No, lease agreements in California do not need to be notarized to be legally valid; a signed lease between the landlord and tenant is sufficient. A notary helps establish the identity of the people signing the lease if there’s a claim of fraud, but a notary isn’t necessary for a lease to be valid. A tenant and landlord can agree to have the lease notarized if they wish, but it is not required by California state law.
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The information for this answer was found on our California Residential Lease Agreement answers.