California Seller Disclosures: What You Have to Tell Buyers, and What You Don't

What are you legally required to disclose when you sell a home in California? California sellers are generally required to disclose material facts they actually know about the property, and are generally not required to investigate or inspect to find problems they are unaware of.

That distinction is the whole thing. Almost every question a seller has about disclosures comes back to it, and almost every mistake comes from misunderstanding it in one direction or the other.

Some sellers assume they are on the hook for anything a buyer might eventually discover, and they panic. Others assume that if nobody ever brought it up, it does not count. Neither is right. California asks you what you know. It does not ask you to go find out.

What follows is what you are required to disclose, how the disclosure forms are built to capture that requirement, and how to complete them. It is not a checklist of which specific forms apply to your transaction, because that genuinely varies by property, by seller, and by deal. Your agent works that part out on your specific sale.

Before anything else. I am a licensed REALTOR®, not an attorney, and this is general information about how California disclosure obligations commonly work. It is not legal advice and it is not a substitute for it. Requirements turn on the specific facts of a property and a transaction, statutes and forms change, and reasonable professionals sometimes read them differently. Both sellers and buyers should consult a qualified California real estate attorney about their own situation before relying on anything here. Nothing in this article creates an attorney-client or agency relationship.

The rule everything else runs on

California disclosure obligations are built on actual knowledge. If you know something material about the property, you disclose it in writing. If you do not know, you are generally not required to hire anyone to tell you.

"Material" means a fact a reasonable buyer would consider important in deciding whether to buy or what to pay. Roof leaks, foundation movement, a permit you never pulled, an ongoing plumbing problem, a dispute over a fence line. It is a broad standard on purpose.

Two things follow from it, and they surprise people in opposite directions.

You are generally not required to inspect your own house before listing it. No law says a seller must obtain a home inspection, a roof report, or a sewer scope.

But once you know, you cannot un-know it. Knowledge is a one-way door. And that door swings on anything already in your possession, which is a point I come back to further down, because it is where sellers get hurt most often.

When it comes to the condition of the property, the exposure runs almost entirely one direction. Disclosing too little carries real consequences. Disclosing more than strictly necessary about the house generally does not. So when a seller asks whether something about the property is worth mentioning, the answer is almost always yes. There is one narrow exception, covered further down, and it has to do with describing people rather than property.

You are not expected to catalog every scuff

This is the part that quietly stresses sellers out, so let me address it directly.

You are not expected to walk your house with a notepad recording every scratch, ding, and worn spot. Cosmetic wear on a home somebody has lived in is not a material fact. Buyers expect it. A pre-owned house has scuffed baseboards, a chip in the tile, paint that has seen better days, and nobody's disclosure obligation extends to inventorying that.

Combine that with the no-duty-to-investigate rule and the scope gets manageable. You are not conducting an inspection of your own property. You are reporting what you already know.

But the line is not about how small something looks.

A scratch on a cabinet door is the whole story. You can see all of it. Nothing is happening behind it, and there is no cause a buyer would need explained.

A crack in the drywall is a different kind of thing. So is a stain on a ceiling, a door that has started sticking, a window that will not close the way it used to, or a floor that has developed a slope. Those are visible edges of something you cannot see. The buyer's question is not about the crack. It is about what made it.

That is the test. Not how big it is. Is what you are looking at the entire thing, or could it be a sign of something else?

Cosmetic damage is complete in itself. A symptom points somewhere. And when you cannot tell which one you are dealing with, that uncertainty is exactly the situation the disclosure is for.

You do not have to diagnose it. You just have to say what you observed and let the buyer's inspector work out what it means.

One thing this rule is not: it is not a reason to avoid learning about your own house. If you already suspect something is wrong, "I never confirmed it" is a weak position, and a suspicion you never chased is still something you knew. The point of the actual-knowledge standard is that California does not force you to buy a professional opinion. It is not a strategy for staying in the dark.

What you are actually required to disclose

The obligation is broad, and California states it broadly on purpose. You disclose material facts you know that affect the value or desirability of the property. There is no official itemized catalog of every disclosable fact, because the standard is materiality rather than a list.

In practice, that pulls in categories like these:

• The physical condition of the house and its systems. Roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, drainage, and anything you know is not working the way it should.
• Known defects, current and past. Including ones you had repaired.
• Repairs, alterations, and additions, who performed the work, and whether permits were obtained.
• Environmental and hazard conditions you are aware of, along with whatever a hazard report turns up about the property's location.
• Assessments and financial obligations attached to the property, including special assessments and association dues.
• Legal matters, such as disputes, claims, liens, or lawsuits involving the property.
• Conditions in the neighborhood that affect the property, which is a category sellers routinely under-disclose. More on that below.
• A death on the property within the past three years, where it is a material fact.

The common thread is not a form or a statute. It is whether a reasonable buyer deciding what to pay would want to know.

How the disclosure forms represent that requirement

Here is the part that makes the rest make sense.

That obligation, stated as "disclose material facts you know," is almost impossible to act on directly. Nobody can sit down with a blank page and reliably produce everything they know that a buyer might consider material.

So the disclosure forms exist to turn a broad legal duty into something you can actually answer. Rather than asking you to freewrite, they walk you category by category and ask specific questions. Structure, roof, plumbing, appliances, room additions, drainage, environmental conditions, neighborhood issues, and so on. The forms are the mechanism. The obligation is the thing underneath.

That matters for two reasons.

First, the forms are a floor, not a ceiling. Answering every question does not exhaust your duty. If you know something material that no question happens to reach, it still gets disclosed. The forms are a well-built prompt, not a complete definition of your obligation.

Second, and this is the part that shapes everything about how you fill them out: because the underlying duty is about your knowledge, the questions are written about your knowledge.

What to expect in the stack

Exactly which documents show up varies transaction to transaction, so treat what follows as examples rather than a list you should expect to match. But the package generally sorts into three kinds of thing, and knowing which is which tells you where to spend your attention.

The ones you read and acknowledge

A good portion of what you sign is informational. You read it, you initial or sign, and you move on. Common examples include the Megan's Law database notice, the Statewide Buyer and Seller Advisory, the Market Conditions Advisory, and various hazard booklets on older homes.

These are not asking you anything about your property. They exist to make sure you were told something. They go quickly.

The same is generally true of third-party reports, like a natural hazard report that researches whether your property sits in mapped flood, fire, or seismic zones. Someone else produces it. You are not answering questions.

The ones you actually fill out

This is where your time and essentially all of your risk go.

The Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement, the TDS, and the Seller Property Questionnaire, the SPQ, are the two most sellers encounter. Between them you are looking at a long run of yes-or-no questions, most of them built on the premise "Are you (Seller) aware of...", plus space to explain every yes.

Set aside real time for these. Not an afternoon between showings. They cover the house system by system and then move into repairs, permits, insurance claims, disputes, environmental conditions, and the neighborhood. The explanations you write are the part a buyer actually reads.

The ones that show up because of your specific situation

This is the layer that varies most, and it is why nobody can hand you a universal checklist.

• Solar brings additional paperwork, and more of it if the system is leased or financed rather than owned.
• A septic system or a private well instead of public utilities adds its own.
• An HOA brings a document package from the association.
• A tenant in the property brings lease and rent-roll disclosures.
• Selling through a trust or an estate changes which forms apply, and sometimes which exemptions do.
• An FHA or VA buyer brings additional paperwork into the transaction that a conventional or cash buyer would not.

None of that is exhaustive, and the combination that applies to your sale is something your agent works out with you. The point is that if your transaction has something distinctive about it, expect extra paperwork rather than being surprised by it.

The four words that explain the whole thing

On the forms where you are the one answering, look at how the questions are written. They tend to run some version of "Are you (Seller) aware of..." rather than "does the property have."

That is not accidental phrasing. It is the actual-knowledge standard written directly into the form. Those questions are asking about your knowledge, not about the condition of the house.

Understanding that changes how you fill them out.

Answer about what you know, not about the property

When a question asks whether you are aware of something and you genuinely do not know, the honest answer is "No." That "No" means I am not aware of this. It does not mean this condition does not exist, and it is not a warranty that the house is free of it.

The place sellers go wrong is treating a "No" as a claim about the property rather than a report on their own knowledge.

Where there is space to explain, use it. If you are answering "No" because you have never lived in the house, or have not been in the crawlspace in a decade, or inherited the property and never occupied it, say so. That tells the buyer your answer reflects a lack of awareness rather than a representation that the problem does not exist.

The same instinct applies to checkboxes about features. Do not check that the property has something unless you actually know it does. A sewer connection, central air, a particular system. Checking it because it seems likely is a representation you may not be able to back up.

The habits that keep sellers out of trouble

One thing to understand about my role here, because it surprises people. Your listing agent cannot tell you what to disclose, how to disclose it, or what to change about your answers. That is not me being cautious. It is the standard of practice, and it is spelled out in an advisory you will sign near the start of the process. Your disclosures are your statements about your knowledge, and nobody else can make them for you. If you need help deciding what to disclose or how to word a specific answer, that is a conversation for a California real estate attorney.

What follows is general information about how these forms work. It is not direction about your particular answers.

On what not to write:

• Do not guess at causes. If you had water in the garage, say you had water in the garage and when it happened. Do not write "probably just condensation." That is a diagnosis, you are not qualified to make it, and you now own it.
• Do not characterize severity. Avoid "minor," "small," "insignificant," "infrequent," and "never." Those words reflect your opinion, and your buyer, a professional, or a court may not share it.
• Do not leave blanks. Answer every question unless a section genuinely does not apply. A blank reads as avoidance and invites the exact question you were hoping to skip.

On what to include even when you would rather not:

• Disclose it even if you have made peace with it. The slow drain you stopped noticing years ago is still a condition. Living with something is not the same as it not existing.
• Disclose repairs, but do not vouch for them. Say what the issue was and what was done about it. Do not predict or guarantee that the fix worked or will hold. Those are two different statements and only one of them is yours to make.
• Do not assume permits were pulled. Unless you personally obtained them or have copies, do not assume whoever did the work got them.
• If your information came from someone else, say so and name the source. Even if you disagree with what you were told or are unsure it is accurate. A neighbor's comment, a contractor's opinion, an HOA newsletter.
• If information conflicts, disclose all of it. Two reports that disagree, or an estimate that contradicts what you were told. Do not resolve the conflict for the buyer by picking one.

On making the answer solid:

• Give dates, names, and specifics. "Roof repaired March 2022, licensed contractor, invoice attached" is a far better answer than "roof was fixed." Address the who, what, when, and how.
• Attach the document instead of describing it. If you have the invoice, the permit, or the report, hand it over. Your summary of a document is another thing you can be wrong about.
• When you cannot tell whether something is material, disclose it. A useful gut check: if the reason you are hesitating is that the fact might make a buyer offer less or walk away, that is precisely why it needs to be disclosed. That is what "affects value or desirability" means.
• Keep them current through closing. If a disclosure becomes inaccurate or incomplete, or something changes between signing and close of escrow, update and correct it promptly rather than letting it stand.

One clarification on all of the above. Outside the forms where the law dictates the format, California generally does not regulate how a material fact has to be worded. None of this is a legal requirement about phrasing. It is habit that keeps you describing what you know instead of warranting a condition. Written disclosure, though, is almost always the right call over anything verbal.

You will also be handed a Disclosure Information Advisory near the beginning of the process, which you sign to acknowledge you have read it. Read it rather than signing past it. It is C.A.R.'s own guidance on completing these forms and it is the closest thing to a manual that exists on the seller side.

None of this is about saying less. Every one of these habits produces a fuller disclosure than the vague version. They just keep you describing facts and knowledge instead of making promises about a building.

Neighborhood issues: yes. Descriptions of people: no.

This one needs care, because the line is narrower than sellers assume in both directions.

Neighborhood and neighbor-related conditions are disclosable, and sellers under-disclose them constantly. A shared fence dispute, an ongoing lot-line disagreement, chronic noise, persistent odors, an HOA lawsuit, a nuisance you have complained about. Also planned changes you are aware of, such as a neighbor's addition, new construction, or a road project that could affect traffic, views, or noise, even if you are not certain it will happen. Those affect the value and desirability of your property.

What does not belong is characterization of people. Who lives nearby, what they are like, your read on who is moving into the area. Fair Housing law is why, and a seller trying hard to be thorough is exactly the person most likely to write something in a margin that creates a problem.

The workable test: describe conditions and events, not the people involved in them. "Ongoing dispute with the adjacent owner regarding the shared fence line, unresolved as of this date" is a disclosure. A description of that neighbor is not.

If a question feels like it is pulling you toward describing people rather than conditions, stop and ask your agent or attorney before you write.

The trap almost nobody sees coming

Here is the part I wish more sellers understood before they call me.

California requires disclosure of previously received reports of physical inspections. Not just current ones. Reports in your possession.

That means the inspection from the deal that fell apart last spring is generally still disclosable when you relist. So is the roof report you ordered two years ago and set aside. So is the termite report from a transaction that never closed. In practical terms it follows the property, not the transaction.

And you cannot pick and choose. In a 1959 California case, Gilbert v. Corlett, a seller handed over the favorable reports and withheld a negative engineer's report. The court found that was fraud. If you have three reports and one is bad, all three go over.

Put that next to the actual-knowledge principle and you get the real shape of it. Nobody makes you go looking. But what you find, and what you already have, goes to the buyer.

A quick note on pre-listing inspections

Sellers ask about this constantly, so briefly.

An inspection report is built to list everything, every loose outlet cover and slow drain sitting on the page next to the roof and the foundation. That is the inspector doing the job right, and it is not a repair list. But once that report is in your possession, you generally have to disclose what it found, small items included. Meanwhile your buyer is going to inspect the house regardless.

That is why we usually steer sellers away from ordering one. It is a house-by-house call rather than a rule, and there are situations where knowing early is worth it. I went through the full reasoning in our Riverside County prep-to-sell guide, so I will not repeat all of it here.

One related point worth separating out, because sellers conflate these constantly: as-is generally governs repairs. Disclosure governs information. Selling in present condition addresses whether you are agreeing to fix things. It is not understood to change what you have to tell a buyer.

A few things changed in 2026

Worth knowing about, without treating any of them as the whole story.

Electrical systems. As of January 1, 2026, sellers deliver a notice advising buyers that it may be worth having a qualified professional inspect the electrical system, including the panel and wiring. It flags that substandard or faulty wiring can create fire risk and make insurance difficult to obtain, and that limited capacity can make it hard to add solar, electric water heating, or EV charging later. That last part lands here. A lot of Inland Empire buyers are planning on solar or a charger, and a lot of local housing stock predates that kind of load.

Gas appliances. Also as of January 1, 2026, sellers disclose any known state or local requirement or restriction affecting future replacement of gas-powered appliances transferring with the property. Natural gas and propane both count.

Thirdhand smoke and vaping. Also effective January 1, 2026. A seller with actual knowledge of tobacco or nicotine residue on the property, or of a history of smoking or vaping inside it, discloses that in writing.

Be careful how you read "new" on that last one. Smoking in a house has been a disclosable item in California for a long time, both as a material fact and through questions already on the seller questionnaire. Any experienced agent has been asking about it for years. What changed is that it is now named in the statute, thirdhand smoke residue is called out specifically, and vaping and e-cigarettes are explicitly included. That last part is the genuinely new piece, and it exists because vaping is recent enough that the older framing did not clearly reach it.

What happens if you get it wrong

The consequences can be real. A buyer who does not receive a required disclosure may have a statutory right to cancel. A buyer who closes and later discovers something the seller knew and did not disclose may be able to pursue damages, and claims of that kind can survive closing. Whether any of that applies to a given situation depends entirely on its facts, which is a question for an attorney rather than for an agent.

There is also a timing rule worth understanding, and it is not new and not tied to any one disclosure. If a required disclosure, or a material amendment to one, is delivered after the buyer has already signed an offer, the buyer generally gets a short window to terminate. A few days, depending on how it was delivered.

The practical read for a seller: a disclosure that shows up late, or an amended one that shows up mid-escrow, can reopen a door the buyer had already walked through. That is the argument for getting your disclosure package assembled before you list rather than after you are in contract, and for starting early on anything that takes time to gather.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to get a home inspection before selling in California? Generally no. California requires you to disclose defects you actually know about and does not impose a duty to investigate. Note the flip side: if you do obtain a report, it becomes disclosable, and it stays disclosable in future transactions even if this sale never closes.

What if I have an old inspection report from a deal that fell through? You generally still have to provide it. Previously received reports of physical inspections are disclosable, without a time limit and without an exception for deals that did not close.

Can I just disclose the good reports and leave out the bad one? No, and this is settled. A California seller who provided favorable reports while withholding a negative engineer's report was found liable for fraud. What is in your possession goes to the buyer.

How should I word my answers on the disclosure forms? The forms mostly ask whether you are aware of a condition, so a "No" means you are not aware of it rather than that it does not exist. Where there is room to explain, say what you know and why, including reasons you might not know, such as never having lived in the house. Give dates and specifics, attach documents rather than summarizing them, do not speculate about causes, and avoid words like "minor" that put your opinion on someone else's problem. Note that your listing agent cannot tell you what to disclose or how to word a specific answer; that is a question for an attorney.

Do I still have to disclose if I am selling as-is? Yes. Selling in present condition generally addresses whether you are agreeing to make repairs. It is not understood to change what you have to tell a buyer about what you know.

Am I exempt from disclosures if I inherited the house or it is in a trust? Possibly from some of them. Certain sellers, including some probate, trust, foreclosure, and bankruptcy transfers, are exempt from specific forms. Exemption from a particular form is not exemption from disclosing material facts you know. The trust exemptions in particular are narrower than people assume, and this is worth confirming with an attorney rather than assuming.

Do I have to write down every scratch and ding in the house? No. Cosmetic wear on a lived-in home is not a material fact, and you are not expected to inventory it. The useful distinction is not size but whether what you are looking at is the whole story. A scratch on a cabinet is complete in itself. A crack, a ceiling stain, or a door that started sticking is the visible edge of something you cannot see, and the buyer's real question is what caused it. You are not expected to diagnose that. Disclose what you observed and let the buyer's inspector work out what it means.

Do I have to disclose a death in the house? A death on the property within the past three years is generally disclosable where it is a material fact. Beyond three years, it depends on materiality.

What are the new disclosure requirements for 2026? Three took effect January 1, 2026: a notice recommending a professional electrical system inspection, disclosure of known state or local restrictions on replacing gas-powered appliances, and disclosure of known tobacco or nicotine residue or a history of smoking or vaping in the home. Smoking itself was already disclosable; the change puts it in the statute and makes clear that vaping is included.

Where to go from here

If you are getting ready to list in Riverside County, the disclosure package is not the part to rush at the end. Start it early, because some of it takes time to gather and a few items can stall an escrow if they surface late.

I will walk your property, tell you which disclosures apply to your specific situation, and flag what needs attention before we go live rather than after you are in contract. What I will not do is tell you what to write, because that is yours.

Call or text Chris Leeper at 951-741-5311 or visit https://linktr.ee/leeperrealtygroup.

Who you work with matters.

Chris Leeper, REALTOR®, DRE #01881634, Brokered by eXp Realty of California, Inc.

Disclaimer. Chris Leeper is a licensed California REALTOR® (DRE #01881634), not an attorney, and nothing in this article is legal advice or a substitute for it. This is general information about how California seller disclosure obligations commonly work, current as of publication. Statutes, case law, and standard forms change, and their application depends on the specific facts of a property and a transaction. Sellers and buyers should each consult a qualified California real estate attorney regarding their own circumstances before acting on anything described here. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship or an agency relationship, and no representation is made that any particular outcome will follow from following it.

Sources

• California Civil Code section 1102 and following, seller disclosure requirements: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=CIV
• Senate Bill 382, electrical system notice and gas appliance replacement disclosures, effective January 1, 2026: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB382
• Assembly Bill 455, thirdhand smoke and vaping disclosure, effective January 1, 2026: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB455
• Nolo, "Selling a California Home: What Are My Disclosure Obligations": https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/residential-home-sellers-california-your-disclosure-obligations.html
• Gilbert v. Corlett (1959), seller liability for withholding a negative inspection report