When it comes to selling your home, honesty is always the best policy! Disclosing potentially deleterious effects is always better than dealing with the legal trouble for not doing so.
For example, if you’re a seller and paint over bathroom mold, failing to disclose the mold, the buyers could take you to court for well more than the cost of repairing it. And it’s a question that plagues many residential sales: As a seller, what do you — and don’t you — need to tell the buyer about your home? A great rule of thumb is this: If you’re not sure if you should disclose something, you probably should.
Here’s a list of what you legally need to include in your sellers’ disclosure to keep yourself out of hot water.
Lead in homes
One item is a must when it comes to being upfront with potential buyers: the use of lead-based paint in your home. If the home was built before 1978, each party in a transaction needs to sign a lead paint disclosure. This is a federal law and applies to every state. No matter if you think the lead paint has been removed or not, it still needs to be disclosed. If you are not aware of a lead-based paint issue in the house, you are not required by the act to investigate whether there is any.
Paranormal activity
Ghosts haunting your house? Fess up to the potential buyer! If you think your house is haunted, or if you’ve had an exorcism done, you should disclose the info to the buyer side. Rules vary from state to state, but if the haunting could be considered a “material fact”, you must disclose it!
Emotional defects
Depending on your location, you may be required to disclose what some call “emotional defects” about a home — specifically, murders, suicides, or violent crimes… if they occurred there. In California, for example, Civil Code 1710.2 details that any death on a property does not need to be disclosed if it occurred more than three years prior to the sale of the home. But read the fine print: If a buyer asks, this same statute requires the seller to disclose any death on the property more than 3 years old.
Pest infestation
It cold be snakes, mice, termites, ants, roaches, or bats: in all cases, sellers are required by law to disclose any sort of pest infestation or issue.
