IMPORTANT UPDATE

Residential Property Disclosure Statement

About the NEW disclosure forms on the Real Estate Board website effective July 10, 2017

The 2017 General Assembly passed legislation amending the Residential property Disclosure Act (Chapter 27 of Title 55 of the Code of Virginia). The new Residential Property Disclosure Statement is the website referencing all disclosures required by the Act.

Sellers are required to provide notification to purchasers about the Residential Property Disclosure Statement website using an acknowledgement from to be signed by the seller and purchaser (modeled after the one-page form on the Real Estate Board website prior to July 1, 2017). The acknowledgement form is available on the main landing page for all other disclosure forms at http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/Consumers/Disclosure_Forms/.

The updated Residential property Disclosure Statement website URL is http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/consumers/residential_property_disclosures/ and references the following information.

·  Twelve “buyer-beware” disclosures advising purchasers to exercise due diligence.

o  A print-friendly PDF link is provided for those who wish to obtain hard copies of the Residential Property Disclosure Statement. The three-page PDF does not need to be signed by parties to transaction and therefore does not include signature blocks.

·  Four “affirmative disclosures” related to (1) military air installations; (2) defective drywall; (3) pending building or zoning code violations; and (4) former methamphetamine labs.

o  Because such circumstances are not a common occurrence for most transactions, a separate disclosure form is available for each affirmative disclosure on the main landing page for all Real Estate Board disclosure forms: http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/consumers/disclosure_forms.

o  You should only use one of these four disclosure forms if it is applicable to the property under contract. If one of these disclosure forms is applicable, it needs to be signed by the parties as indicated by the signature blocks on each disclosure form.

·  Disclosure for first sale of a dwelling if there are: (1) any known material defects by the builder or (2) any known prior mining operations or abandoned mines on a property in Planning District 15.

o  The builder/owner of a new dwelling is required to disclosure in writing if one of these circumstances is applicable to the property under contract.

o  Although the form is not required, builders/owners may use the version available at http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/consumers/disclosure_forms. If this disclosure form is used, it needs to be signed by the parties as indicated by the signature blocks.