The Florida residential real estate purchase agreement (“Contract for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate”) is a contract which commits a buyer to an offer to purchase real estate, according to specific terms agreed by the buyer and seller. Negotiated specifics include the purchase price, financing method, closing date, and more.
Do Sellers in Florida Have To Disclose Property Defects?
Florida does require real estate sellers to disclose any material defects. In most cases, this is through a standardized disclosure form provided by the local realty agency, but any disclosure which provides the required information is valid.
By mutual agreement, it is possible to waive the use of a standard form and handle required disclosures another way. However, the seller always has a duty to disclose all material defects that are not obvious on a casual inspection of the property, even if the buyer agrees to take the property “as-is.” The basic duty to disclose cannot be waived under any circumstances.
The following facts do not carry a duty of disclosure:
- Facts about adjacent properties which can be discovered with the ordinary due diligence of a records search
- Whether an occupant of the property has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS
- Whether the property ever has been, or has been suspected to be, the site of a homicide, suicide, or death
Required Seller Disclosures in Florida
Florida sellers of real estate must make the following disclosures, as appropriate, in order for a real estate purchase agreement to be considered legally binding:
- Sellers Property Disclosure Statement: Discloses material defects with a property that are known to the seller at the time of sale, and details any potential issues and conditions that may affect the value of the property.
- Lead-Based Paint Disclosure: Any home constructed earlier than 1978 must come with a disclosure upon the transfer of the property which includes any information about the presence of lead on the premises, as well as educational materials that communicate the health risks associated with lead exposure.
- Property Tax Disclosure Summary: Provides a statement notifying potential buyers that property taxes may increase and to can contact an appraiser for more information if desired.
- Association Membership: Applies if an individual is selling a unit in a common interest community such as a condominium project. Provides notification to the buyer that they will have to become a member of the local Homeowners’ Association (HOA).
- Coastal Properties: Applies if the property being sold is located partially or completely seaward of the coastal construction control line.
- Nondeveloper Disclosure: Discloses how a property or association operates, when it is in a condominium development.
- Radon Gas: Any property sale in Florida must be accompanied by a form which discloses the status of any known radon hazards on the property.
Sources
- 1 Rayner v. Wise Realty Co., 504 So. 2d 1361, 1364 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1987)
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An “as is” clause in a contract for sale of real property cannot be relied upon to bar a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation or fraudulent nondisclosure.Source Link
- 2 Levy v. Creative Constructive Services of Broward, Inc., 566 So.2d 347 (1990)
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[W]e conclude that the defendant Gail Coba, as the seller of the subject home below, is not absolved of the duty imposed upon her by Johnson to disclose to the Levys, as the buyers of the said home, known defects in the home [which materially affect the value of the home and were not readily observable or known to the buyers] merely because the contract for the sale of the home was an “as is” contract; we discern no “as is” contractual exception to the duty imposed on the seller herein by the Johnson decision.
Source Link - 3 Azam v. M/I Schottenstein Homes, Inc., 761 So. 2d 1195, 1196 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2000)
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Whether a fraud claim may lie with respect to statements about matters outside the property being sold, the status of which matters can be determined from a public record, is a factual question. Thus, we believe that whether the buyer exercised ordinary diligence in discovering the falsity of such statements should be determined on a case-by-case basis, and not by some bright-line rule. In making this determination, the trier should weigh such factors as the reasonableness of the reliance, whether the seller is a developer, and the nature of the public record.
- 4 Fla. Stat. 689.25
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(1)(a) The fact that an occupant of real property is infected or has been infected with human immunodeficiency virus or diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.
(b) The fact that a property was, or was at any time suspected to have been, the site of a homicide, suicide, or death is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.
(2) A cause of action shall not arise against an owner of real property, his or her agent, an agent of a transferee of real property, or a person licensed under chapter 475 for the failure to disclose to the transferee that the property was or was suspected to have been the site of a homicide, suicide, or death or that an occupant of that property was infected with human immunodeficiency virus or diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
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