“We’ll be selling our home in University City next year. I’m an honest person and plan to disclose everything, even though I don’t know of anything wrong with our home. But with all the lawyers and litigation in California, I’m afraid of being sued by the buyer for some technicality. What can I do to protect myself?”
Answer:
Here are the “Seven Disclosure Tips To Help Keep You Out Of Court” that I share with my clients and at my homeseller seminars:
1. Never guess! Write, “don’t know” if you don’t know something.
2. Reference the source of anything you were told. Once you take something you were told and say it as fact, you’re liable.
3. Disclose all past or present dampness, leaks, floods, or mold.
4. Disclose any past problem that was “fixed”, in case the fix doesn’t hold. A good example is a “fixed” roof leak.
5. Don’t describe a past problem as “fixed”. (See #4)
6. Avoid subjective adjectives like “normal” and “small”. What’s normal to you may not be normal to someone else.
7. If you have to debate it, disclose it!
