An Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma Have To Disclose Property Defects?
Oklahoma does require real estate sellers to disclose any material defects with a property. In most cases, this is through a standardized disclosure form provided from the Real Estate Commission by statute, but any disclosure which provides the required information is valid.
The seller always has a duty to disclose all material defects covered by the statutory requirement, even when the buyer agrees to take the property “as-is.”
Exceptions to the Disclosure Rules in Oklahoma
Any fact which might materially affect the value of a property potentially counts as a material defect, except for the following:
- Whether anyone at the property was ever diagnosed with HIV or another disease not related to management of real property
- Whether the property was ever the site of a suicide, homicide, or other felony
Oklahoma also exempts the following common transfers, among others, from the standard disclosure form requirement:
- Court-ordered sales and transfers
- Sales by foreclosure or other debt default
- Transfer as part of the execution of a will or estate
- Transfer to a spouse, parent, or child
- Transfers to or from a government entity
Required Seller Disclosures in Oklahoma
Oklahoma sellers of residential real estate must make the following disclosures, as appropriate, in order for a real estate purchase agreement to be considered legally binding:
- Property Disclosure and Disclaimer Statements: Before a purchase agreement is signed, the seller must provide one of the following forms to the potential buyer:
- Known Defects: Lists all of the material defects in the home known by the seller(s).
- No Known Defects: This form can be signed by both parties for a few purposes: to waive the above statement, to confirm that the seller has no knowledge of any material defects on the property, or to authenticate that the seller has never resided on the property and has no knowledge of any material defects on 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.
Sources
- 1 Okla. Stat. tit. 59 § 858-513(A)
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The fact or suspicion that real estate might be or is psychologically impacted, such impact being the result of facts or suspicions, including but not limited to:
1. That an occupant of the real estate is, or was at any time suspected to be infected, or has been infected, with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus or diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or other disease which has been determined by medical evidence to be highly unlikely to be transmitted through the occupancy of a dwelling place; or
2. That the real estate was, or was at any time suspected to have been the site of a suicide, homicide or other felony, is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.
Source Link - 2 Okla. Stat. tit. 60 § 838
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A. This act does not apply to:
1. Transfers pursuant to court order, including, but not limited to, transfers pursuant to a writ of execution, transfers by eminent domain and transfers pursuant to an order for partition;
2. Transfers to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in interest who is in default, transfers by any foreclosure sale after default in an obligation secured by a mortgage, transfers by a mortgagee’s sale under a power of sale after default in an obligation secured by any instrument containing a power of sale, or transfers by a mortgagee who has acquired the real property at a sale conducted pursuant to a power of sale or a sale pursuant to a decree of foreclosure or has acquired the real property by deed in lieu of foreclosure;
3. Transfers by a fiduciary who is not an owner occupant of the subject property in the course of the administration of a decedent’s estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust;
4. Transfers from one co-owner to one or more other co-owners;
5. Transfers made to a spouse, or to the person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more of the owners;
6. Transfers between spouses resulting from a decree of dissolution of marriage or a decree of legal separation or from a property settlement agreement incidental to such a decree;
7. Transfers made pursuant to mergers and from a subsidiary to a parent or the reverse;
8. Transfers or exchanges to or from any governmental entity; or9. Transfers of a newly constructed, previously unoccupied dwelling.
B. Nothing in this act shall be construed to alter or change the requirements of Section 858-513 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes, regarding psychologically impacted real estate.
Source Link
