Seller Non-Disclosure Attorneys

What a California seller must disclose

A seller of residential property must tell you about problems they know about that would change what the property is worth or how much a buyer would want it. The law calls those known conditions that materially affect the value or desirability of the property. Civil Code sections 1102 and following require delivery of a Transfer Disclosure Statement on most sales of one to four residential units. That is the standard form the seller fills in and hands to the buyer.

The obligation reaches what the seller actually knows, and it is broader than defects in the structure. Water intrusion and its history. Foundation, drainage and soils problems. Work done without permits, including work done well. Boundary or easement disputes with neighbors. Litigation affecting the property. Death on the property within the period the statute sets. And neighborhood conditions the seller knows about that a buyer would not discover.

The statutory form is a floor, not a ceiling. If the seller knows a material fact, meaning one that bears on the value or the appeal of the property, it still has to be disclosed even where the form does not ask about it.

Where these cases are won

The dispute is almost never about whether the defect exists. It is about what the seller understood, and at what point. That is proved from documents rather than testimony.

Permit records at the city or county, which show what was permitted and, by what is missing, what was not. Prior repair invoices and contractor estimates. The insurance claims history on the property, because a previous water damage claim is difficult to reconcile with a disclosure denying knowledge of water intrusion. Prior listings, which persist online and sometimes carry photographs contradicting the current disclosure. And neighbors, who usually know about a drainage or boundary problem that has run for years.

The agents' file matters too. Agents carry their own obligation to look the property over and report what a visual inspection turns up. A file showing the agent knew is a different case to one showing only the seller knew.

The as-is clause does not do what sellers hope

An as-is clause moves the risk of conditions a buyer could discover by inspecting onto the buyer. That is all it does. It does not permit a seller to conceal a known material fact, and it does not displace the disclosure obligations the statute imposes.

Where the seller actively concealed the problem, the clause is close to irrelevant. Painting over the staining. Re-landscaping to redirect water. Timing a viewing to avoid a recurring problem. That is active concealment, and an as-is clause does not cover it.

Where the defect was reasonably discoverable and the buyer waived inspections, the clause does most of the work the seller wanted.

Before you repair anything

Repairing destroys the evidence of what was wrong. The condition as you found it is the center of the case.

Photograph everything before work starts, dated, including areas that will be closed up again. Get an inspection report from a qualified inspector or engineer describing the condition and, where they can tell, its likely age and cause. Age matters, because a defect that plainly predates the sale is hard to attribute to the buyer. Keep removed materials where practical, and keep every invoice.

Where a repair cannot wait, the documentation matters more rather than less.

Mediate before you file

Most California residential purchase agreements require mediation before litigation. Mediation is a meeting run by a neutral person who helps the two sides settle. In many of those agreements, the right to recover attorney fees depends on having attempted it.

A buyer who files first can win the case and still recover no fees. On a claim of moderate size that can mean the recovery does not cover the cost of obtaining it. It is the most common error in these disputes, and the most avoidable.

Read the dispute resolution and attorney fee paragraphs of your own agreement before taking any step. If an arbitration provision was initialled at purchase, that decides where the matter is heard as well. Arbitration means a private decision maker rather than a courtroom.