What do I have to disclose when selling a house in California?

Last updated August 19, 2026

By Kurt Mellinger, Principal Agent, Ascension Estates at Equity Union Real Estate. DRE #02238998.

Everything you actually know about the property that a buyer would want to know before deciding what to pay. That is the whole rule. California gives you a stack of forms to fill out, but the forms are the floor, not the ceiling. If you know it and it matters, it goes in writing, even when no box on any form asks about it.

California has the broadest seller disclosure duty in the country. It is simple to state and expensive to get wrong. Below is the actual paperwork, in the order it usually shows up, plus the four things I watch go sideways most often on houses in Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and the rest of the Conejo Valley.

What is a Transfer Disclosure Statement?

The Transfer Disclosure Statement, or TDS, is the form California requires on most residential sales of one to four units. It comes from California Civil Code Section 1102. You cannot waive it and you cannot buy your way out of it.

You fill out the middle. It walks through what is in the house, what is broken, and what you know about the property and the area around it. Roof leaks. Settling or slope problems. Flooding or drainage. Room additions or structural changes. Fill or expansive soil. Neighborhood noise. Lawsuits affecting the property. Common area problems in a shared development.

Your agent fills out a part of it too. California Civil Code Section 2079 requires the agent to do a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection of the parts of the property a person can get to, and to disclose what that inspection turns up. That is why I walk a listing slowly with a flashlight before we go live, and why I ask you questions that feel invasive. I am signing my own section of that form.

One timing detail worth knowing. Under California Civil Code Section 1102.3, if the TDS reaches the buyer after they have already made their offer, the buyer gets a short window to back out, counted in days from delivery. Late disclosures reopen a door you thought was closed. Deliver everything up front and that door never opens.

The Seller Property Questionnaire, and why it is longer than the TDS

The Seller Property Questionnaire, or SPQ, is a California Association of Realtors form rather than a statutory one. It is the form that catches what the TDS misses, and it is where most sellers remember things they had forgotten.

It asks about insurance claims you have filed. Repairs and improvements, permitted or not. Pets. Pest treatments. Disputes with neighbors over trees, fences, drainage or noise. Death on the property. Water intrusion. Standing water under the house. Whether anyone has ever told you the property has a problem, even if you disagreed with them.

Answer it in one sitting with the person who has lived in the house longest. If two people own the home, both sit down together. Half of the useful disclosures I have ever gotten came from one owner saying "wait, what about that thing in 2019" while the other one was writing.

Natural hazard disclosure, and why it matters more here than almost anywhere

You deliver a Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement. California Civil Code Section 1103 sets out the zones it covers, and almost every seller orders the report from a third party company that pulls the maps and certifies the result.

Six designations show up on that report:

Four of those six are live issues in the Santa Monica Mountains and the hills above the 101. Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, the canyon addresses off Mulholland and Las Virgenes, big parts of West Hills and the north side of Thousand Oaks all touch fire hazard zones. The Santa Susana and Simi Hills carry fault and landslide mapping. Valley floor parcels near the creeks pick up flood and liquefaction designations.

CAL FIRE has been redrawing its fire hazard severity zone maps, and local agencies adopt the updates on their own schedule. A parcel that was outside a zone when you bought can sit inside one now. Order the report early and read it yourself rather than assuming your zone matches what your neighbor told you in 2015.

Lead paint, if your house was built before 1978

This one is federal, not state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires sellers of housing built before 1978 to do three things: disclose any known lead based paint and lead hazards, hand over any reports you have, and give the buyer the pamphlet titled Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home. The buyer also gets an opportunity to inspect for lead before becoming obligated under the contract.

Plenty of the original Woodland Hills and Thousand Oaks tract homes fall on the wrong side of that year. Check your build year before you assume you are clear. "I do not know of any lead paint" is a legitimate answer. Skipping the form is not.

The safety items: water heater, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide

These are compliance items you certify in writing, not judgment calls.

• Water heater bracing. California Health and Safety Code Section 19211 requires water heaters to be braced, anchored or strapped to resist falling in an earthquake, and requires the seller to certify compliance in writing.
• Smoke alarms. California Health and Safety Code Section 13113.7 requires operable smoke alarms in dwelling units, and the seller certifies compliance on transfer.
• Carbon monoxide alarms. The Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act, in Health and Safety Code Section 17926, requires carbon monoxide alarms in dwelling units with a fossil fuel appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage.

Every one of these is a cheap fix and a stupid thing to fail. Handle them the week you decide to sell, not the week you are in escrow. Same category as the rest of the small stuff in what to fix before selling.

Mello Roos, special assessments and HOA documents

If your property sits inside a Mello Roos community facilities district or a 1915 Act assessment district, you have to give the buyer notice of that special tax or assessment lien. California Civil Code Section 1102.6b covers it. Newer developments in Ventura County and parts of the west Valley carry these, and the number shows up on the tax bill as a line separate from the base property tax.

If your home is in a condo, townhome or planned development with an association, California Civil Code Section 4525 requires you to deliver the governing documents, the current budget, the reserve study, the assessment amounts, and any notice of pending litigation or unpaid assessments. Order that package from the association the day you list. It is the single most common reason a disclosure delivery runs late.

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

Yes, if it happened within three years of the buyer's offer to purchase and you know about it. California Civil Code Section 1710.2 sets that three year window. Outside the window the disclosure is not required.

Two things sellers get wrong here. First, the window runs from the date of the offer, not the date you list. Second, and this is the part that matters, if a buyer asks you a direct question about a death on the property, you answer it honestly no matter how long ago it was. The three year rule removes a duty to volunteer. It does not give anyone permission to answer a direct question falsely.

Estates and trust sales run into this constantly. If you are selling a parent's home and the death happened there, write it down. It is a normal disclosure, buyers see it regularly, and it is nothing compared to the damage of a neighbor mentioning it to the buyer after closing. We wrote the rest of that process out in selling an inherited house in California.

Do I have to disclose unpermitted work?

Yes. Any addition, conversion, structural change or repair you know was done without a permit gets disclosed, including work done by an owner before you. This is the disclosure I watch blow up more deals than every other one combined, so here is exactly how it happens.

The fix is not complicated. Before you list, pull your own permit history from the city or county building department. Los Angeles County, Ventura County and cities including Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village all keep permit records you can request. Then compare that history against what is physically in the house and write down every difference you find.

Unpermitted work does not kill a sale. Unpermitted work discovered in week three of escrow kills a sale. Disclosed up front, it becomes a known fact the buyer prices in before they write the offer, and the deal holds. A pre listing inspection is the cheapest way to find the parts you forgot, because an inspector looks at your house the way the buyer's inspector will.

What happens if I do not disclose something?

The buyer's remedies depend on what you failed to disclose, when they found out, and whether escrow has closed. Broadly there are three doors, and they get worse as you go.

• Before closing. The buyer renegotiates, asks for a credit, or cancels. Annoying, survivable, and the cheapest version of this problem.
• After closing. The buyer can pursue rescission of the sale or damages. That means lawyers, time, and money you have already spent on the next house.
• Late delivery. Separate from all of the above, California Civil Code Section 1102.3 gives a buyer a right to terminate for a set number of days after a required disclosure is delivered late. Deliver a hazard report in week four and you have handed the buyer a fresh exit.

I am not going to put a dollar figure or a deadline on any of that, because the answer turns on facts a lawyer has to look at. What I will tell you is the shape of it. The cost of disclosing something is almost always a price adjustment. The cost of not disclosing it is a legal proceeding. Those are not the same size.

Does an as-is sale mean I do not have to disclose?

No. As-is limits what you agree to repair. It does not limit what you have to disclose. Those are two separate obligations and selling as-is only touches the first one.

In an as-is sale you are telling the buyer you will not be fixing things. You still deliver the Transfer Disclosure Statement. You still deliver the natural hazard report. You still answer the Seller Property Questionnaire honestly. You still tell them about the unpermitted room, the slope that moves, the neighbor dispute and the roof you know leaks in a hard rain.

Read it this way. As-is is a statement about repairs. Disclosure is a statement about knowledge. A buyer taking a house as-is is agreeing to accept the condition of a house they have been fully told about. They are not agreeing to accept a surprise.

Same answer applies to a cash sale, an investor sale, a trust sale and a probate sale, with one narrow exception. Some court supervised and trustee transfers are exempt from the TDS form itself. The exemption is from the form. It is not an exemption from telling a buyer what you know. If you are selling in that situation, ask your attorney which forms apply to your specific transfer before you skip anything.

Build the packet before you list, not during escrow

Every problem in this article has the same root cause. The disclosure work happens after the offer instead of before the sign goes up. Flip the order and most of it disappears.

• Order the natural hazard report the week you decide to sell. Read your own fire, flood and seismic designations before a buyer reads them to you.
• Pull your permit history from the city or county. Compare it against what is physically in the house today. Write down every gap.
• Order the HOA document package on day one if you have an association. It is the piece that is always late.
• Get a pre listing inspection so the surprises land while you still control the calendar.
• Know your number before any of this. Disclosure changes what a buyer will pay, so start from what your house is worth today. Get a home value report for your address.
• Know what the sale nets you. Run your closing costs so a credit request in week three does not change your plan for the next house.

Primary sources named on this page: California Civil Code Sections 1102, 1102.3, 1102.6b, 1103, 1710.2, 2079 and 4525. California Health and Safety Code Sections 13113.7, 17926 and 19211. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lead based paint disclosure rule for pre 1978 housing. CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone maps. California Geological Survey Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zone and seismic hazard zone maps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency flood hazard maps. The Seller Property Questionnaire is a California Association of Realtors form.

This is not legal advice. Have a California real estate attorney review anything you sign. Disclosure obligations turn on the specific facts of your property and your transfer, statutes and local ordinances change, and no article can tell you whether a particular fact is material in your sale. This is also not tax advice. Talk to your CPA about anything with a tax consequence.