Sell in Newport News with Meydomo

Residential Property Disclosure Act ("Buyer Beware" Notice)

Virginia’s approach (Va. Code §55.1-700 et seq.) is unique: sellers of 1–4 unit residential properties must give the buyer a **Residential Property Disclosure Statement**, but this form essentially tells the buyer that the seller makes **no representations or warranties** as to the condition of the property (except for a list of statutory required disclosures). In other words, Virginia’s standard form says “Buyer beware – you will be getting no info from seller on: condition, any zoning changes, etc., except as listed.” The exceptions where affirmative disclosure is required by the seller in Virginia are: if the property is in a locality with any pending enforcement of building or zoning code violations, if the property has a pending notice of a defective drywall (the Chinese drywall issue), if it was once a meth lab not cleaned up, and whether the property is in a military air zone or has a septic system not professionally pumped/inspected. Those are relatively narrow. So, in practice, Virginia sellers are not filling out a detailed condition questionnaire like many states – they simply provide the state’s Disclosure Notice to the buyer (which the buyer must sign) indicating the buyer’s responsibility to inspect. That said, the law does require sellers to truthfully answer any specific questions a buyer asks about the property’s condition, and common law prohibits active concealment of defects. For example, if a buyer asks “has the basement ever leaked?” the seller must answer truthfully if it has. And federal lead paint rules still apply. But generally, VA is a caveat emptor state – the buyer is expected to do due diligence. (Note: New home sales have their own warranty law, and some of those special cases aside.) Additionally, sellers must disclose if the property is subject to a pending rezoning that they know of, and they must give a separate form about any **historic district** ordinances if applicable. Also, new in 2020s: Virginia requires sellers to disclose any known “pending” legal drilling rights for gas (fracking) affecting the property, and that itself is a narrow scenario. So overall, Virginia’s required disclosure to buyers is basically a disclaimer. Buyers often hire thorough home inspectors as a result.

• Va. Code §§55.1-703 to 55.1-706

MLS Practices

In Virginia, MLS listings (for example, Bright MLS in Northern VA, or CVRMLS in Richmond) often state “Seller to deliver Residential Property Disclaimer” because the law allows the disclaimer. The MLS has an option to attach the signed Virginia disclosure form, but since it mostly says “no rep,” buyer agents are concerned with seeing that it was at least delivered and that any required exceptions (like if the seller *does* know of a defect under one of the limited categories) are attached. Bright MLS requires a primary photo, and enforces Clear Cooperation. There’s typically a field in MLS to say if there’s a pending historic zone designation or if the property is an attached home with homeowner’s association (HOA packet required by law to be delivered after contract in VA). The MLS encourages providing HOA information in listing but actual HOA docs come later as per statute. For fair housing compliance, the MLS in VA is very strict – they even caution against neighborhood descriptors like 'family-friendly,' etc. The Code of Ethics also compels Realtors to not hide defects – so ethically, many VA agents will still encourage their sellers to disclose major known issues in writing even though not legally mandated, to avoid later lawsuits and through buyer goodwill. But that’s broker-dependent, not MLS or state law required. So, the MLS’s main role is ensuring the state’s generic 'no representation' form gets acknowledged as delivered. And they fine on usual stuff (not updating status, etc.). It's a different dynamic from other states: buyer agents use MLS to glean information, but in VA that information from seller is minimal by design, so MLS remarks often just re-state “property sold as-is, inspections welcome.” It’s up to buyer to investigate.

• Bright MLS Rules & Regs
• VAR Standard Forms

Lead-Based Paint Hazard Disclosure

Federal law requires sellers of target housing (pre-1978) to disclose known lead-based paint/hazards and provide the EPA lead pamphlet, and allow a 10-day period for lead inspection if buyer wants.

• 42 U.S.C. 4852d
• 24 CFR 35

Fair Housing Act (No Discriminatory Advertising)

Under federal and Virginia law, home sale advertising cannot express any bias based on protected classes. Virginia adds elderliness (55+) as protected. Thus, you can’t advertise 'no kids' or 'Catholic neighbors' etc..

• 42 U.S.C. §3604(c)
• Va. Code §36-96.3