What disclosures are required when selling a house in California?

For a one-to-four unit residential sale: the Transfer Disclosure Statement, the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement, agency disclosure, the Megan's Law database notice, smoke detector and water heater bracing statements, a supplemental tax notice, and lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing. Mello-Roos and common interest development documents apply where the property is in a CFD or a CID.

Can a seller waive the Transfer Disclosure Statement?

No. Delivery of the TDS in a covered transaction cannot be waived and any purported waiver is void as against public policy. An as-is clause does not remove it, because as-is means the seller will not repair rather than need not disclose.

What are the six natural hazard zones in California?

A special flood hazard area, an area of potential flooding from dam failure, a very high fire hazard severity zone, a state fire responsibility area, an Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zone, and a seismic hazard zone.

Do I have to disclose a death in the house in California?

A death within the previous three years must be disclosed. After three years there is no affirmative duty to volunteer it, though a direct question must always be answered honestly, and a death that is itself evidence of a physical defect is disclosable regardless. The statute expressly bars any cause of action for failing to disclose that an occupant was afflicted with or died from AIDS.

California specifics

Disclosure obligation finder

California asks more of a residential seller than almost any other state. Ten disclosures, each with its own trigger, its own timing and its own exemption list. Learning them by trigger rather than by name is what makes them stick.

Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS)

Triggered by: Sale of residential property of one to four units
What it covers: Three parts: the seller's disclosure, the listing agent's visual inspection, and a separate visual inspection by any cooperating agent. Cannot be waived in a covered transaction, and an as-is clause does not remove it.
Timing: Delivered as soon as practicable. If delivered after the contract is signed, the buyer may terminate in writing within three days for personal delivery or five days by mail.
Exemptions: Foreclosure transfers, transfers by a fiduciary administering a decedent's estate, transfers between spouses incident to a dissolution, and several others. An exemption removes the form, never the duty to disclose known material facts.

Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement (NHD)

Triggered by: Sale of residential property of one to four units in any of six mapped zones
What it covers: Special flood hazard area, area of potential flooding from dam failure, very high fire hazard severity zone, state fire responsibility area, Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zone, seismic hazard zone.
Timing: Delivered with the other disclosures, before the buyer's rescission rights expire.
Exemptions: A seller or agent who reasonably relies on a third-party expert's report is not liable for an error in it, which is why third-party reports are universal.

Lead-based paint disclosure

Triggered by: Residential dwelling built before 1978
What it covers: Disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, provide available records and reports, and give the buyer the EPA pamphlet.
Timing: Before the buyer is obligated. The buyer gets a ten-day opportunity to conduct an inspection unless they waive it in writing.
Exemptions: Housing built in 1978 or later, and certain short-term leases and housing for the elderly with no children.

Mello-Roos special tax notice

Triggered by: Property within a Community Facilities District
What it covers: The special tax is not an ad valorem tax and is therefore not limited by Proposition 13. It can add substantially to a bill in newer developments.
Timing: The seller must make a good-faith effort to obtain and deliver the notice to a prospective buyer.
Exemptions: Properties outside a CFD.

Megan's Law database notice

Triggered by: Every residential purchase and lease of one to four units
What it covers: A statutory paragraph informing the buyer or tenant that the sex offender database exists and where to find it. The agent does not search it for the client.
Timing: In the contract itself.
Exemptions: None for covered transactions.

Smoke detector and water heater bracing

Triggered by: Sale of most residential dwellings
What it covers: A written statement of compliance with the smoke detector requirement, and with the requirement that water heaters be braced, anchored or strapped.
Timing: Delivered with the transfer disclosures.
Exemptions: Certain exempt transfers matching the TDS exemption list.

Death on the property

Triggered by: A death occurring within the last three years
What it covers: No affirmative duty to volunteer a death older than three years, but a direct question must always be answered honestly. A death that is evidence of a physical defect is disclosable as a defect regardless of the window.
Timing: Before the buyer is obligated.
Exemptions: The statute expressly bars any cause of action for failing to disclose that an occupant was afflicted with or died from AIDS.

Supplemental property tax notice

Triggered by: Any transfer triggering reassessment
What it covers: A supplemental bill covers the difference between the old and new assessed value for the remainder of the tax year, and it surprises new buyers routinely.
Timing: Delivered with the transfer disclosures.
Exemptions: None for covered transactions.

Common interest development documents

Triggered by: Sale of a unit in a common interest development
What it covers: Governing documents, the current budget, reserve study summary, assessment and enforcement statement, and the association's insurance summary, under the Davis-Stirling Act.
Timing: As soon as practicable before transfer of title.
Exemptions: Properties not in a CID.

Agency disclosure

Triggered by: Every residential transaction of one to four units
What it covers: The statutory three-step sequence: disclose the nature of agency relationships, elect the agency provided, confirm the election in the contract.
Timing: Listing agent to seller before the listing agreement. Selling agent to buyer before the buyer signs an offer, and to the seller before presenting it.
Exemptions: None for covered transactions.

An exemption removes the form, not the duty

This is the principle that catches candidates and licensees alike. Every exemption list above removes a statutory form. None of them removes the common-law duty to disclose known material facts affecting the value or desirability of the property, which runs to a buyer whether or not that buyer is your client.

How this is calculated

Two forms carry most of the weight. The Transfer Disclosure Statement reports the condition of the property itself and applies to residential property of one to four units. The Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement reports whether the property sits in any of six mapped statutory zones. Candidates confuse them constantly, and the distinction is simply condition versus location.

The single most important principle across all of them is that an exemption removes the form, never the underlying duty. A seller exempt from the TDS still owes disclosure of known material facts affecting the value or desirability of the property, and so does the agent. An as-is clause has the same limitation: it means the seller will not repair, not that the seller need not disclose.

The timing rules are worth learning as a set, because the exam tests them individually. The TDS carries a statutory termination right when delivered late: three days for personal delivery, five for mail. Lead paint carries a ten-day inspection opportunity unless waived in writing.

Full coverage sits in Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures, which is 25% of the examination.