Declaraciones importantes para recordar durante transacciones de Bienes Raíces

Your starter home, a cute Cape, just went on the real estate market and you expect to get top dollar for it. 

Sure, home sweet home, has a few issues. The boiler is about to go and the roof needs to be replaced after springing a few leaks. However, that’s going to stay your little secret because you don’t want these issues to affect the sales price of the home. But there is one problem! 

While disclosing issues regarding the home may lower the value of the house, not following the law and failing to disclose any serious problems could result in a lawsuit by a buyer that could cost you far more than what you may have gained.

Disclosure requirements vary from state to state. However, home sellers should know: 

• It’s against the law in many states to fraudulently hide major physical defects to your home 

• Sellers may be required to be proactive and create written disclosures about the condition of the property 

• Sellers are generally responsible for disclosing problems they’re aware of, however it is up to the buyer to have the property inspected 

• In some states, a seller must search for certain problems even if he or she is unaware of them 

Federal law requires sellers to disclose potential lead based paint hazards. Lead paint was common in the past but was banned in 1978. Too much lead in a person’s body, especially that of a child, either by inhaling lead paint dust or eating paint flakes, can lead to serious physical, mental and intellectual problems. 

If your house was built before 1978, you need to follow the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, requiring sellers to: 

• Disclose known lead based paint and hazards 

• Provide buyers with a pamphlet written by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency titled “Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home” 

• Include any warnings spelled out by state law in the sales contract 

• Have signed statements from the parties stating all legal requirements were met 

• Save signed acknowledgements for three years as proof of compliance, and 

• Provide a buyer with a ten-day time frame for lead testing. 

Failure to comply with the above requirements could result in the purchaser filing suit against the seller and possibly being awarded as much as three times the amount of damages actually suffered. 

There are also practical concerns regarding prior disclosure of known issues. Virtually all homes are inspected prior to the sale. If an inspector finds a serious problem that wasn’t disclosed you could lose the sale. If you know about it, is it worth the risk?