Christopher A. CombsQuestion: My wife recently inherited a home after her mother passed away. My wife’s listing broker for the home has found an investor who will buy the house “as is” at the list price for cash. My wife has accepted the investor’s offer, but her listing broker insists that the law requires my wife to fill out a Seller Property Disclosure Statement. Does the law require a seller to fill out a Seller Property Disclosure Statement?Answer: No. The law only requires disclosure by the seller of material and adverse facts, not a specific form like the Seller Property Disclosure Statement. If a seller doesn’t disclose a material and adverse fact, however, the seller has committed fraud.The leading case in Arizona about fraudulent disclosure involved termite damage to the hardwood floor in the sellers’ living room. The sellers had used their daughter’s hope chest to cover the termite damage. The buyers successfully sued the sellers for fraud.Note: Many brokerage firms demand a Seller Property Disclosure Statement from their sellers as completing the statement “jogs the memory” of the seller and also is protection for the brokerage firm (i.e., if the seller who lived in the house didn’t know of a defect in the home, how was the broker supposed to know?).Contact real estate attorney Christopher A. Combs at chris@combsandsaal.com.
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