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California · Civil Code §1710.2California death disclosure: three years, and never a false answer

Under California Civil Code §1710.2 an owner, the owner's agent or the buyer's agent is not required to disclose an occupant's death on the property, or how it happened, if it occurred more than three years before the buyer's offer to purchase, lease or rent. A death within those three years falls outside the safe harbor, so it may need to be disclosed if material. No one has to disclose that an occupant lived with HIV or died of AIDS-related complications. The section does not protect an intentional misrepresentation in response to a direct question about deaths on the property, and it does not relieve anyone of disclosing the property's physical condition.

What the statute says

  1. Safe harbor

    No duty for a death, or its manner, more than 3 years before the offer (§1710.2(a)(1)(A)).

  2. Within 3 years

    Outside the safe harbor – disclose if material.

  3. HIV/AIDS

    Never required to be disclosed (§1710.2(a)(1)(B)).

  4. Direct question

    No immunity for an intentional misrepresentation about deaths (§1710.2(d)).

  5. Who is covered

    The owner, the owner's agent and the buyer's agent; buyers include lessees and renters (§1710.2(a)).

Still not allowed

  • Answering a direct question about deaths falsely (§1710.2(d)).
  • Leaving out physical conditions of the premises (§1710.2(c)).
  • Assuming the three years run from closing – they run back from the date of the offer.

How agents and TCs handle the question

  • A buyer's direct question gets a truthful answer or a referral to the seller – never a made-up one.
  • Physical consequences – damage, cleanup, meth contamination – go on the condition disclosure.
  • Write down the question and the answer in the deal notes.

Questions buyers and sellers ask

Do you have to disclose a death in a house in California?

Only if it is material and happened within three years before the offer; older deaths need not be disclosed (Civ. Code §1710.2).

What if a buyer asks directly about deaths?

The answer must not be an intentional misrepresentation – §1710.2(d) gives no protection for that.

Does the 3-year rule apply to rentals in California?

Yes. A transferee includes a purchaser, lessee or renter (§1710.2(a)(2)(B)).

Related guides

Log buyer questions and the answers given as deal notes in ClosingCode, so the file shows what was asked and said.

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Source: California Civil Code §1710.2 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, read October 25, 2026).

General information, not legal advice. ClosingCode is software; it is not a law firm or brokerage.