Seller Disclosure
The seller disclosure is a statement made in good faith regarding the condition of the home he/she is trying to sell. There is a seller disclosure form – called “Form 17” - that is required by most states in the USA and, in it, the home seller must make it known to the home buyer any known structural defects like plumbing and electrical problems, and any history of problems with flood, sinkholes or other prior relevant damages to the property and its land.
Although deliberate misrepresentation within this statement can result in liability charges, the seller disclosure is not a substitute for a home inspection, nor warrants anything.
The contents of a seller disclosure can vary from state-to-state - sometimes from county to county! - but a typical form 17 contains information about:
- Structural, electrical and plumbing status of the house
- Title of the home and any ownership problems
- Hazards like lead paint, toxic mold, asbestos, radon etc.
- Water sources, rights and contamination
- Flood danger and previous flood damages
Most of these forms have questions for the home seller to reply to or boxes to check with “don’t know”, so it’s normal that one detail or another slips away. Plus, a lot of times you will deal with a home seller that has no “in-person” knowledge of the home. Like an investor who bought the house to flip it, so he/she doesn’t know what it “feels” like living in there and their seller disclosure might misrepresent some details of it. That’s why, like we’ve said, a home inspector is still needed to avoid nasty surprises down the road.
Real Estate Tips:
The home inspector is a must, but a good real estate agent will go through everything within the seller disclosure and will be able to point out other non-structural red flags for you too. And the place for good real estate agents is right here! Feel free to contact the one you like the most and good luck!
Popular Real Estate Terms
An anticipatory breach of contract is the action that occurs when one party in the contract shows their intention to not fulfill their contractual obligations to the other party. The ...
Civil rights acts passed by the U.S. Congress includes those of 1866, 1870, 1871, 1875, 1964, and 1968. The first two acts gave blacks the rights to be treated as citizens in legal actions, ...
The right of a landowner to have lateral land support from adjacent properties. The right of lateral and subjacent support means that an adjacent land owner may not, for example, lower or ...
The return by owners of a property investment usually through a depreciation allowance. a clause in a contract permitting the prior owner of real estate to recover under certain ...
If you are involved with real estate, chances are you've come across the term "convey" or conveyance. But what does convey mean in real estate? This term is crucial whether you're buying, ...
The right to recover property taken away by foreclosure by paying the lender the total amount owed plus foreclosure costs. The right of a debtor in bankruptcy to recover personal ...
(1) Individual or business that is engaged to do some sort of construction work for another for a fee. There are basically three types of contracting: A general contractor enters into a ...
Divider made of plasterboard or plaster used to partition rooms. A room is created by the walls surrounding it. ...
The definition of a service fee or brokers fee in real estate is a flat fee paid to a real estate agent or broker in addition to the commission for the sale or purchase. This is to cover ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.