The Megan’s Law Notice in a California Lease: What LA Rental Owners Need to Include

For Owners · Leasing & Compliance · October 2026 · 9 min read

Owners and tenants can negotiate the terms of a California lease. A few paragraphs are not open to negotiation, because a statute writes them for you. The Megan’s Law database notice is one of the shortest: two sentences, set out word for word in Civil Code section 2079.10a, that tell a tenant where the state publishes information about registered sex offenders.

It is easy to get wrong in two directions. A lease template copied forward for years can still carry the version of the notice that was replaced in 2006. And an owner who has just pointed a tenant to the website can be tempted to use the same website to screen applicants, which a separate statute prohibits. This guide covers who needs the notice, the exact wording, what it protects you from, and how the database may and may not be used.

Which leases need the notice

Section 2079.10a(a) lists three kinds of contracts entered into on or after July 1, 1999:

• every lease or rental agreement for single-family residential real property;
• any leasehold interest in multiunit residential property with more than four dwelling units; and
• every contract for the sale of residential real property of one to four units.

Read that list closely. A lease of a single-family home is covered. A lease in a building of five or more units is covered. A lease of a unit in a duplex, triplex or fourplex is not named in the subsection’s list of leases, even though a sale of the same building is. The statute does not explain the gap.

For an owner the practical answer is simple: put the notice in every residential lease. It costs one paragraph, it gives the same safe harbor wherever it applies, and it removes any argument about how a particular property should be classified. If you want a firm answer on a two-to-four-unit building, ask a real estate attorney.

The exact wording

The statute has carried three versions over the years, tied to the date the contract was entered into. Only one matters for a lease signed today. For a contract entered into on or after April 1, 2006, section 2079.10a(a)(3) requires this text:

Two details matter:

• Type size. The notice must be in not less than 8-point type. Check this if your template squeezes disclosures into small print at the end.
• The old version. The notice for contracts entered into between July 1, 1999 and September 1, 2005 described a quarterly-updated database and a “900” telephone line. That text was replaced, and a contract entered into on or after April 1, 2006 has to use the current one. If your lease form still mentions a 900 number, it is out of date.

Copy the text exactly. The statute prescribes the words, so there is no benefit to paraphrasing and some risk in it.

What the notice protects you from

Section 2079.10a(b) is the reason the notice is worth getting right. Once it is delivered to the tenant:

• the lessor (and any broker) is not required to provide information beyond the notice about the proximity of registered sex offenders;
• the information in the notice is deemed adequate to inform the tenant that the statewide database exists and what it contains; and
• the notice cannot give rise to a cause of action against the disclosing party by a registered sex offender.

In plain terms, once the notice is delivered the owner does not need to research who lives nearby. The tenant has been told where the official information is and can look for themselves.

There is a limit. Section 2079.10a(c) says nothing in the section alters any existing duty a lessor, seller or broker has under any other statute or case law. The notice covers proximity information from the database. It is not a general shield for anything else an owner knows or has said about the property, so treat every other disclosure question on its own facts.

Using the Megan’s Law website: what the Penal Code prohibits

This is the part to know before anyone opens the site. The same Penal Code section that creates the website, section 290.46, controls how its information may be used.

Under section 290.46(j)(1), a person may use information disclosed on the website only to protect a person at risk. Section 290.46(j)(2) then prohibits using it for purposes relating to a list of activities, unless another law authorizes it. The list includes housing or accommodations, along with insurance, loans, credit, employment, education, and the benefits, privileges or services of any business establishment.

For a rental owner, that rules out looking up an applicant or a current tenant on the Megan’s Law website and using what you find to deny an application, set terms, or end a tenancy. The consequences are set out in section 290.46(j)(4):

• liability for actual damages, plus an amount set by a jury or court of up to three times actual damages and not less than $250;
• attorney’s fees; and
• exemplary damages or a civil penalty of up to $25,000.

Where there is reasonable cause to believe someone is engaged in a pattern or practice of misuse, the Attorney General, a district attorney, a city attorney or an aggrieved person can also sue for an injunction.

Screening applicants for criminal history is governed by California and federal fair housing law, and local rules can add to them. Those rules are outside this guide. Before you use any criminal-history information in a rental decision, have a real estate attorney review your screening criteria.

What the website shows

The notice says the information will include either the offender’s address or the community of residence and ZIP Code, depending on criminal history. That matches section 290.46, which sorts registrants into categories: for some, the Department of Justice posts a home address, and for others only the community and ZIP Code. The site does not include an offender’s employer, criminal history beyond the offenses that require registration, or information identifying a victim. A tenant who checks the site may therefore see a ZIP Code rather than a street, and the notice’s wording prepares them for that.

Practical points for LA owners

Put it in the lease body or a signed addendum

The statute says the lease “shall contain” the notice. The cleanest approach is a numbered paragraph in the lease itself, or a disclosure addendum that the lease incorporates and the tenant signs. The other statutory disclosures fit in the same place: the bed bug notice under Civil Code 1954.603, the lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing, and any city-required notices.

Renewals and new agreements

The duty attaches to contracts “entered into” on or after the statute’s dates. A brand-new lease signed with a renewing tenant is a new contract, so use the current notice. If a tenancy simply continues month to month under an old lease, check the date that lease was entered into and which version of the notice it carries. When in doubt, include the current text in the new paperwork.

Check the template, not just the signed copy

A lease form can be copied forward for years. Open the master template, find the Megan’s Law paragraph, and compare it word for word with the text above. Look for the 900-number language, a missing website address, or a paraphrase.

Do not add commentary

Subsection (b) relieves the owner of any duty to say more about proximity once the notice is delivered. Adding your own reassurances or descriptions of the neighborhood next to the notice creates statements the safe harbor was not written for. If a tenant asks, direct them to the website.

Local rules in Inglewood, Culver City, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles

The Megan’s Law notice is state law and reads the same in every city in Los Angeles County. Each city adds its own lease-stage requirements on top, such as registration, rent limits and just-cause rules, and those are covered on our pages for Inglewood, Culver City and Beverly Hills. The other state disclosures and duties at move-in have their own guides: bed bugs, lead paint in pre-1978 rentals, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Questions owners ask

I rent out one unit in a fourplex. Do I need the notice?

Section 2079.10a(a) names single-family leases and leases in residential buildings of more than four units, and does not list leases in a two-to-four-unit building. Including the notice anyway costs one paragraph and settles the question for that lease. For a firm answer on your property, ask a real estate attorney.

Can I check the Megan’s Law website before approving an applicant?

Penal Code 290.46(j) allows use of the website’s information only to protect a person at risk, and prohibits using it for purposes relating to housing or accommodations unless another law authorizes it. Misuse can mean actual damages, up to three times that amount with a $250 minimum, attorney’s fees, and exemplary damages or a civil penalty of up to $25,000. Do not use it to screen applicants.

A tenant asked whether any registered offenders live nearby. What should I say?

Point them to the Department of Justice website named in the notice. Under section 2079.10a(b), once the notice has been delivered you are not required to provide more information about the proximity of registered sex offenders, and the notice is deemed adequate.

My lease says to call a 900 number. Is that a problem?

That is the notice for contracts entered into from July 1, 1999 to before September 1, 2005. Any contract entered into on or after April 1, 2006 must use the current text naming www.meganslaw.ca.gov. Update the template and use the current notice in your next lease or renewal.

Does the notice have to be a separate signed form?

The statute requires the lease or rental agreement to contain the notice in at least 8-point type. It does not require a separate form. A paragraph in the lease, or an addendum the lease incorporates and the tenant signs, both work.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code section 2079.10a and Penal Code section 290.46, read from the text published by the California Legislature as reproduced at California.Public.Law. Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Statutes and local ordinances change, and tenant screening is governed by fair housing law that this guide does not cover, so confirm your lease language and screening practices with a real estate attorney.