September 2002 - Megan's Law

Megan's Law
Recently Amended

by Peg Ritenour
Vice President of Legal Affairs, Ohio Association of REALTORS®

The above article represents excerpts from the article which appeared in the September Ohio REALTOR® by Peg Ritenours, Vice President of Legal Affairs for the Ohio Association of REALTORS® (OAR). Reprinted with permission.

The article below, which addresses notification procedures regarding sex offenders was recently modified by the Ohio Legislature. These changes became effective May 7.

When the law was originally implemented in 1997, it required sex offender to register with the Sheriff within seven days of establishing residence. The Sheriff was then required to notify owners of ?adjacent' properties ? properties on either side, behind, or across the street. In the case of multi-resident buildings, only occupants who shared a common hallway with the offenders' place of residence would be notified.

The recent amendment changed the timing and area of notification of a sex offender's residence. The law now requires a sex offender to provide written notification to the Sheriff of their intent to reside at an address at least twenty days prior to living there. The Sheriff then has 72 hours to notify neighbors of the sex offender's intended residence. Therefore, neighbors are notified prior to a sex offender moving in.

Also, the law now requires that notice be given to all occupants of residences within 1,000 feet of the offender's residence. In more densely populated areas this will clearly expand the number of neighbors who receive official notice from the Sheriff's office.

This has been a difficult issue for REALTORS®, sellers, and their attorneys because Megan's Law does not address the duty of a property owner (or their REALTOR) to disclose to a tenant or buyer that a known sex offender lives in the neighborhood. It has been impossible to say with certainty how a court would rule on this disclosure issue. Some courts have found that information of public record does not have to be disclosed and others indicate that this could be found to be material information that should have been disclosed.

Due to this uncertainty, if the sheriff has notified the property owner, the cautious approach recommended by OAR is to disclose this information to the buyer or tenant. Of course this issue must be discussed with the property owner and their consent must be obtained. If the property owner does not consent, the broker must decide whether to comply with the owner's request not to disclose or decline to sell/rent the property due to the possible risk involved.

The Ohio Association of REALTORS® has developed sample language regarding Megan's Law that can be used by REALTORS® in listing agreements, buyer agency contracts and purchase contracts. These are sample provisions and are not required by Megan's Law, however they provide Realtors® with a means to notify the seller and buyer of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law and to address the disclosure issue. These sample provisions can be accessed on OAR's website.