Texas state law requires sellers of residential property to provide a Seller's Disclosure Notice to any prospective buyer. The law makes the seller responsible for full disclosure of items or conditions that could effect a buyer's decision to purchase.
If there are now, or have been in the past, problems or repairs and you know of them, you must disclose them to any prospective buyer. Disclosure should be made before an offer to purchase is written. A disclosure form should be completed, signed and dated by the seller and furnished to any prospective buyer. The form must be updated if changes occur while the home is being marketed.
Sellers may be exempt from providing the notice if they are:
- Selling new construction
- Selling pursuant to a court order
- A trustee in a bankruptcy
- A lender selling at foreclosure
- Transferring to a lender after foreclosure or deed-in-lieu
- A fiduciary in the administration of an estate, guardianship, conservatorhip or trust
- A co-owner selling to another co-owner
- Selling to a spouse or a direct descendant
- Spouses transferring pursuant to court order
- Selling to a governmental entity