Megans Law Question

[motion732]

Hello

I live in NJ. My GF and I have just found an apartment in a seemingly nice area. We signed our lease, and move in about a month from now (October 1). She was looking online, and discovered that there are 3 registered sex offenders in our area; one within 1/8 mile of our apartment. I personally don't think it's that big of a deal, but she is very worried about it.

My question is, was the landlord required by law to inform us of these offenders before singing the lease? If not, is there anything we can do to exit the lease without suffering a penalty?

We have given him a security deposit.

I apologize if this has been posted in the wrong section.

Thank you

Scott

 

[racer72]

Unless you plan on living in the middle of Wyoming or Montana, you are not going to find many places to live that does not have a registered sex offender living nearby. The laws have been tightened quite a bit in the last few years making some that commit minor offenses have to register as a sex offender. In my state, something as simple as urinating in public can require one to register. It is not your landlord's responsibility to notify new tenants of sex offenders living nearby and he can hold you to the lease that was signed.

 

[motion732]

Thanks for the help.

 

[knowurlaws]

There are probably about 15 within a half mile radius of where I live. What I did was looked at the offense and looked at the date. I did find some of these happened many many years ago. As racer72 stated, you probably won't find an area where there isn't someone registered. Most are for minor offenses.