I have a JAVA object where I save a HTML string value I call message. The saved data looks like the below, You have received a new <a href='' onclick='return popupRentalView('5282053859835904');'>Rental Request 5282053859835904</a>. Please view your open orders. But when printed to the JSP file and displayed at runtime using <%=pm.getMessage()%> or <%out.print(pm.getMessage());%> The actual html code comes out all messed up, You have received a new <a 5282053859835904');'="" onclick="return popupRentalView(" href="">Rental Request 5282053859835904</a> . Please view your open orders. Any thoughts on why the displayed string does not match the saved string? JAVA code for saving is note.setMessage("You have received a new <a href=\"\" onclick='return popupRentalView('" + requestId + "');'> Rental Request " + requestId + "</a>. Please view your open orders.");