Why this matters: Beginning April 2027, California law requires a landlord to disclose their pet addendum on their property website, online advertisements and rental search engines and upon delivering a prospective tenant a rental application.
The pet addendum
Landlords and property managers who allow household pets often look to put restrictions on a tenant’s pets to limit damage and risk to the property, including restrictions on the species, breed, size, age and number of pets.
Typically, tenants with household pets are unaware of a landlord’s pet policy until after they submit an application to rent or lease the property, and only then when they sign the rental or lease agreement do they learn the full details of the landlord’s pet policy through an addendum to the rental or lease agreement.
Now, with Senate Bill 1296 passed, tenants will know the landlord’s specific policies and rules surrounding pets at the earliest opportunity — ASAP.
Effective April 1, 2027, landlords disclose their pet policy upfront by providing their pet addendum through a hyperlink or other means for prospective tenants to electronically access the pet addendum policies:
- on the property’s website;
- in any digital advertisement under the landlord’s control and in any digital advertisement on a third-party website, as long as the third party allows a hyperlink or other electronic access; and
- on residential rental search engines the landlord supplies with information, as long as the search engine allows a hyperlink or other electronic access. [Calif. Civil Code §1942.7.5(b)(1)]
Additionally, the landlord provides the pet addendum as part of any rental application form they provide to prospective tenants. On the landlord’s electronic delivery of the rental application, the landlord also electronically delivers the pet addendum. [CC §1942.7.5(b)(2)]
Further, the residential rental application form needs to include a space for the prospective tenant to acknowledge receipt of the property’s pet addendum. [CC §1942.7.5(g); See RPI Form 553]
Pet addendum requirements
A written pet addendum or pet policy needs to clearly explain, in plain language, the rights, responsibilities and requirements of tenant pet owners, along with any other material rules, conditions or restrictions for keeping a pet on the property. [CC §1942.7.5(d)]
Realty Publications, Inc. (RPI) publishes a pet addendum that meets the criteria of the law. [See RPI Form 563]
The Pet Addendum published by RPI contains the following provisions:
- pets are prohibited without the landlord’s prior written consent;
- the pet will not damage the premises or annoy, endanger or inconvenience other tenants;
- the tenant will hold the landlord harmless for any damages caused by the pet;
- the tenant will comply with all laws pertaining to the keeping and leashing of the pet; and
- the pet is not known to be dangerous or to have injured individuals. [See RPI Form 563]
The RPI Pet Addendum also contains a blank space for the landlord to list any other rules and policies regarding the keeping of pets on the premises. [See RPI Form 563 §5]
Related article:
Failure to disclose pet addendum
When the landlord charges an application fee but fails to first disclose — ASAP — the established pet addendum before collecting the fee, and the prospective tenant decides to not proceed with the application due to the withheld pet policy information, the prospective tenant may request a refund of the application fee by written notice to the landlord or their agent. [CC §1942.7.5(h)]
A landlord or their agent needs to provide the refund of the application fee within seven business days after receiving written notice from the prospective tenant of the failure to provide the pet addendum. [CC §1942.7.5(h)]
Related article:
Form-of-the-Week: Pet and Waterbed Addendums — Forms 563 and 564
