California specifics
Residential disclosure requirements map
12 core disclosure categories, organized by the fact that triggers each one. This is an exam study map, not a substitute for the transaction-specific forms, local requirements and legal review a real transfer may need.
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
- For an ordinary covered sale, deliver as soon as practicable before title transfers. If delivered after execution of the offer, a completed required TDS or material amendment gives three days after personal delivery, or five days after deposit in the mail or agreed electronic delivery, for written termination notice. Specified installment sales, lease options, and ground leases have a before-execution deadline.
- 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
- Covered single-family residential transfers when Civil Code 1103 hazard-disclosure conditions apply
- What it covers
- Six lines address special flood hazards, dam inundation, high or very high fire hazard severity, wildland fire risk, earthquake fault zones, and seismic hazard zones. The fire-severity line includes the current state and local responsibility classifications.
- Timing
- For an ordinary covered sale, deliver as soon as practicable before title transfers. Specified installment sales, lease options, and ground leases require delivery before execution. Late disclosure or a material amendment can give three days after personal delivery, or five days after mail deposit or agreed electronic delivery, for written termination notice.
- Exemptions
- Check the statutory transfer exemptions. Using an expert report is not itself an exemption: protection for an expert's error depends on the statutory conditions, including reasonable care and lack of personal knowledge of the error.
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. Ordinarily allow ten days for a lead inspection or risk assessment; the parties may agree in writing to a different period, or the buyer may waive the opportunity 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 separate from the 1% Proposition 13 base levy. Review the district's actual tax, maximum authorized amount, and possible increases to understand the ownership cost.
- 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
- Covered residential sale contracts and residential leases, including multiunit leaseholds with more than four dwelling units
- What it covers
- The prescribed contract notice directs consumers to the sex-offender database. The notice does not itself require the agent to search the database or erase other duties arising from actual knowledge.
- 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
- Check each statute separately. Smoke-alarm transfer certification and water-heater bracing certification do not share one universal TDS exemption list.
Death on the property
- Triggered by
- A death within the last three years when it is a material fact in the transaction
- What it covers
- Civil Code section 1710.2 removes liability for failing to disclose an occupant's death when it occurred more than three years before an offer. It does not say every death inside three years is automatically material. A direct question still requires a truthful response, subject to the separate AIDS protection.
- Timing
- Before the buyer is obligated.
- Exemptions
- The statute says there is no cause of action for failing to disclose that an occupant had or died from AIDS. Do not import the three-year death rule into that separate protection.
Supplemental property tax notice
- Triggered by
- A covered transfer of residential real property
- 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
- A covered transfer of a separate interest in a residential or mixed-use common interest development
- What it covers
- The Civil Code section 4525 package includes governing documents, financial and assessment information, insurance summaries and other association records. For 2026, it also includes the most recent exterior elevated elements inspection report when one exists.
- Timing
- As soon as practicable before transfer of title or execution of an installment land-sale contract as defined in Civil Code 2985. This is not a universal before-purchase-offer deadline.
- Exemptions
- Properties not in a CID.
Wildfire vulnerability disclosure
- Triggered by
- A home built before January 1, 2010 in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone
- What it covers
- The seller provides the statutory notice about wildfire vulnerability, lists specified features that may make the home vulnerable to wildfire and ember intrusion, and states which listed features, if any, exist.
- Timing
- Delivered with the other article 1.5 transfer disclosures.
- Exemptions
- A covered home built on or after January 1, 2010 does not trigger this particular pre-2010 notice. Other fire-zone disclosures can still apply.
Water-conserving plumbing fixture disclosure
- Triggered by
- Transfer of single-family residential real property
- What it covers
- The seller discloses whether the property includes noncompliant plumbing fixtures. The rule is a disclosure obligation and is not a warranty that every fixture has been independently inspected.
- Timing
- Disclosed in writing in the transfer documents.
- Exemptions
- Check the statutory property and transfer exceptions. Multifamily and commercial property follow a related rule in section 1101.5.
Agency disclosure
- Triggered by
- Covered real property transactions under Civil Code 2079.13, including residential and commercial sales, vacant land, and qualifying leaseholds
- What it covers
- Distinguish the statutory explanation of agency duties from disclosure and written confirmation of the actual relationship. The form alone does not create agency.
- Timing
- Seller's agent to seller before the listing. Buyer's agent to buyer as soon as practicable before the buyer representation agreement and before the offer. Section 2079.17 separately governs actual-agency disclosure and confirmation.
- Exemptions
- None for covered transactions.
Check the duties that remain
Check each exemption separately. Relief from one disclosure requirement does not automatically excuse another, and an as-is clause does not authorize concealment. A broker also owes applicable duties to people who are not the broker's clients.
The 2026 common-interest document change is included
The CID entry reflects the current requirement to provide the most recent exterior elevated elements inspection report when one exists. That addition is easy to miss in older disclosure summaries.
How this is calculated
Two distinct forms answer different questions. 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. Separate property conditions from mapped hazard locations; one form does not replace the other.
A form exemption is not blanket permission to conceal known material facts. Identify the transaction, the parties and any other statutory or common-law disclosure duties that apply. An as-is clause does not by itself remove a disclosure duty.
The timing rules are worth learning as a set, because the exam tests them individually. The TDS carries a statutory termination right when delivered after the offer: three days after personal delivery, or five days after deposit in the mail or delivery by agreed electronic means. Federal lead rules generally give a buyer ten days for a risk assessment or inspection unless the parties mutually agree in writing to a different period or the buyer waives the opportunity in writing.
Full coverage sits in Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures, which is 25% of the examination.
Common questions
What disclosures are required when selling a house in California?
A typical one-to-four unit sale can involve the Transfer Disclosure Statement, Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement, agency disclosure, Megan's Law notice, smoke-alarm and water-heater statements, supplemental tax notice, and federal lead disclosure for pre-1978 housing. Fire-zone, Mello-Roos, common interest development, plumbing-fixture and local disclosures depend on the property and transaction.
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 high or very high fire hazard severity zone where the statutory designation applies, 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?
California law removes liability for failing to disclose an occupant's death when it occurred more than three years before the buyer's offer. A death inside that window is not automatically material in every transaction, so materiality and the facts still matter. A direct question must be answered truthfully, subject to the separate statutory protection concerning AIDS.