California Real Estate Disclosures Explained

What Disclosures Are Required in California?

California disclosure is layered. At the bottom sits a statutory floor the legislature requires on every 1-4 unit residential transfer. Above that sit contractual and local disclosures that vary by property and county.

What Is the Transfer Disclosure Statement?

The TDS is California's central disclosure form. The legislature wrote the exact language, and the seller must complete it personally — an agent cannot fill it out for you.

You disclose, to the best of your actual knowledge, material defects affecting the property's value or desirability. The form covers:

• Built-in appliances and their working condition
• Structural systems — foundation, roof, walls, windows
• Roof leaks and prior insurance claims
• Drainage, grading, soil and geological conditions
• Room additions and whether they were permitted
• Environmental hazards — lead paint, asbestos, radon, formaldehyde, fuel or chemical storage tanks, contaminated soil or water
• Neighborhood noise and nuisances
• Shared facilities, easements, and boundary disputes
• HOA and common area conditions

Both the seller and each cooperating agent sign it, and agents add their own visual inspection observations separately.

The Natural Hazard Disclosure: Unique to California

California is the only state in the country that requires a Natural Hazard Disclosure. Under Civil Code 1103, you must disclose whether the property lies within any of six designated zones:

Third-party NHD companies prepare the report, and the seller customarily pays — though the cost is technically negotiable.

This matters enormously in Roman's service area. Large portions of the Ojai Valley, the San Bernardino mountain communities, and hillside areas across Los Angeles County fall into Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. That designation now affects not just disclosure but insurance availability — and a buyer who cannot bind coverage cannot close.

The Buyer's Right to Cancel After Disclosure

Delivering disclosures starts a clock. Under Civil Code 1102.13, a buyer may rescind the purchase agreement without penalty:

• Three business days after personal delivery
• Five days after delivery by mail

That window reopens if disclosures are materially amended after the contract is signed. If you discover a defect mid-escrow and amend the TDS, the buyer gets a fresh rescission right.

The practical implication for sellers: deliver disclosures early. The TDS is typically delivered within seven days of accepting an offer, and delivering promptly gets the rescission window running and behind you rather than hanging over the transaction.

What Happens If You Fail to Disclose?

This is where California disclosure stops being paperwork and becomes financial exposure that outlives the sale.

Buyers generally have three years from discovering a problem to bring a claim — not three years from closing. A defect that surfaces in year four is still actionable if the buyer only discovered it then.

The uncomfortable arithmetic: you may have spent the proceeds, bought another home, and moved on. A rescission claim arriving three years later does not care about any of that.

Disclosures That Trip Up California Sellers

Unpermitted work

A converted garage, an added bathroom, an enclosed patio. If you know it was done without permits, disclose it. Buyers find out during appraisal or through county records anyway, and discovering it late looks like concealment even when it was oversight.

Prior insurance claims

The TDS asks. Claims history is also visible to buyers through CLUE reports, so a claim you omitted is one they can independently find.

Deaths on the property

Deaths within the past three years must be disclosed. California law specifically protects AIDS-related deaths — a seller may not disclose that an occupant had or died from AIDS.

Mello-Roos and special assessments

Properties in special tax districts require separate disclosure under Civil Code 1102.6b. This matters in newer master-planned communities — parts of Orange County, Harvest at Limoneira in Santa Paula, and much of the Inland Empire. Buyers who discover a $400 monthly assessment after removing contingencies are unhappy buyers.

Neighborhood conditions

Known material facts extend past your property line: a planned development, chronic noise, a problem neighbor, drainage from an adjacent lot. If you know it and a reasonable buyer would want to know it, it belongs on the form.

Who Prepares Your Disclosure Package?

This is where the choice of listing model has a concrete consequence, and it is worth understanding before you pick one.

A flat fee MLS service places your listing and stops. You complete the TDS, order the NHD, assemble the HOA package, and manage delivery timing — alone. For a straightforward property with a knowledgeable seller that can work. For a home with unpermitted work, a fire-zone designation, or a complicated HOA, it is where liability gets created.

Roman is a flat fee realtor, not a flat fee MLS service. The $7,250 or $9,250 covers full listing representation — including disclosure package preparation, review, and delivery timing — the same scope a 2.7% listing agent provides. A discount realtor or low commission realtor still charges a percentage; ask specifically what their fee includes here, because it varies.

Where Does Roman List Homes?

Disclosure obligations are statewide, but hazard zone designations vary enormously by county -- and fire zone status in particular now affects insurance availability and whether a buyer can close at all.

Related reading: Seller's Guide · Flat Fee MLS vs. Full Service · Listing Agent Cost · Flat Fee Listing

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