Are you relocating to Central Texas and considering buying or selling a property? If so, there are some special considerations you should be aware of. Without a confidentiality agreement between the buyer and seller and their agents in the previous transaction, sales data would not be available. Linking the information form about brokerage services to a footnote or to a signature block in an email does not meet the requirements set out in the Real Estate Licensing Act. Is the owner of a duplex required to provide a notice of disclosure from the seller when listing their property for sale? No.
The seller's disclosure notice requirements contained in Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code only apply to sellers of residential real estate consisting of “no more than one dwelling unit”. While not legally obligated to provide notice, it is still wise for landlords of duplexes to provide disclosure for each side of the property. Any seller should review the seller's notice of disclosure and consider the benefits of disclosing information about the condition of the property before making an offer. Warning can be an important risk-reduction tool. What happens if the seller's disclosure notice is delivered late? According to Section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code, the notice of disclosure must be provided to the purchaser on or before the effective date of the contract.
If the seller does not file the notice on or before this date, paragraph 7B (B) of the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) (TXR) (TXR) (TXR) 160 allows for parties to stipulate how many days the seller has to deliver it. However, if it is delivered after this date, it gives them seven days from receiving it to terminate the contract for any reason or, if they never deliver it, at any time before closing and receive their warranty back. Should agents help their customers fill out the seller's disclosure notice? No. Agents have a duty to disclose material data they know about a property, but they are not required to conduct additional research in order to reveal properties they represent. In addition, agents should not help sellers fill out the seller's disclosure notice, as doing so may increase their liability and that of their broker. One of my agents wants to sell her house without advertising it in our firm or any other firm nor does it advertise it through MLS.
Does this activity activate The Business Opportunity Rule? Yes. The Business Opportunity Rule is a federal law that requires brokerage agencies to provide sales agents with The Federal Trade Commission's one-page disclosure notice called Disclosure of Important Information About Business Opportunities. A brokerage agency can offer advertising or training on your application without activating The Business Opportunity Rule if it does not promote these activities as conducive to success for sales agents. Instead, its request should focus solely on assistance provided. The right to perform lead-based paint inspections applies to sales of target homes.
Buyers have 10 days from signing a contract to inspect lead-based paint before being bound by it. This 10-day right does not apply to target housing leases. Prospective purchasers should have this information when deciding whether to carry out risk assessment or inspection for lead-based paint or hazards in lead-based paint. Please note that this seller's disclosure must be made before buyers execute any contract for purchase of residential home built before 1978. Give all potential customers The Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home brochure as soon as possible. If you are selling or leasing a home built before 1978, use appendices related to lead-based paint when buyer or tenant is ready to make offer.
Because appendices will contain information from seller or owner, use them using same procedure that was used to obtain seller's disclosure notice. Before preparing an offer, broker working with buyer or tenant should contact sales agent for copy of annex completed by seller or landlord. The initial buyer's inspector contacted seller and stated that neither seller nor seller's agent can provide copy of inspection report to buyer who hasn't paid for report. Is seller or seller's agent ever prohibited from providing copy of inspection report to subsequent purchaser? A seller or seller's broker is only prohibited from sharing copy of inspection report with subsequent buyer if seller or seller's broker are customers of inspector (that is,. While inspector is required to answer only to inspector's client and has no obligation to talk to anyone else about content of inspector's report, inspector's report should stand on its own. Inspector's opinion about state of property on date specified in report does not change depending on who reads report. Most inspectors know that customer will use inspection report to negotiate repairs in transaction and that customer may have to provide copy of report to other party.
This is nature of industry that gives rise to demand for inspector's business. Most inspectors don't require their clients sign confidentiality agreements that prohibit customer from sharing report with others. Even if inspector causes customer sign confidentiality agreement that limits customer's right copy and distribute report, agreement is only binding on customer and not on any other person who may receive copy of report. There is no requirement for seller perform any repairs. However, if seller rejects any repair, modification, or refuses...
