Colorado Real Estate Seller's Disclosures

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Buying a house is one of the biggest investments that you will ever make. Thus, it stands to reason that you, as a buyer, want to ensure that the home you buy isn’t hiding any secrets that could end up costing you thousands of dollars, or even force you out of the home. Colorado requires sellers to disclose certain issues with the property they are selling. If a seller does not comply with disclosure laws, he or she may be held liable for the costs of repairs and other costs and fees incurred by the buyer as a result of the non-disclosure, including attorneys’ fees and costs.

Disclosure Laws

Sellers must disclose:

Whether the home has lead paint if the house was built prior to 1978. This is actually a federal law. If a seller does not know whether the home has had lead paint remediation, he or she should always answer “Unknown.” That alerts the buyer that the home has the possibility of being contaminated with lead paint.

Whether the property is in a special taxing district. The seller must also tell the buyer where he or she can check to see if the property is in a special taxing district.

Whether the property is part of a common interest community, homeowner’s association rules and regulations, and any fees related to the common interest community.

Whether the property has any surface and mineral rights, including oil and gas activity.

What the property’s source of potable water is, whether city water, a well, or other.

If there are any proposed transportation projects, such as putting a new road in, widening a road, or adding rail transportation, if such transportation projects will or could affect the property.

Whether the property was used for a meth lab. If it was, but the property was fully remediated, then the seller does not have to disclose that information.

Additional Disclosures

Colorado uses a standard disclosure form that includes other disclosures, including:

Electrical;

Heating;

Roof;

Plumbing;

Structure;

Appliances;

Boundary disputes;

Zoning violations; and more.

The seller must also provide a Green Disclosure Form to disclose any known energy-related features the property has, including ENERGY STAR appliances, the type of construction, solar power, wind power, indoor air quality and more.

Due Diligence

Even though a seller provides disclosures, the buyer should always complete his or her due diligence and check any items on any of the disclosure forms. Additionally, the buyer should also check into other issues with the property that might not be listed on disclosure forms.

Inspections

A home inspector may be able to check for many things on the disclosure forms. Buyers may need to hire specialists to properly report on issues such as pests concerns.