Disclose, Disclose, Disclose When Selling or Leasing your Property
Categories: Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate
hiWhy is it Important?
Sellers/Landlords and Real Estate Agents are obligated to disclose to prospective Buyers/Tenants any material fact that affect the value of the property or has any condition that may affect the health or safety of the future occupants. Many sellers/landlords/agents take disclosures lightly and it can come back to haunt them even years after the transaction closed.
Just a few of the many things that MUST be disclosed:
Lead-Base Paint: Properties built prior to 1978 “any condition that caused exposure to lead from lead-contaminated dust, soil or paint that is deteriorated or present in accessible surfaces or surfaces that rub together, like doors and windows”.
Mold: Any potential source of moist that could have created mold: leaks, floods, broken pipes. Even if it can’t be seen mold may be hidden behind dry walls or under carpets. There was a case a few years ago on a Rental where the Tenant’s kid was highly allergic to mold and after moving to the property the child got very sick. The Tenants found out that some time prior they moved in the property was exposed to mold and since it was not disclosed they rented the property. The story ended with the Tenants suing the Landlord for failure to disclose.
Structural Issues:A property went under contract and the general inspector found a crack in a foundation that looked suspicious and recommended an Structural Inspection. The Buyer canceled the contract and the property went back on the market. The seller didn’t think it was necessary to disclose the fact and sold the property to another buyer. The new Buyer’s Inspector didn’t notice the problem and the buyer went ahead a purchased the property, to find out a few months later that there was a huge Structural problem. Both the Seller and the agent for the Seller were involved in a legal case that they lost. They knew there was a problem and failed to disclose it.
Known Code Violations and non-permitted additions/improvement: the main problem with non-permited additions/improvements aside from the safety issues is the fact that if the new buyer needs to pull permits and the city finds out there are code violations it can open a can or worms. The result can be that the addition must have to be permitted (a nightmare) or removed.
Chinesse Drywall:this is our newest concern…during the construction boom many homes were built with Drywall imported with China.
Disclose Facts not Opinions unless you are an expect. A little crack that looks insignificant may be just a crack or can be the expression of an structural program. As the author of an article I read today says: If you have to ask if you should disclose it, DISCLOSE IT!
