Required Disclosures When Selling Real Estate
What you need to disclose to potential home buyers about your property.
When selling your home, you may be obligated to disclose problems that could affect the property's value or desirability. In most states, it is illegal to fraudulently conceal major physical defects in your property such as a basement that floods in heavy rains. And many states now require sellers to take a proactive role by making written disclosures about the condition of the property.
What You Must Disclose
Generally, you are responsible for disclosing only information within your personal knowledge -- in other words, you don't usually need to hire inspectors to turn up problems you never had an inkling existed.
Some states require more. However, some states' laws identify certain problems that are your responsibility to search for, whether you see signs of the problem or not. In these cases, or where you could have seen a particular defect but turned a blind eye, you could ultimately end up in court, compensating the buyer for the costs of your failure to speak up sooner.
| California's Stringent Disclosure Requirements |
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California sellers must fill out and give the buyers a disclosure form listing a broad range of defects -- such as a leaky roof, deaths that occurred within three years on the property, neighborhood nuisances such as a dog that barks every night, and more. In addition, California sellers must disclose potential hazards from floods, earthquakes, fires, environmental hazards, and other problems, in a Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement. California sellers must also alert buyers to the availability of a database maintained by law enforcement authorities on the location of registered sex offenders.
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