California Landlord Required Disclosures: The Full Checklist (2026)

California requires a dozen or so written disclosures for most residential leases. Missing one rarely voids the lease, but it hands the tenant a claim and weakens your position in any later dispute. Here's the list, with the legal source where there is one.

Always required

1. Megan's Law notice (Civil Code §2079.10a). The statutory language pointing tenants to the state sex-offender database must appear in every lease or rental agreement.
2. Bed bugs (Civil Code §1954.603). General information about bed bugs and how to report a suspected infestation.
3. Rent control status. Whether the unit is covered by AB 1482 or a local ordinance, or exempt — and if exempt, why. For single-family homes and condos, the exemption itself depends on giving the exact written notice (see this article).

Required when it applies

4. Lead-based paint (buildings built before 1978; federal law). The EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" plus a signed disclosure of known hazards.
5. Known mold that exceeds permissible exposure limits or poses a health threat.
6. Flood zone, if the property is in a known flood hazard area.
7. Drug contamination, if the unit was used to make methamphetamine or fentanyl and remediation isn't complete.
8. Death in the unit within the last 3 years, where it's material.
9. Shared utilities, when a meter serves more than one unit, and how costs are split.
10. Pest control notices, where your pest control contract requires them.
11. Demolition permit, if one has been filed for the property.
12. Former ordnance location, if the property is within one mile of one.

How to make it stick

• Put every disclosure in writing and get the tenant's signature or initials before move-in.
• Keep one signed packet per tenancy, with the date, in the tenant's file.
• Re-check the list before each new lease or renewal; the 2026 rules added items, and cities add their own.

This article is informational, not legal advice, and the list may not cover every local requirement. For your specific situation, talk to a California landlord-tenant attorney.