If you are selling a house in California, you must tell the buyer about anything you know that materially affects the home's value or desirability, and you must deliver a set of state and federal disclosure documents. For most Orange County homes with one to four units, condos included, that means the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS), the Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ), a Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD) statement and several shorter notices.
The forms are not the limit of your duty. California's disclosure statute says its list does not reduce any other obligation to disclose, so a known problem that no form asks about still has to be shared. Selling "as-is" does not change that, and any waiver of the TDS requirement is void.
Below is what each document covers and the rules that surprise sellers most. This is general information, not legal advice; for questions about your own sale, talk with a California real estate attorney.
The core package: TDS, SPQ and NHD
Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS)
The TDS is the state form set out in Civil Code section 1102.6. You report which features the home has and whether they work, then answer questions about known defects in the structure and major systems and about conditions such as work done without permits, flooding or drainage problems, neighborhood noise, lawsuits and HOA matters. Separate sections hold the listing agent's and buyer's agent's own inspection disclosures. The form states that it is a disclosure, not a warranty.
Some transfers are exempt from the TDS, including court-ordered sales such as probate, foreclosures and many sales by trustees or executors, but an exempt seller still has to disclose known material facts.
Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ)
The SPQ is a California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) form rather than a state form. The standard C.A.R. purchase agreement requires it whenever the seller must provide a TDS, and it digs deeper into past repairs and alterations, water issues, neighborhood conditions and deaths on the property. Sellers exempt from the TDS typically complete C.A.R.'s Exempt Seller Disclosure instead. Under the purchase agreement's default timeline, disclosures are due within seven days after acceptance, though the parties can negotiate a different deadline.
Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD)
Civil Code sections 1103 through 1103.15 require you to tell the buyer if the home lies in any of six mapped zones: a FEMA special flood hazard area, a dam inundation area, a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, a state-designated wildland fire area, an earthquake fault zone, or a seismic hazard zone for landslides or liquefaction. In Orange County, hillside and canyon-edge homes can fall in fire zones, and some low-lying areas can fall in flood or liquefaction zones.
Nearly every seller orders an NHD report from a third-party provider, and that matters: the law protects sellers and agents from errors in information supplied by a qualified expert or public agency, as long as the error was outside their personal knowledge and they used ordinary care. Homes in high or very high fire hazard severity zones also carry additional fire-safety disclosures, including defensible-space documentation, which your agent will add to the package.
Other required notices
- Lead-based paint (homes built before 1978). Federal rules require you to disclose known lead-based paint or hazards, hand over available reports, give the buyer the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, attach a Lead Warning Statement to the contract and allow 10 days for testing, unless the buyer agrees in writing to a different period or waives it.
- Megan's Law database notice. Sale contracts for one-to-four-unit homes must include a notice directing buyers to www.meganslaw.ca.gov. Once it is given, you generally have no duty to provide more information about where registered offenders live.
- Smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and water heater bracing. For a one- or two-unit home, you must give the buyer a written statement that the home complies with the smoke alarm law, and you must certify in writing that any water heater is braced, anchored or strapped against earthquakes. Homes with a gas-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage must have carbon monoxide alarms, and the TDS asks about them.
- Mello-Roos and special assessments. If the home is subject to a Mello-Roos special tax or a 1915 Act assessment, you must make a good-faith effort to obtain a notice from the levying agency, or a private report showing the current and maximum annual tax and how long it can be levied. Our Mello-Roos vs. HOA guide explains how these taxes work.
- HOA documents. Condo and planned-community sellers must give buyers the governing documents, the association's latest financial disclosures, a statement of current and unpaid assessments, any unresolved violation notices and other items. The association must provide copies within 10 days of your written request and may charge a fee based on its actual cost. Our condo buying guide shows what buyers look for in them.
- Supplemental property tax notice. Buyers must be told that the sale triggers a reassessment that can produce supplemental tax bills they pay directly, a topic our Orange County property tax guide covers.
- Notices in effect since January 1, 2026. You must give the buyer an advisory recommending an electrical system inspection (unless the building is within three years of its certificate of occupancy), disclose known state or local restrictions on replacing gas appliances that stay with the home, and disclose in writing any known tobacco or vaping residue or history of occupants smoking there.
Deaths on the property and the three-year rule
Civil Code section 1710.2 says you are not liable for failing to disclose an occupant's death on the property if it happened more than three years before the buyer's offer. You also never have to disclose that a former occupant had HIV or died of AIDS-related complications, and C.A.R. advises that this should not be disclosed.
A death of an occupant on the property within the last three years is different. The SPQ asks about it, and C.A.R. guidance treats it as something to disclose. Regardless of timing, if a buyer asks directly, you and your agent cannot misrepresent what happened. A well-known older death that has affected how people see the home may still be worth disclosing.
Known material facts: the catch-all
Civil Code section 1102.8 says the listed disclosure items do not limit any other duty, including the duty to avoid fraud or misrepresentation. If you know something a reasonable buyer would want to weigh, such as a past roof leak, a drainage problem that returns every winter, a boundary disagreement with a neighbor or an HOA special assessment under discussion, it belongs in your disclosures even if no checkbox fits it.
Your agent's visual inspection
Under Civil Code section 2079, the listing agent and any cooperating agent on a one-to-four-unit home must conduct a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection and disclose material facts that inspection would reveal. The duty does not reach areas that are not reasonably accessible, areas off the property, or public records and permits, and for a condo it covers the unit rather than the common areas. Agents often document this on C.A.R.'s Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure (AVID).
This duty runs alongside yours. If your agent notices water staining or a cracked slab you did not mention, expect it to appear in the package.
What "as-is" does and does not mean
Selling as-is means you are not agreeing to make repairs. It does not excuse disclosures: the Legislature has stated that delivery of the TDS may not be waived in an as-is sale. Under the standard purchase agreement, the buyer can still inspect, ask for repairs and cancel within the contingency period. As-is is a pricing and negotiation choice, not a disclosure shortcut.
Late disclosures give the buyer a way out
If the TDS, the NHD or another required state disclosure, or a material amendment to one, is delivered after the buyer makes an offer, the buyer can terminate in writing within 3 days after delivery in person, or 5 days after delivery by mail or by agreed electronic delivery. This right is separate from the contract's contingencies, so a correction late in escrow can reopen a deal you thought was settled.
Failing to disclose does not undo a completed sale, but a seller who willfully or negligently fails to meet these duties is liable for the buyer's actual damages. That is the practical case for thorough disclosure: problems a buyer knows about up front get priced into the offer, while problems discovered later lead to renegotiation, cancellation or claims after closing.
Practical habits that protect sellers
- When in doubt, disclose. Disclosing a minor issue costs little. Leaving out something a buyer later considers material can cost far more.
- Disclose past repairs with paperwork. Describe what happened, who fixed it and when, and attach invoices, warranties and permits.
- Be precise about permits. If you know work was done without a permit, say so. If you are not sure, say you do not know rather than guessing. If you accept an offer within 18 months of acquiring the home, the law also requires you to list contractor work done during your ownership, name the contractors on larger jobs and provide copies of any permits.
- Treat reports as disclosures. A pre-listing inspection can help you price and prepare, as we discuss in our guide to preparing your home before selling. Once you have a report, its findings are things you know, so share it.
How Remark Homes helps sellers with disclosures
We start the disclosure package before the home goes on the market: ordering the NHD report, requesting HOA and Mello-Roos information, walking you through the TDS and SPQ line by line, gathering permits and repair records, and documenting our own visual inspection. A complete package lets buyers make firmer offers and reduces the chance of a late amendment reopening your escrow. Learn more about our home selling services, or contact us to talk through your home.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to disclose problems I already fixed?
Expect to. The SPQ asks about past repairs and alterations, and a repaired problem can still matter to a buyer. Invoices and permits show the work was done properly.
Can I sell my house as-is in California without filling out disclosures?
No. As-is means you will not make repairs, but TDS delivery cannot be waived in an as-is sale, and your duty to disclose known material facts still applies.
Do I have to disclose that someone died in the house?
A death of an occupant on the property within three years before the buyer's offer should be disclosed. Older deaths need not be, but you cannot misrepresent anything if a buyer asks directly.
What if I remember something after the buyer has my disclosures?
Give your agent an amended disclosure right away. The buyer will have 3 or 5 days, depending on how it is delivered, to cancel, which is far better than the buyer discovering it after closing.
Sources
- Public.Law: California Civil Code section 1102.3, delivery of disclosures and the buyer's termination right
- Public.Law: California Civil Code section 1103.2, Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement
- Public.Law: California Civil Code section 1710.2, disclosure of deaths on the property
- Public.Law: California Civil Code section 2079, agent's duty of visual inspection
- California Department of Real Estate: Reference Book, Basic Contract Provisions and Disclosures in a Residential Real Estate Transaction
- Cornell Legal Information Institute: 40 CFR 745.107, lead-based paint disclosure requirements for sellers
