Question:
“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:
- Never guess! Write “Don’t know” if you don’t know something.
- Reference the source of anything you were told. Once you take something you were told and say it as fact, you’re liable.
- Disclose all past or present dampness, leaks, floods, or mold.
- Disclose any past problem that was “fixed,” in case the fix doesn’t hold. A good example is a “fixed” roof leak.
- Don’t describe a past problem as “fixed.” (See #4)
- Avoid subjective adjectives like “normal” and “small.” What’s normal to you may not be normal to someone else.
- If you have to debate it, disclose it!
