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It depends where you are. It's like asking what the speed limit on a road is. Even some professionals who should know better are giving answers when they have no idea what laws this falls under.
IN some places you do have to disclose things related to the neighborhood. For example, if you have noisy neighbors and it can be proven that you knew this - e.g. several noise complaints to the police or even to the neighbors themselves, you could be in trouble if they buyer finds out that you had a problem you didn't disclose. Likewise, disputes have to be disclosed in some places. Most things do have a paper trail so it's not a matter of opinion. If you complained about noise repeatedly, you had a noise problem. If you have a restraining order on your neighbor due to his harassment, you have a dispute and problem with the neighbor. Doesn't have to be disclosed everywhere but in some places it does.
I'm having a difficult time trying to understand your point. Could you clarify how that relates to what I wrote?
By the way, in Michigan a Seller is not asked anything about neighbors, nor are there any open questions asking about other issues. Only pointed questions need to be answered in Michigan. If a Seller doesn't provide a Seller's Disclosure Form, it only provides the opportunity for a Buyer to back out of an otherwise binding contract. Once closed, it's too late and it becomes a non-issue.
I just asked if it were really true in Michigan that you only had to answer specific questions and you don't have to disclose other material facts not asked about. So, you don't have a part of the disclosure with blank lines to disclose other things a seller would know? I gave a sink hole in the back yard as an example. They happen here, are a negative, should be disclosed, but are not specifically asked about on the disclosure.
Sellers are required to disclose only those items which need to be disclosed under the state's Seller Disclosure Form. Check the disclosure form for your state. Most often, disclosure is limited to issues pertaining to the house itself, not neighbors.
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Originally Posted by I love boots.
Not where I am. Are you sure? Our disclosure form even has blank lines where it asks you to disclose any material facts that have not been specifically asked for on that form. for example it there is a big sinkhole in the back yard you have to disclose it even though it isn't asked.
Your opinion of the neighbors is not a material fact about the house. No.
I'll do you one better boots . . . here in MA the seller is not required to make a written disclosure.
As someone already mentioned, disclosure requirements vary quite a bit from state to state. This includes not only what sellers are required to disclose but also how sellers are required to disclose it.
If you're concerned that something wasn't disclosed that should have consult someone who should be expert on your state's disclosure requirements like your agent or a real estate attorney.
I just asked if it were really true in Michigan that you only had to answer specific questions and you don't have to disclose other material facts not asked about. So, you don't have a part of the disclosure with blank lines to disclose other things a seller would know? I gave a sink hole in the back yard as an example. They happen here, are a negative, should be disclosed, but are not specifically asked about on the disclosure.
It had nothing to do with looney neighbors.
Okay, thanks for the clarification. I was confused because my post was general in nature and wasn't referring to the situation in Michigan. I suppose it would have been more clear had I written "their" state's Seller Disclosure Form instead of "the" state's Seller Disclosure Form. In context, I thought it was clear that I was acknowledging that all states have different disclosure requirements. Hence, the "Check the disclosure form for your state" line.
As noted in my second post, Michigan does not have a blank space for other, non-specified items to be mentioned. If we did, however, that would still be a state requirement to disclose those issues.
Hmm...let's see. If the neighbor is a sex offender ...and you have kids . I kinda think if you 'ask' they then must answer honestly. Not the typical umm...gee good question,but hey look over there at the nice view!
Yes some information is only shared if directly asked. Most (myself included) are unsure how to post the question to Get the clear answers.
Hmm...let's see. If the neighbor is a sex offender ...and you have kids . I kinda think if you 'ask' they then must answer honestly. Not the typical umm...gee good question,but hey look over there at the nice view!
Yes some information is only shared if directly asked. Most (myself included) are unsure how to post the question to Get the clear answers.
Regardless of disclosure requirements, a person can't lie when asked a direct question. They can decline to answer, of course. Or, more often, they can just not be around when the house is shown.
But this thread isn't about questions asked directly, it's about disclosure requirements. Again, what needs to be disclosed by the Seller depends upon each state's disclosure requirements. Sex offender information is often not a disclosure requirement since that is public information which can be obtained by the Buyer elsewhere. Here is the language on Seller Disclosure Statements in Michigan:
"BUYERS ARE ADVISED THAT CERTAIN INFORMATION COMPILED PURSUANT TO THE SEX OFFENDERS REGISTRATION ACT, 1994 PA 295, MCL 28,721 TO 28.732 IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. BUYERS SEEKING SUCH INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR SHERRIF’S DEPARTMENT DIRECTLY."
The problem with requiring people to disclose nuisance neighbors is that sometimes people just don't get along. Maybe the previous owners didn't think the neighbor was looney tunes so there was no problem. As such, most states don't require this kind of disclosure because it is too subjective.
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Originally Posted by oldtrader
What two people think is excessive noise may be 100% different. Problem neighbors may be a problem for one owner, and another will be best friends.
In some areas that I'm familiar with, you need to disclose disputes and problems with neighbors. The disclosure requirement is not asking you for your opinion. Having a dispute or problem is factual, not subjective. If you've lodged noise complaints (or even repeatedly complained to your neighbor or wrote him a letter about it), you've called the police because your neighbor's kids continually through rocks at you over the fence or you've taken the neighbor to court over something, that (under these rules) needs to be disclosed because it's a dispute/problem with the neighbor (noise, nuisance, problem, dispute, etc). We've discussed this on other threads and it's really very easy but for some reason people fail to grasp this.
Nothing to do with your opinion, feeling, or view of whether your neighbors are nice, rude, friendly, pushy, too noisy, don't say 'good morning', act funny, avoid eye contact, etc.
It's true that the buyer may become best friends with the neighbor that the seller had a dispute with. Why does that matter? The seller is just disclosing the fact that he had a dispute/problem. What happens with the buyer and the neighbor is not an issue with the disclosure. You disclose that you had a leaky roof that was repaired. The new owner may never have a problem with the roof. He may love the roof. You're just disclosing a fact about the roof. Same concept. I don't know why anyone would think that what may or may not happen in the future is relevant to how you disclose facts about the home. That's faulty logic and not the way disclosures work anywhere that I am aware of. Conversely, if you've had no problems or disputes with your neighbor, your buyer may have huge problems with the neighbors. Not your issue. You've disclosed responsibly. Same with the roof. You've had no problem with it and 6 months later it leaks on your buyer. Not your problem. You've disclosed legally.
To be 100% clear, I'm not saying this is how it works everywhere with regards to disputes, nuisances and neighbor problems and in fact it doesn't. I'm not an expert on this but I think that this might be an issue in some states with open ended disclosure requirements. Like requirements to disclose things that might materially affect the value of the property. I'm not giving legal opinion nor do I know what kind of cases there have been in various states around this but I would image that a buyer could argue that nuisance neighbors have impacted the value of the home and should have been disclosed because the seller, for example, had 12 calls to police, 2 lawsuits, 10 letters, etc with the neighbor. Hard for the seller to argue that he did not know about this problem. Get your own legal advice.
I still can't understand how licensed agents posting in their professional capacity can be definitively telling people what they need to disclose when they don't even know the consumer's location or really ANYTHING about their situation. Am I wrong here? How reckless and irresponsible. I'm just a consumer and even I get that you need to be responsible with information and advice that you give to consumers.
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