Do You Have to Disclose Your Name and Address to Tenants?

In many states, yes. California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Texas require written ownership or contact disclosures; Texas requires the record owner's name and address plus the name and street address of an off-site company primarily responsible for managing the rental. You do not have to use your home address: naming a property manager or another authorized agent, and using that person's address, satisfies the rule in the states that allow an agent. If you skip the disclosure, the person who signed the lease or collects rent can become your legal agent for notices and lawsuits, and in Texas the tenant can collect a penalty.

Which states require the disclosure?

Most of these rules require the disclosure at or before the start of the tenancy, usually in the lease. Texas works differently: you can put it in the lease, post it, or provide it after the tenant asks.

"Service of process" means formal delivery of court papers, such as an eviction summons or a small claims complaint. Florida's section 83.50 covers receipt of notices and demands; it does not establish authority to accept service of a lawsuit.

States outside this table may have no statute on the point. You should still give tenants a written contact for rent, repairs, and emergencies. How notice affects your repair duties is covered in how much maintenance and repair the law requires.

What happens if you do not disclose it?

The usual consequence is that someone you did not choose becomes your agent, and your notice and eviction rights can be delayed.

• California. A person who signs a lease for the owner without making the disclosure becomes the owner's agent for accepting legal papers and notices, for performing the owner's legal and lease duties, and for receiving rent. A new owner or manager has 15 days to update the information and cannot serve a 3-day notice to pay or quit, or evict, for rent that came due while the information was out of date. The tenant still owes that rent.
• Texas. If you do not provide the information, the tenant can give you written notice that they will use their legal remedies if you do not comply within 7 days. If you still have not complied by the 8th day after that notice, the tenant can get a court order, a judgment for one month's rent plus $100, their actual costs of finding the information, court costs, and attorney's fees, and can end the lease without going to court. You have a defense to liability for failing to disclose or correct the information if the tenant owes rent on the date they give the required notice. This defense does not apply to the separate bad-faith violation. Separately, if you have not given the tenant your name and Texas business street address in writing, the person who collects rent is treated as your agent for tenant notices and for government notices about health, safety, or nuisance violations, including court papers.
• Oregon. A manager or anyone authorized to sign leases who fails to make the disclosure becomes an agent of each landlord for service of legal papers and for receiving notices.
• Washington. If an out-of-state landlord does not name a local agent, the person who receives the rent is treated as the agent.

Being served through an agent you did not pick means you may not learn about a lawsuit or a code violation until a deadline has passed.

How can you comply without giving out your home address?

Where your state allows it, name someone else as the contact for notices or legal papers, and use that person's address.

1. Use your property manager. In California, Florida, and Oregon, the notice address can be a manager's or agent's instead of the owner's. Texas still requires the owner of record's address, but allows a post office box (see step 3). A management company that receives notices, collects rent, and handles repairs can cover all three roles in one disclosure. Whether a manager makes sense for your rental is covered in should you hire a property manager.
2. Name an agent for service. In California and Oregon, you can name a person authorized to accept legal papers and receive notices for you, such as an attorney or a registered agent company. California requires a street address where papers can be handed to that person, so a post office box does not work there.
3. Use a post office box only where allowed. Texas lets you give a post office box for the owner of record. Florida and Washington ask for an "address" without saying it must be a street address, so check with a local attorney before relying on a box there.
4. Name the entity that holds title. If an LLC owns the rental, the LLC is the owner, and you disclose its name and notice address rather than your own.
5. Give tenants a separate repair channel. A phone number, email, or online portal for repair requests and emergencies can be different from the legal notice address.

When do you have to update the information?

Every time it changes. California requires you to keep the information current, and a new owner or manager has 15 days to provide it. Washington requires you to tell tenants of any change in writing immediately, by personal delivery or by mail plus a posted notice. Florida treats the person you named as authorized to receive notices until you tell the tenant otherwise, so a former manager keeps that authority until you send the tenant a correction. Texas lets you correct the information by any method allowed for the original disclosure.

Texas lease terms that carry this disclosure are covered in Texas lease agreement essentials. For the other disclosures that create liability when you skip them, see your key liabilities as a landlord.