MEGAN'S LAW DISCLOSURE

The coming of New Year has brought with it many new laws. The new Megan’s Law Disclosure is the most problematic. The justice department has posted the names, addresses and pictures of all registered sex offenders in the State of California. There are approximately 63,000 registered sex offenders in the State of California of which 42 registered sex offenders are in the City of Santa Monica.

The California Legislature has allowed us to find out who is living in our buildings. However, they have not given us any tool to deal with the potential problem. Privacy laws prevent landlords from warning existing tenants about a sex offender that has moved into their building. On the other hand landlords are required to protect their tenants from known risks. However, landlords are being told by the legislature that they cannot discriminate against registered sex offenders or even to evict a registered sex offender under the Megan’s Law.

A case arose in Sacramento where a convicted rapist was found to be living at a large apartment complex occupied by numerous college co-eds, definitely not a good mix. The landlord was not in the position to evict a convicted criminal but is faced with numerous tenants wanting out of their leases once they found out their neighbor was a rapist. However, the problem was resolved when a group of vigilantes showed up on the sex offender’s door step carrying machine guns. Hopefully, none of us will have such a situation.

It is easy to do a search, just go to www.meganslaw.ca.gov, then click the box at the bottom of the page stating that you have read the disclaimer and agree to the terms and conditions, then click on continue. Once you have gained access to the site you can perform a search by name, address, city, zip code, county, parks and schools. The more serious criminals will have their picture posted with a link that will give you a description, list of offenses, scars, marks and tattoos and known aliases. Please be aware that this list, as with any other government list, is not up to date and many of the offenders have moved to other locations and failed to register.

The California Apartment Association is attempting to clarify the law through legislation and give landlords the power to make the tough choices necessary to protect other tenants in their buildings.

Sex offenders have a high recidivist rate and thus are more likely to become repeat offenders. The law is very unclear as to what we can or cannot do to either warn our tenants or to evict based on prior criminal record. Also, not all sex offenders are equal. I have heard of cases where a man was convicted of indecent exposure for relieving himself in an inappropriate public place. Obviously this type of offender is not the same as a convicted child molester. While it is important for all of us to have the information about sex offenders, landlords are pretty powerless to do anything to get a registered sex offender out of their building. It is certainly important to have a question on your rental applications as to whether or not an individual has ever been convicted of a sex crime. Of course, if you find out that your tenant has a criminal record, it is your call as to whether to risk being sued by the offender for discrimination or to bear the risk of a problem with your other tenants. In order to find if a sex offender is lives near you, visit www.meganslaw.ca.gov.

The California Apartment Association Los Angeles Division is having a lunch and educational meeting in Santa Monica at 11:30 AM on March 31, 2005 at Monsoons on the 3rd Street Promenade. There will be a speaker, owner education and a chance to network with other owners in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Please mention that you are a member of ACTION and get the member price. Hope to see you there.