Which disclosures must a California lease include, and when is each one triggered?

California requires more written rental disclosures than almost any other state, but nearly all of them are conditional — each attaches only when a specific fact about the building or the tenancy is true, so the question is never “which disclosures do I need” but “which facts are true here.”

Disclosure	Authority	Trigger
Lead-based paint	42 U.S.C. § 4852d	Housing constructed before 1978 (federal “target housing,” 42 U.S.C. § 4851b(27))
Megan’s Law notice	Cal. Civ. Code § 2079.10a	Any single-family lease, or a leasehold in a building of more than four units
Bed bug information	Cal. Civ. Code § 1954.603	Every new tenancy, before it is created
Flood hazard	Cal. Gov. Code § 8589.45	Owner has actual knowledge of a special flood hazard area
Shared utility meter	Cal. Civ. Code § 1940.9	A tenant’s gas or electric meter also serves area outside the unit
Smoking policy	Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.5	Landlord prohibits smoking anywhere on the property
Demolition permit	Cal. Civ. Code § 1940.6	Owner has applied to demolish the unit
Former ordnance location	Cal. Civ. Code § 1940.7	Actual knowledge of a former ordnance location in the neighborhood
Pest control notice	Cal. Civ. Code § 1940.8; Bus. and Prof. Code § 8538	A periodic pest control contract is in place
Meth or fentanyl order	Cal. Health and Safety Code § 25400.28	A pending remediation order on the property
Owner and manager identity	Cal. Civ. Code § 1962	Every tenancy, written or oral

Three carry traps worth naming. The federal ten-day inspection window in 42 U.S.C. § 4852d(a)(1)(C) runs to purchasers only — a lease does not trigger it, so a landlord offering a tenant ten days to inspect is inventing a duty. Megan’s Law under § 2079.10a covers single-family rentals and buildings of more than four units, so an ordinary triplex or fourplex lease sits outside it. And the mould statutes, Health and Safety Code §§ 26147 and 26148, postpone their own operation: § 26147(e) suspends the duty until the department adopts exposure standards under §§ 26103 and 26105 and guidelines under § 26130.

How does California’s security deposit machinery actually work?

Since 1 July 2024, Civil Code § 1950.5(c)(1) caps residential security at one month’s rent, in addition to first month’s rent — furnished or unfurnished, no distinction. The one exception is narrow: § 1950.5(c)(5) permits two months’ rent where the landlord is a natural person, or an LLC whose members all are, owning no more than two residential rental properties with no more than four units between them — and that exception disappears if the tenant is a service member.

The pre-move-out inspection right in § 1950.5(f) has few analogues in other states. Before the tenancy ends the landlord must notify the tenant in writing of the option to request an initial inspection and of the right to be present. On request, it happens no earlier than two weeks before the termination date, on at least 48 hours’ written notice unless both parties sign a waiver, and the landlord then gives an itemised statement of proposed deductions so the tenant can cure them. Deductions not identified there generally cannot be taken later. The duty lapses where the tenancy is ending under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161(2), (3), or (4).

What happens when the 21-day deadline is missed?

Section 1950.5(h)(1) gives the landlord 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates to furnish an itemised statement and return the balance, with supporting bills, invoices or receipts unless deductions total $125 or less. Bad-faith retention exposes the landlord to statutory damages of up to twice the deposit plus actual damages under § 1950.5(m). Two further rules bite quietly: § 1950.5(n) forbids calling any security “nonrefundable,” and § 1950.5(e)(2)(C) bars charging for professional carpet cleaning unless reasonably necessary. Section 1950.5(g) also requires photographs at the inception of tenancies beginning on or after 1 July 2025, and before and after any repair charged against a deposit.

How much notice does California require to end a tenancy?

For a periodic tenancy the length turns on how long the tenant has lived there. Civil Code § 1946.1(b) requires 60 days’ written notice from the owner, dropping to 30 days under § 1946.1(c) if the tenant has resided there less than one year; a tenant ending a month-to-month tenancy gives 30 days under § 1946. Nonpayment runs on a different clock: Code of Civil Procedure § 1161(2) sets three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays, and the notice must state the amount due plus the name, telephone number and address of the person to be paid. Service is fixed by § 1162, and neither § 1161 nor § 1946.1(i) permits charging a tenant a fee for serving a notice.

The just-cause regime of § 1946.2 layers on top once a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied the property for 12 months. A no-fault termination — owner move-in, market withdrawal, a government order, or demolition or substantial remodel — obliges the owner to pay relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent within 15 calendar days of service, or waive the final month’s rent in writing. Section 1946.2(d)(4) makes strict compliance jurisdictional: get it wrong and the notice is void.

How much can a California landlord raise the rent?

Civil Code § 1947.12(a)(1) limits increases over any 12-month period to 5 percent plus the regional change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, measured against the lowest rent charged in the preceding 12 months; § 1947.12(a)(2) permits no more than two increments in that window. The initial rent on a genuinely new tenancy is unrestricted under § 1947.12(b), and notice follows § 827.

The exemptions in § 1947.12(d) mirror the just-cause exemptions in § 1946.2(e). Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years is out, as is a single-family home or condominium alienable separate from any other unit — the latter only if the owner is not a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or an LLC with a corporate member, and the tenant received the exact statutory exemption notice, which must sit in the rental agreement for any tenancy commenced or renewed on or after 1 July 2020. Miss that notice and the exemption is unavailable.

Which California landlord forms are legally required, and which are just good practice?

Genuinely mandatory, when their trigger fires, are the disclosures tabled above, the § 1962 owner-and-manager identification built into the lease, the § 1946.2(f) coverage notice in no less than 12-point type for covered properties, and the exemption notice under §§ 1946.2(e)(8) and 1947.12(d)(5) for exempt ones. Since 1 April 2025, § 1954.07 also requires landlords to offer tenants the option of having positive rental payment information reported to a consumer reporting agency, at signing and at least annually.

Everything else here is good practice, not statutory command. California prescribes no move-in condition checklist and no statutory form for one — § 1950.5(g) asks for photographs instead. Pet addenda, maintenance request forms and lease renewals are contract drafting, not compliance. Screening sits in between: § 1950.6 requires no application form, but if you charge a screening fee it caps that fee at $30 per applicant (adjustable for CPI increases since January 1998), requires an itemised receipt, and makes you give the applicant the credit report within seven days of receiving it.