By SemperScreen®. We own residential and commercial real estate properties across the United States, and we built the permanent sink screen for our own buildings before we sold it to anyone else.
In most cases, yes, and the safe time is at turnover. A landlord can remove a garbage disposal from a rental because the federal and state housing standards we have read list what a rental must provide, and none of the three requires a disposal.1 2 3 Three things change the answer: a lease that lists the disposal, a rent-stabilized unit, and the jurisdictions that bar removal during a tenancy or require a disposal outright.
Whether you should take them out is a separate question, covered in should landlords remove garbage disposals.
Is a garbage disposal required in a rental unit?
In most rentals, no. The standards below list what a rental must provide, and a few local rules add a disposal to that list.
Federal standards are a common benchmark, because units in HUD rental assistance programs are inspected against them. Under 24 CFR 5.703, the unit "must have a living room and a kitchen area with a sink, cooking appliance, refrigerator, food preparation area, and food storage area."1 That is the full kitchen list. A disposer is not on it. Tax credit properties work differently: each state housing credit agency chooses whether to inspect against local codes or HUD's standards.4
State habitability law reaches the same place by a different route. California Civil Code 1941.1 enumerates nine affirmative characteristics a dwelling must have or be deemed untenantable. The one that addresses garbage is subdivision (a)(7): "an adequate number of appropriate receptacles for garbage and rubbish, in clean condition and good repair."2 The statute asks for receptacles and says nothing about a grinder.
Massachusetts sorts the kitchen into two lists. Its state sanitary code lists "A kitchen sink of sufficient size and capacity for washing dishes and kitchen utensils" among the required kitchen facilities and places garbage grinders under owner-installed optional equipment.3
| Standard | What it requires | Garbage disposal |
|---|---|---|
| HUD, 24 CFR 5.703 (HUD rental assistance programs) | A kitchen area with a sink, cooking appliance, refrigerator, food preparation area and food storage area | Not listed |
| California Civil Code 1941.1(a)(7) | Receptacles for garbage and rubbish | Not listed |
| Massachusetts, 105 CMR 410 | A kitchen sink | Owner-installed optional equipment |
| Estero Municipal Improvement District Code 6.12.030 (Foster City, California) | A garbage disposal unit in each residential unit | Required |
Practitioners read that list the way courts do, as a floor rather than a ceiling: conditions outside the enumerated list can still render a unit untenantable if they materially affect habitability.5 A missing disposer does not come close to that bar. A backed-up kitchen line does, which is worth holding onto for later in this article.
Some rules do require one. The Estero Municipal Improvement District, which serves Foster City, California, requires a garbage disposal unit "installed and maintained" in each residential unit, including each unit of a multi-family dwelling.6 Where a rule like this applies to your building, the disposal stays.
The plumbing codes do require a device at the sink waste outlet. The International Plumbing Code, § 422.2 (2018–2024) / § 418.2 (2015), calls for a "strainer or crossbar" to restrict the clear opening.7 The 2025 California Plumbing Code, § 420.4, calls for an "approved strainer,"8 and one- and two-family homes in IRC states fall under IRC § P2714.1.9 So the opening does not stay empty.
SemperScreen® recommends that you always refer to local building codes when modifying a building's plumbing system.
Why timing decides this more than the rule does
Because a tenant rents the unit with the amenities that were in it on day one.
Massachusetts writes the timing rule into its state sanitary code, and it applies whether or not the unit is rent-stabilized. Under 105 CMR 410.003(D), "An owner may only remove owner-installed optional equipment when a unit has been vacated or prior to a new tenancy."3 The same code lists garbage grinders as owner-installed optional equipment.3 A Massachusetts owner who wants the disposal out waits for turnover.
Rent stabilization is the part almost nobody writes about, and it is where owners get caught. In rent-stabilized jurisdictions, taking away something the unit had at the start of a tenancy can be treated as a rent increase.
Los Angeles states the principle plainly. Rent Adjustment Commission Regulation 410.03 reads: "A tenant rents an apartment with the appurtenant housing services available at the time of renting the apartment. Landlords who reduce housing services without a corresponding reduction in rent effectuate an increase in rent."10 Housing services are defined broadly, covering utilities, ordinary repairs, replacement and maintenance, and then "any other benefits, privileges or facilities."10
Two details matter for anyone weighing this.
A disposer is not a named line item in the published valuation table. The Commission publishes suggested monthly values for reduced services, updated from September 2023 data and effective July 2025. Refrigerator and stove each carry $100 to $124. Kitchen facilities carries $247 to $494. Parking, laundry, pool, storage and a dozen others are listed. A garbage disposal is not among them.10 An unlisted service still may carry a value, although to what extent is undefined. The regulation is explicit that the table is guidance only and that value "will be determined primarily upon reasonable valuation evidence presented" for the specific tenancy.10 In our experience as owners of rental units, we have never had a unit rent for less money because it didn't have a garbage disposal. So, it is unknown as to what value garbage disposals actually carry. In any respect, the table sets no default number for a disposal, and the exposure remains undefined and, thus, unknown.
The lookback is three years. A rent reduction determination may run up to three years retroactive from the date a tenant files a complaint.10 A quiet removal across forty units is not a small contingent liability if done during a tenancy.
There is also a release valve worth knowing: if a landlord restores a reduced service within a reasonable time after notice, the department may decide against a corresponding rent reduction.10 Again, the question remains whether replacing a garbage disposal with a regular drain is an equivalent service.
Los Angeles is one jurisdiction. Other rent-stabilized jurisdictions may run their own rules, and they can differ in scope, valuation and process. Look up yours before you touch an occupied unit, and confirm the application with counsel who practices in your jurisdiction. None of this is legal advice, and the correct answer is genuinely local.
The practical takeaway: the exposure attaches to reducing a service during a tenancy. It does not attach to a unit that never had one when the new resident signed. Do this at turnover.
Who is responsible for a garbage disposal, the landlord or the tenant?
Massachusetts gives the clearest written answer we have found. The owner maintains a garbage grinder the owner installed, the tenant maintains one the tenant installed, and the tenant uses either with reasonable care.3 Outside Massachusetts, start with your lease and your state's habitability law.
| Who | Duty under Massachusetts 105 CMR 410 | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Maintain an owner-installed garbage grinder "in operable condition free from leaks, obstructions or other defects" | 410.235(B)(3) |
| Owner | Remove owner-installed optional equipment only "when a unit has been vacated or prior to a new tenancy" | 410.003(D) |
| Tenant | Install to accepted standards, and maintain "free from leaks, obstructions and other defects," a garbage grinder the tenant owns and installed | 410.240(A)(3) |
| Tenant | Keep the sink and the garbage grinder "in a sanitary condition and exercise reasonable care in their proper use and operation" | 410.240(B) |
For an owner, the practical reading is short. In Massachusetts, installing a disposal creates a duty to keep it free from obstructions, and the tenant controls what goes into it.
Who pays for a repair after misuse depends on your lease and your state's law, and that is a question for local counsel.
Can a landlord add a garbage disposal maintenance clause to a lease?
Where your state allows it, yes, and we recommend one. Ask your attorney to cover three points in the lease:
- The garbage disposal is an optional appliance, provided as a convenience.
- The tenant keeps it clean and uses it with reasonable care.
- Where there is evidence of abuse or misuse, the tenant pays to repair or replace it.
California shows how the pieces fit. It lists among a tenant's affirmative obligations the duty to "properly use and operate all electrical, gas and plumbing fixtures,"11 and its Civil Code states that "The hirer of a thing must repair all deteriorations or injuries thereto occasioned by his want of ordinary care."12 California voids a lease term that waives a tenant's rights under its repair statutes for a condition that makes the unit untenantable, and it lets the parties agree that the tenant will "improve, repair or maintain all or stipulated portions of the dwelling as part of the consideration for rental."13
Massachusetts shows the limit. Its sanitary code keeps the duty to maintain an owner-installed garbage grinder with the owner,3 so have counsel review any clause before you rely on it there.
Two cautions. The clause does not change what a rent-stabilization ordinance or a state code requires of you, so check both first. A clause about abuse also needs a baseline: record the disposal's working condition at move-in with a dated photo and a line on the move-in checklist.
We are not attorneys and we do not write lease language. For sample garbage disposal lease language, Law Insider publishes a library of garbage disposal clauses.14 The samples there cover proper use, what must stay out of the disposal, and who pays when misuse or neglect causes the damage. Take the ones that fit to your attorney, who can match the wording to your state.
None of this is legal advice, and landlord and tenant law is local.
For tenants, can a tenant install a garbage disposal in an apartment?
Ask the landlord first and get the answer in writing. Read the alterations clause in your lease before you buy anything. In Massachusetts, a tenant who installs a garbage grinder must install it to accepted standards and keep it "free from leaks, obstructions and other defects."3
What to check before you pull one out
Five things, in order.
- Housing code floor. Covered above for the federal, California and Massachusetts standards. Check your state, your city and your sewer district for a rule that requires a disposal.
- Your lease. This is the one owners skip. If the disposer was in the unit at signing, most jurisdictions treat it as part of what you agreed to provide, and the practical rule is that appliances present at lease signing generally have to be kept working.15 Some residential lease forms reserve the removal option explicitly, with clauses stating that where a garbage disposal is on the premises the landlord has the option to remove it.16 If your form does not say that, your next lease revision is where to fix it. The same revision is the place for the optional-appliance clause described above.
- Rent-stabilization status of the unit. See above. This is the expensive one.
- Subsidy and inspection status. A HUD-assisted unit is inspected against the federal standard, and a disposer is not on its kitchen list.1 A tax credit property follows the standard its state housing credit agency chose.4 Confirm with your housing authority or state agency before you remove one.
- What goes back in the opening. Code requires a device restricting the sink waste outlet.7 Decide this before the plumber is on site. For the plumbing steps, see how to change a garbage disposal to a regular drain.
What to do in each situation
Vacant unit at turnover
The clean case, and the one to standardize on. The disposer comes out, the drain assembly goes in, and the next resident rents a unit that never had one. No reduction in service, no notice question, no valuation argument. Update the unit listing so the amenity is not advertised. This is our personal go-to strategy and one where we haven't seen lower rents.
Occupied unit, market rate, not stabilized
Check the lease first. If the lease is silent and the disposer works, the conservative path is still to wait for turnover. If it has failed and you are deciding whether to replace it, that is a repair decision rather than a removal decision, and it is a much easier conversation with a resident who has just watched their sink back up. In Massachusetts, waiting is the rule: the state sanitary code allows removal only when the unit has been vacated or before a new tenancy.3
Occupied unit, rent-stabilized
Wait for turnover unless your counsel tells you otherwise. The three-year lookback and the evidence-based valuation make this the worst possible place to save a replacement cost.10
Occupied unit where the disposer has already failed
A common scenario, and the answer depends on where the unit is. Check your state and local code before you treat a changeover as a repair. In Massachusetts the owner must keep an owner-installed disposal "in operable condition" and may remove it only at turnover, so a failed unit in an occupied apartment is repaired or replaced.3 Where no such rule applies and the lease is silent, document the failure and tell the resident what is going in instead and why.
Will units rent for less without a disposal?
Not on the evidence we have seen, and the amenity is not what residents notice.
Two things are worth separating here. A disposer is potentially a convenience, although nobody tours an apartment to seek one out as the sole decision criteria. A kitchen sink that backs up twice a year is a maintenance experience residents remember, tell each other about, and mention in reviews. Those are not equivalent line items in a resident's head, and the second one is the one that shows up in renewals. Further, garbage disposals require the use of water with the common 30-second rule.18 If a tenant pays their own water service or pays for water as part of a building RUBS plan, then saving water positively impacts their wallet.
The property managers we hear from describe the trade the same way:
"We installed a SemperScreen® sink screens in each of our units. Our tenants love saving money on water and I love not having to worry about broken garbage disposals or clogged drains anymore."
Bernardo, Resident Property Manager
The second half of the objection is the one that deserves a straight answer: some residents will ask. Tell them what changed and why, in one sentence, at move-in. Food scraps go in the bin, the line stays clear, and there is no appliance to break at nine on a Sunday. Residents accept that far more readily than owners expect, because the alternative they are being spared is one most of them have already lived through.
What the decision costs either way
Replacing a disposer is the recurring version of this cost. Angi puts replacing a garbage disposal at about $200 to $625 including installation.17 A motor has a service life, so across a portfolio that line reappears on a cycle.
The drain calls are the other half. In published SemperScreen® collateral we anchor a plumbing service call at $250+ per call, and a disposer does not prevent those. It is the appliance that grinds food fine enough to travel down the line and settle.
Then the exposure that only exists if you get the timing wrong. In a stabilized unit, a determination can reach back three years,10 and it applies per tenancy rather than per building. That is the number that turns a maintenance decision into a portfolio decision, and it is entirely avoidable by doing this at turnover.
The fixture that goes in the opening is the smallest figure in the set.
If you are renovating, another additional benefit of removing the garbage disposal is removing or repurposing the dedicated disposal electrical circuit in the panel. This and more strategies on designing for a minimalist kitchen for high-turnover units in how to design a minimalist kitchen for affordable housing and barracks post.
What goes in the drain opening
Something has to, so this is a real choice.7 We covered the three options and their costs in detail in what to install after removing a garbage disposal, and the short version for a rental portfolio is that only one of them survives contact with tenancy.
A removable basket strainer is fine in an owner-occupied kitchen. In a rental it is a part that lives in a unit you do not enter for a year at a time. It gets lifted out to drain a pot, left on the counter, broken and thrown away with the scraps, or taken to the next apartment. From the moment it leaves the sink the line is unprotected, and the first signal you get is a work order. That is human error that no training program fixes. Would you ever remove the roof off of a rental building and ask a tenant if it is okay to put back on? No.. you wouldn't. But you ask a tenant to put the removable basket strainer back and protect your building drains every time you install a removable strainer.
The SemperScreen® permanent sink screen is the only non-removable permanent sink screen on the market, which is the entire point in a rental. It is Type 304 stainless steel with a polished finish and a brushed flange ring, fitting standard 3 1/2-in drains with a custom tube nut on the one and a half inch tailpiece for more thread contact. Its proprietary double-walled technology gives it a perforation surface area exceeding that of the connecting pipe, so it does not become the narrow point in the drain and continues to flow. It has been tested and COMPLIED with ASME A112.18.2-2020 / CSA B125.2-20, with the detail on our certifications and testing page.
Easy to install, although we recommend a licensed plumber for every installation. It installs in ~15 minutes per drain, retrofit, no plumbing modifications, so it fits inside a normal turn. 20,000+ sold since 2017. Rentals take the 5-year commercial warranty.
Clearing it is a point-of-use task. Whoever used the sink moves the scraps into the bin with a paper towel or a hand, in a second or two, and that is the whole maintenance story.
Owners running the portfolio version of this arithmetic put it this way:
"Clogged drain lines in our apartment buildings are significantly reduced after installing SemperScreen® sink strainers. This product pays for itself 5 times over with just the first blockage or repair it prevents. Very few products in the apartment industry have that kind of return."
Patrick and Robert, BLVD Capital
For rental and property teams: We know you have at least one drain that keeps clogging (we have experience with those). Contact us and let's discuss testing our permanent sink screens in those bad drains.
Commercial properties (restaurants, hotels, retail breakrooms, hospitals, senior care facilities, office breakrooms, industrial warehouses) have some of the same issues with food waste. Find out what we recommend in these larger facilities.
Frequently asked questions
Is a garbage disposal required by law in a rental? The HUD standard for assisted housing does not list one. Its kitchen list is a sink, cooking appliance, refrigerator, food preparation area and food storage area.1 California's habitability statute requires receptacles for garbage.2 A few local rules do require a disposal, so check your city, your sewer district and any subsidy program.
Can a landlord remove a garbage disposal during a tenancy? That depends on your state, your lease and whether the unit is rent-stabilized. Massachusetts allows removal only when the unit has been vacated or before a new tenancy.3 In Los Angeles, reducing a housing service that existed at the start of a tenancy without a corresponding rent reduction is treated as a rent increase, and a determination can reach three years back.10 The low-risk path is to do it at turnover.
Who pays to fix a garbage disposal, the landlord or the tenant? It depends on your state and your lease. Massachusetts spells it out: the owner maintains a garbage grinder the owner installed, a tenant maintains one the tenant installed, and the tenant uses it with reasonable care.3 Elsewhere, read the lease first, then your state's habitability law.
Can a tenant install a garbage disposal in an apartment? Ask the landlord first and get the answer in writing. Read the alterations clause in your lease before you buy anything. In Massachusetts, a tenant who installs a garbage grinder must install it to accepted standards and keep it "free from leaks, obstructions and other defects."3
What has to go in the drain opening once the disposal is out? The International Plumbing Code, § 422.2 (2018–2024) / § 418.2 (2015), calls for a "strainer or crossbar" to restrict the clear opening of a sink waste outlet.7 A removable basket and a permanent sink screen both sit in that opening, and in a rental only one of them is still in the sink a year later. SemperScreen® recommends that you always refer to local building codes when modifying a building's plumbing system.
References
- "24 CFR 5.703 National standards for the condition of HUD housing." Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Government Publishing Office. Retrieved from https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-5/subpart-G/section-5.703
- "California Civil Code Section 1941.1." 2025 California Code, via Justia. Retrieved from https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-civ/division-3/part-4/title-5/chapter-2/section-1941-1/
- Massachusetts Department of Public Health. "105 CMR 410.000: Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation (State Sanitary Code, Chapter II)," §§ 410.003(D), 410.100(A)(3), 410.130(C), 410.235(B)(3), 410.240. Mass. Register #1498, June 23, 2023. Retrieved from https://www.mass.gov/doc/105-cmr-410-minimum-standards-of-fitness-for-human-habitation-state-sanitary-code-chapter-ii/download
- Internal Revenue Service. "26 CFR § 1.42-5, Monitoring compliance with low-income housing credit requirements," paragraph (d)(2). Amended T.D. 9848, 84 FR 6079, February 26, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/part-1/section-1.42-5
- "Habitability Laws in California." Borna Houman Law. 2026. Retrieved from https://bhrealestatelaw.com/2025/10/24/habitability-laws-in-california/
- Estero Municipal Improvement District. "Chapter 6.12 Garbage Disposal," § 6.12.030. Estero Municipal Improvement District Code, Foster City, California (Ord. 15 § 3, 1963). Retrieved from https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/FosterCity/EsteroMIDC/Estero06/Estero0612.html
- International Code Council. "International Plumbing Code, § 422.2 Sink waste outlets" (2018, 2021 and 2024 editions; § 418.2 in the 2015 edition). Retrieved from https://codes.iccsafe.org/s/IPC2018/chapter-4-fixtures-faucets-and-fixture-fittings/IPC2018-Ch04-Sec422.2
- "Sections 419.2, 419.3, 420.4 and 421.2." 2025 California Plumbing Code, California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 5. International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials. 2025. Retrieved from https://epubs.iapmo.org/2025/CPC/
- "Chapter 27 Plumbing Fixtures." 2021 International Residential Code, Section P2714.1. International Code Council. Retrieved from https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IRC2021V3.0/chapter-27-plumbing-fixtures
- "Reduction in Housing Services." Rent Adjustment Commission Regulations Section 410.00, Los Angeles Housing Department. Effective 11-17-1982, amended through 07-01-2025. Retrieved from https://housing.lacity.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RAC-410-Reduction-in-Housing-Services.pdf
- "California Civil Code § 1941.2." California Code, via FindLaw. Current as of January 1, 2026. Retrieved from https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/civil-code/civ-sect-1941-2/
- "California Civil Code § 1929." California Code, via FindLaw. Current as of January 1, 2026. Retrieved from https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/civil-code/civ-sect-1929/
- "California Civil Code § 1942.1." California Code, via FindLaw. Current as of January 1, 2026. Retrieved from https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/civil-code/civ-sect-1942-1/
- "Garbage Disposal(s) Clause Samples." Law Insider, clause library. Retrieved from https://www.lawinsider.com/clause/garbage-disposals
- "Does a Landlord Have to Provide a Stove and Refrigerator?" LegalClarity. 2026. Retrieved from https://legalclarity.org/does-a-landlord-have-to-provide-a-stove-and-refrigerator/
- "Dispenser Clause Samples." Law Insider, residential lease clause library. Retrieved from https://www.lawinsider.com/clause/dispenser/_2
- Angi. "How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Garbage Disposal? [2026 Data]." Retrieved from https://www.angi.com/articles/what-s-it-cost-replace-garbage-disposal.htm
- House Digest. "What Is The 30-Second Rule For Garbage Disposals?" Retrieved from https://www.housedigest.com/2259691/what-is-the-30-second-rule-for-garbage-disposals/
