California Civil Code mandates that all residential sellers give home buyers a transfer disclosure statement.

I'm willing to bet that more lawsuits in California are filed over a seller's transfer disclosure statement than any other real estate disclosure. It's the seller's main chance to disclose defects, recent repairs and all material facts to a buyer, so a transfer disclosure statement should be completed as thoroughly as possible.

Some of the questions are tricky. You might think they don't apply when they do. And that's where part of the problem with the form lies. You should get competent advice, preferably legal advice, before filling it out. Because often it's not what you say, it's how you say it.

The important thing is to disclose completely. Buyers tend to sue over what they weren't told about. They feel deceived and misled if pertinent information was not disclosed. Buyers want to know the truth, and they have a legal right to the truth . . . read more about Transfer Disclosure Statements.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub, click below:

• Contract Contingencies
  
• Requests for Repair
  
• How Pending Sales Go Bad

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