California Residential Lease Agreement

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A California residential lease agreement (“rental agreement”) is a written contract where one party (the “tenant”) lives in a particular property (“premises”) owned or overseen by another party (the “landlord”), in exchange for regular payments of rent. Governed by California’s landlord-tenant law, a lease has terms and conditions describing the duties of each party.

California Lease Agreement Disclosures

California requires the following disclosures for some or all residential lease agreements.

Methamphetamine and Fentanyl Contamination Disclosure

Applies to any California property where the landlord has knowledge of a possible drug contamination AND remediation has not been completed.

California rental agreements require disclosure of any information relating to the manufacture, storage, or use of methamphetamine and fentanyl on a property. This includes a copy of any notices received relating to methamphetamine or fentanyl contamination.

Landlords must also obtain acknowledgement from prospective tenants, before the rental agreement is signed, that notice has been delivered about any ongoing remediation efforts. These requirements apply until the landlord receives a notice from a local health officer deeming the property uncontaminated. [2]

Landlords must begin treatment of any known contamination before the lease begins, for tenant safety. A property is not inhabitable with concentration levels above 1.5 μg/100 cm^2. [3]

This is an example of a methamphetamine and fentanyl disclosure:

Methamphetamine contamination can be dangerous to Tenant(s) in high concentrations, presenting health concerns through absorption of the materials in the air.

This property:
[ ] Is contaminated above safe levels and is in the process of decontamination.
[ ] Is contaminated, but falls within safe levels after tests were conducted.
[ ] Has no suspicion of contamination.

Mold Disclosure

California landlords must provide a mold disclosure when there’s a reasonable basis to conclude the growth or presence of toxic mold. Until the mold gets treated according to local safety standards, the mold disclosure must be included in the lease or provided alongside. [4]

A mold disclosure may also appear in a lease for a rental with no known or suspected mold. This certifies that the tenant takes possession of the property with no mold issues, which may help reduce landlord liability.

Landlords also are asked to distribute an informational consumer-oriented booklet from California’s Department of Health Services before a tenant enters a rental agreement.

Sex Offender Registry Notice

Every California rental agreement must notify tenants about the “Megan’s Law” sex offender registry. [5]

NOTICE: Pursuant to Section 290.46 of the Penal Code, information about specified registered sex offenders is made available to the public via an Internet Web site maintained by the Department of Justice at www.meganslaw.ca.gov. Depending on an offender’s criminal history, this information will include either the address at which the offender resides or the community of residence and ZIP Code in which the offender resides.

Demolition Permit Disclosure

California landlords must disclose any intentions to demolish a rental unit or building and any applications for a demolition permit. The disclosure should state the approximate date of demolition. [6]

An example of a section to be included in the rental agreement would be:

DISCLOSURE OF DEMOLITION. On __/__/__, the following unit(s) are scheduled for demolition. On or after this date, active lease agreements will terminate for the affected unit(s).

Military Ordnance Disclosure

California requires a military ordnance disclosure as part of a rental agreement for any property that falls within one mile of military training grounds or ordnance storage.

Normally in the rental agreement, this notifies the tenant there is a possibility of live munitions near the rental property. [7]

This is an example ordnance disclosure clause:

ORDNANCE DISCLOSURE. This property is located within one mile of a former federal or military facility which may contain explosive munitions.

Death in a Rental Unit Disclosure

California landlords must disclose any deaths on the rental property other than deaths related to HIV or AIDS, which are protected by state statute. [8]

A standard form of this clause often appears in the rental agreement, even with no deaths reported on the rental property.

This is an example death disclosure clause:

At the time of this lease agreement, Landlord certifies the following information pertaining to the history of death in the rental property:

[ ] No death reported
[ ] Death by natural causes
[ ] The death was caused by violent crime: ________
[ ] Death by communicable disease:_______

Tenant has a right to have questions answered pertaining to death in the rental unit to the best of the Landlord’s knowledge upon request.

Pest Control Disclosure

In California, adjacent tenants and persons at risk of secondhand exposure must receive at least 24 hours of notice before a pesticide application on a rental property. Notice reduces the potential for landlord liability regarding any temporary displacement of tenants. [9]

Additionally, on properties which receive regular pesticide treatments, new and existing tenants must receive a disclosure to this effect which includes a copy of the notice from the pest control company on the expected terms of the contract. [10]

Pest control schedules or notices often are attached to rental agreements.

Shared Utilities Arrangements

California rentals without their own utility meter must disclose this fact in the rental agreement. Such rentals must also execute an agreement between the landlord and tenant for payment of utility services. [11]

Options for a shared utility agreement can include:

• The landlord assumes the shared utility.
• A submetering system.
• Total charges split across multiple parties in multiple units.
• Other methods of apportioning utility payments.

This is an example of a utility sharing clause:

UTILITIES: This rental unit shares the following utilities with another unit or common area:

[ ] Electricity
[ ] Water
[ ] Gas
[ ] Sewage
[ ] Other: _________________________________________

This lease uses the following method for calculating utility charges between Tenant(s):

[ ] Home Square Footage
[ ] Number of Tenants
[ ] Even Split Between Tenants
[ ] Other:___________________________________________________________

Tenant agrees to pay the monthly utility charge to Landlord, plus a $__ service charge as part of each month’s rental payment.

Bed Bug Addendum

California rental agreements must include an addendum about the prevention and treatment of bed bugs. [12]

This is the recommended notice to include, in 10-point font at minimum:

Information about Bed Bugs

Bed Bug Appearance: Bed bugs have six legs. Adult bed bugs have flat bodies about 1/4 of an inch in length. Their color can vary from red and brown to copper colored. Young bed bugs are very small. Their bodies are about 1/16 of an inch in length. They have almost no color. When a bed bug feeds, its body swells, may lengthen, and becomes bright red, sometimes making it appear to be a different insect. Bed bugs do not fly. They can either crawl or be carried from place to place on objects, people, or animals. Bed bugs can be hard to find and identify because they are tiny and try to stay hidden.

Life Cycle and Reproduction: An average bed bug lives for about 10 months. Female bed bugs lay one to five eggs per day. Bed bugs grow to full adulthood in about 21 days.

Bed bugs can survive for months without feeding.

Bed Bug Bites: Because bed bugs usually feed at night, most people are bitten in their sleep and do not realize they were bitten. A person’s reaction to insect bites is an immune response and so varies from person to person. Sometimes the red welts caused by the bites will not be noticed until many days after a person was bitten, if at all.

Common signs and symptoms of a possible bed bug infestation:
-Small red to reddish brown fecal spots on mattresses, box springs, bed frames, mattresses, linens, upholstery, or walls.
-Molted bed bug skins, white, sticky eggs, or empty eggshells.
-Very heavily infested areas may have a characteristically sweet odor.
-Red, itchy bite marks, especially on the legs, arms, and other body parts exposed while sleeping. However, some people do not show bed bug lesions on their bodies even though bed bugs may have fed on them.

For more information, see the Internet Web sites of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the National Pest Management Association.

This Bed Bug Addendum may also be included as part of the lease to ensure the tenant agrees.

Flood Zone Disclosure

A California landlord with actual knowledge that a rental property resides in a flood zone, must disclose this fact to the tenant. The disclosure must be in the rental agreement, printed in 8-point font at minimum. [13] The disclosure must include:

• Mention that the property is in a flood zone.
• Notice that information about hazards can be found at the Office of Emergency Services website, with a link provided.
• Notice that the landlord’s insurance does not cover personal loss, and a recommendation to pursue renters’ and flood insurance.
• Acknowledgement that the landlord needs to provide no further information than the above.

This is an example of a flood zone disclosure clause:

FLOOD ZONE DISCLOSURE. This property is located in a known flood zone, putting it at a higher risk of flooding. Landlord and Landlord’s insurer are NOT responsible for personal loss occurring at this rental unit due to flooding or other hazards. It is recommended that Tenant pursues renter’s insurance and flood insurance. Information about hazards can be found on the California Office of Emergency Services’ website at https://myhazards.caloes.ca.gov.

The above notice is pursuant to section 1632 of the Civil Code and absolves Landlord of liability to flood-related damages.

Smoking Policy Disclosure

California landlords may limit or prohibit tobacco smoke on the property, including common areas. To do so, they must specify any such restrictions in a disclosure agreed with the tenant as part of the lease or an addendum.

Lead-Based Paint Disclosure

Federal law requires disclosing the risks posed by lead-based paints in all residences built before 1978. This law requires California landlords to:

• Fill out and attach this lead-based paint disclosure form to the lease agreement.
• Provide the tenant with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved pamphlet about the dangers of lead-based paint.
• Provide additional records or reports about the presence or hazards of any known lead-based paint in the unit. For multi-unit buildings with common areas, this includes information from building-wide evaluations.

For more information about this disclosure requirement, click here.

Optional Disclosures and Addenda (Recommended)

The following lease agreement disclosures and addenda are not required by California law. They are common inclusions in rental agreements to head off potential conflicts with tenants, or reduce liability for landlords.

Failure To Include Mandatory Disclosures

Failure to include a mandatory disclosure could result in fees, denial of eviction, refusal of the landlord’s other rights under the lease, and similar legal penalties. Disclosures outline important health, safety, and property information, and the law penalizes failure to disclose.

California allows tenants to sue landlords who fail to disclose known or suspected asbestos, mold, pets, or bed bugs on the property.

Lead-based paint hazards are particularly important as a disclosure. Landlords who don’t disclose the potential for lead hazards can face tens of thousands of dollars in fines per violation. [14]

City-Specific Lease Templates

Many California cities have specific required and recommended disclosures. These are some major cities with residential lease agreements which differ from the state template:

Sources

…(a)…owner of any building constructed prior to 1979, who knows that the building contains asbestos-containing construction materials, shall provide notice…

(1) The existence of… and location of asbestos-containing construction materials within the building…

(2) Specific locations within the building known to the owner, or identified in a survey known to the owner, where asbestos-containing construction materials are present in any quantity.

(3) General procedures and handling restrictions necessary to prevent, and, if appropriate, to minimize disturbance, release, and exposure to the asbestos…

(4)A summary of the results of any bulk sample analysis, or air monitoring, or monitoring conducted…

(5) Potential health risks or impacts that may result from exposure to the asbestos in the building…

…(b) The property owner shall provide written notice to all prospective tenants that have completed an application to rent an affected dwelling unit or other property of the remediation order, and shall provide the prospective tenant with a copy of the order. The prospective tenant shall acknowledge, in writing, the receipt of the notice and pending order before signing a rental agreement. The notice shall be attached to the rental agreement. If the property owner does not comply with this subdivision, the prospective tenant may void the rental agreement…

…(a) Property contaminated by methamphetamine laboratory activity is safe for human occupancy for purposes of this chapter only if the level of methamphetamine on an indoor surface is less than, or equal to, 1.5 micrograms per 100 square centimeters…

…(a)… landlords shall provide written disclosure to prospective and current tenants of the affected units as specified in subdivision (b), when the landlord knows that mold, both visible and invisible or hidden, is present that affects the unit or the building and the mold either exceeds the permissible exposure limits … or poses a health threat according to the department’s guidelines as developed pursuant to Section 26105.

(b) The written notice required by subdivision (a) shall be provided:

(1) To prospective tenants as soon as practicable and prior to entering into the rental agreement.

(2) To current tenants in affected units as soon as is reasonably practical…

…(3) A contract entered into by the parties on or after April 1, 2006, shall contain the following notice:

Notice: Pursuant to Section 290.46 of the Penal Code, information about specified registered sex offenders is made available to the public via an Internet Web site maintained by the Department of Justice at www.meganslaw.ca.gov. Depending on an offender’s criminal history, this information will include either the address at which the offender resides or the community of residence and ZIP Code in which the offender resides…

…(a) The owner of a residential dwelling unit or the owner’s agent who applies to any public agency for a permit to demolish that residential dwelling unit shall give written notice of that fact to:

(1) A prospective tenant prior to the occurrence of any of the following actions by the owner or the owner’s agent:

(A) Entering into a rental agreement with a prospective tenant.

(B) Requiring or accepting payment from the prospective tenant for an application screening fee, as provided in Section 1950.6.

(C) Requiring or accepting any other fees from a prospective tenant.

(D) Requiring or accepting any writings that would initiate a tenancy.

(b) The notice shall include the earliest possible approximate date on which the owner expects the demolition to occur and the approximate date on which the owner will terminate the tenancy. However, in no case may the demolition for which the owner or the owner’s agent has applied occur prior to the earliest possible approximate date noticed…

…(b) The landlord of a residential dwelling unit who has actual knowledge of any former federal or state ordnance locations in the neighborhood area shall give written notice to a prospective tenant of that knowledge prior to the execution of a rental agreement. In cases of tenancies in existence on January 1, 1990, this written notice shall be given to tenants as soon as practicable thereafter…

…(A) The occurrence of an occupant’s death upon the real property or the manner of death where the death has occurred more than three years prior to the date the transferee offers to purchase, lease, or rent the real property.

(B) That an occupant of that property was living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or died from AIDS-related complications…

…(b) (1) A landlord or authorized agent that applies any pesticide to a dwelling unit without a licensed pest control operator shall provide a tenant of that dwelling unit and, if making broadcast applications, or using total release foggers or aerosol sprays, any tenant in an adjacent dwelling unit that could reasonably be impacted by the pesticide use with written notice that contains the following statements and information using words with common and everyday meaning:

(A) The pest or pests to be controlled.

(B) The name and brand of the pesticide product proposed to be used.

(C) “State law requires that you be given the following information:…

…A landlord of a residential dwelling unit shall provide each new tenant that occupies the unit with a copy of the notice provided by a registered structural pest control company pursuant to Section 8538 of the Business and Professions Code, if a contract for periodic pest control service has been executed…

…1) Execute a mutual written agreement with the tenant for payment by the tenant of the cost of the gas or electric service provided through the tenant’s meter to serve areas outside the tenant’s dwelling unit.

(2) Make other arrangements, as are mutually agreed in writing, for payment for the gas or electric service provided through the tenant’s meter to serve areas outside the tenant’s dwelling unit. These arrangements may include, but are not limited to, the landlord becoming the customer of record for the tenant’s meter, or the landlord separately metering and becoming the customer of record for the area outside the tenant’s dwelling unit…

…On and after July 1, 2017, prior to creating a new tenancy for a dwelling unit, a landlord shall provide a written notice to the prospective tenant as provided in this section. This notice shall be provided to all other tenants by January 1, 2018. The notice shall be in at least 10-point type and shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) General information about bed bug identification, behavior and biology, the importance of cooperation for prevention and treatment, and the importance of and for prompt written reporting of suspected infestations to the landlord. The information shall be in substantially the following form:…

…(a) In every lease or rental agreement for residential property entered into on or after July 1, 2018, the owner or person offering the property for rent shall disclose to a tenant, in no smaller than eight-point type, the following:

(1) That the property is located in a special flood hazard area or an area of potential flooding, if the owner has actual knowledge of that fact

(2) That the tenant may obtain information about hazards, including flood hazards, that may affect the property from the Internet Web site of the Office of Emergency Services. The disclosure shall include the Internet Web site address for the MyHazards tool maintained by the office.

(3) That the owner’s insurance does not cover the loss of the tenant’s personal possessions and it is recommended that the tenant consider purchasing renter’s insurance and flood insurance to insure his or her possessions from loss due to fire, flood, or other risk of loss…

“The Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, or his or her designee, may initiate a civil money penalty action against any person who knowingly violates 42 U.S.C. 4852d… The maximum penalty is $21,018 for each violation.”

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Can a Residential Lease Be in California? The maximum duration for a standard residential lease in California is one (1) year. Leases can exist for a period of greater than one year, but they need to be in writing. Oral leases are valid for shorter durations. Read more » Is a Contract to Lease Binding in California? Yes, a contract to lease is legally binding in California. Before a lease can be enforced, the terms within the lease must be executed, delivered to the tenant, and accepted by both parties. Read more » Do Lease Agreements Need to Be Notarized in California? No, lease agreements do not need to be notarized in California. As long as the criteria for a legally binding lease are met, it is not required to have the lease notarized. Read more » Can a Lease Automatically Renew in California? Yes, a lease can automatically renew in California. If neither the tenant or the landlord give notice that they want to terminate the tenancy when the lease expires, the lease can be renewed. Read more »