management companies advertising single family homes to consumers. I’m looking at properties to rent, and many, many of the property management groups do not advertise the full price with mandatory fees. Many advertise say $XXXX a month lease, and in the listing, they say the advertised priced doesn’t include an additional mandatory $YYY price for sewage, garbage, and gardening. For example, a property listing I saw this morning was a 2b1ba house for $3000. In the listing, it says that there will be an additional mandatory $592 per month for garbage, water, sewer, security, and landscaping.

Per my plain text reading, this should be prohibited. The reason I’m hesitant is that the AG FAQ on SB 478 hidden fees explicitly says it applies to short-term rentals, not just rentals, “The law applies to the sale or lease of most goods and services that are for a consumer’s personal use. For example, it applies to event tickets, **short-term rentals,** hotels, and food delivery platforms, just to name a few prominent industries. The law does not apply to the purchase or lease of goods or services for commercial use, or to certain other specified transactions and industries that are already subject to other laws governing pricing.”

Before i make a stink about this can anyone sanity check me on this? The company has several hundred listings with this kind hidden mandatory fees.

Follow-up I do need a need spot to rent and my wife LOVES one that has almost 20% in additional mandatory fees. If it’s unlawful, how would you play this?

Mods: I’m hoping for a sanity check and mentorship advice more than legal advice. That said, the line there is narrow, and if you feel this falls on the legal advice side, my apologies!