All Forum Posts by: Lara Pan

 You may not be legally required to disclose it, but what if you are put in a situation where you need to disclose it? For example, what if the prospective tenant asks you if the neighbors are decent? What if they ask you if the neighborhood is safe? What if they ask if there is any crime in the neighborhood? All of these questions would require you to disclose what you know or you are lying by omission. One option is to hire a property manager to handle leasing. They would know nothing and they would truthfully say, "I have no knowledge of the neighborhood" - assuming you didn't tell them anything. That is what I would recommend. Put a layer in the middles so you are not forced to lie.

Go to www.nolo.com and you can research specific laws. Your requirement is only to report deaths that occur on your property. You aren't responsible for knowing what happens in every home on the block.

I'm not surprised to hear the neighboring house is run down. Most criminals engage people they know. He probably hangs with a rough crowd and a couple of them came over to threaten him, rob him, or something and it got out of control. That's just one more reason to disclose the situation because it could affect your property and your renters.

@Lara Pan  

You may or may not have a legal disclosure duty here under California law - I frankly do not know whether you do or not.  

However, let's run the traps here.  

You now have knowledge about a recent break in the house next door.  Were there to be a break-in at your rental, this fact would certainly come out at trial should an injured tenant sue you.  If the tenant got hurt, I, as a juror, would wonder why you had not disclosed this fact so that your tenants could take appropriate precautions.  I would likely conclude that your failure to disclose arose out of putting your economic interest ahead of the tenant's physical safety.  This would adversely affect my decision as to your liability for the tenant's injuries.    

Maybe his story checks out and he's a great neighbor. But that still leaves you with a house in a community where two people attempted to break in. It sounds like a "mostly peaceful" neighborhood, kind of like the "mostly peaceful" riots that took place during the Summer of Love last year.

Personally, I would let people know. Can you image the liability (in California, of all places) if you didn't disclose it, the tenant were hurt, and then the tenant learns that you knew about the break-in next door? 

If you're home is located in an area where crime levels are increasing dramatically and the crime took place that recently, I would be honest. It may scare some away but for most people they'll understand it's probably not "normal" and they'll just take extra precautions to protect themselves.