When nearly any home is sold in Georgia, the seller is required to fill out a Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement. This form is created to “assist Seller in disclosing to prospective buyers material adverse facts relating to the physical condition of Property that may not be readily observable.”
Most buyers will have a home inspector review the property prior to purchase. Unfortunately, home inspectors are only able to review those issues that are readily observable. Further, your typical home inspector is not an engineer, and thus, may be unable to to assist the buyer in discovering latent underlying issues.
The fastest, easiest, and cheapest way for a prospective buyer to find out about potential issues with the house is from an owner who is intimately familiar with the property. For this reason, the seller/owner is often required to fill out a disclosure form.
A seller may worry that disclosing a problem with the house will scare off the buyer. Given the current housing market, this fear is understandable, but failure to disclose an item could be considered fraud. If you fail to disclose a problem and something goes wrong post-sale, you are opening yourself up to being sued by the purchaser. Should this occur, your legal fees could be astronomical.
In practice, most sellers will not walk from a purchase because of a minor issue you disclose. Further, should you be sued, it could take all your resources to merely defend the suit, let alone pay any awarded damages. Finally, in our opinion, which may sound somewhat Pollyanna, being honest and open in your transactions is the right thing to do.
Larsen & Teusink PC has experience litigating matters related to fraud in the sale of real property. Please call our offices today at 678.553.2923 and speak with one of our professionals today to learn more.
Posted under Litigation, Property Law, Real Estate Law
This post was written by Eric Teusink on June 21, 2010
