Should Oregon Realtors Review Seller Property Disclosure Forms?

Discussion. The short answer is “Yes.” But the longer answer requires more explanation. First, a caveat:  By “review” I do not mean by the listing agent for the purpose of substantively changing a seller’s answers. Rather, by “review” I mean “review for completeness.” Oregon’s property disclosure statute, ORS 105.464, instructs sellers to:

“Please complete the following form. Do not leave any spaces blank.” (Emphasis added.)

Accordingly, it is my belief that brokers for both sellers and buyers should routinely review disclosure forms to confirm they are complete in two respects:

  • To make sure there are no unanswered questions. The choices are “Yes,” “No,” “Unknown,” or “Not Applicable;” and
  • To make sure that if an asterisk (*) appears next to a question, the requisite written explanation is attached.

The disclosure statutes provide that buyers have five business days[1] after their seller’s delivery of the form to “revoke” (i.e., withdraw) their offer, based upon a “disapproval” of the seller’s information provided in the form. The buyer’s notice of revocation must be written and delivered, but there is no required wording. “I disapprove” will suffice, if timely made.

Questions:

  • What if one or more questions are left unanswered or the required explanation is not attached?
  • Has the form been “completed”?
  • And if not completed, does the buyer’s five-business day period for revocation still commence on delivery?
  • If the revocation period does not commence, does that mean buyer’s to withdraw from the transaction runs all the way to closing?[2] See, ORS 105.475(3).

The statutes are silent on these questions.

This discussion is more than hypothetical. I have seen critical questions left unanswered and unexplained; sometimes unintentionally, and other times, likely on purpose. (I will defer for another day the discussion on whether fraud by omission, e.g., silence, is any less venal than fraud by an outright misrepresentation.)

Review By Listing Agents. Most sellers and listing agents would agree that expiration of the buyer’s right of revocation is an important event. Why? Because revocation requires no explanation; it is easy – like buyer’s remorse. Secondly, only after the revocation period expires can the parties get down to the serious business of focusing on due diligence issues.

Accordingly, anything that can prolong the five-business day period, such as delivery of an incomplete disclosure form that gets returned, is a disservice to the seller. For this reason, listing agents should review their client’s disclosure form for completeness before delivery to the buyer or buyer’s agent. The failure to catch an incomplete form before delivery can result in unnecessary delay.

Review By Buyer Agents. Conversely, buyer agents should review the disclosure form for completeness immediately upon receipt. If there are critical questions left blank, or written explanations that have not been attached, the disclosure form should be promptly returned. If that occurs, it should be made clear to the listing agent that the five-business day right of revocation will not commence until the “completed” form is delivered.

However, for buyer agents another critical function exists. In some cases, a seller may answer a question in the affirmative, e.g., that the roof has leaked, or there was water in the basement, but the buyer fails to follow up. Equally problematic is when a seller responds “Unknown” to questions that demand further inquiry. In both instances, buyer agents should encourage their clients to alert the inspector to these issues. This is another reason for review – to be a second set of eyes for the buyer; it is useful for developing a due diligence checklist. If necessary, the seller should be contacted for more details.

The Take-Away. Accordingly, both agents should, at the earliest possible time, review the seller property disclosure form for completeness. Not doing so creates a risk of unnecessarily prolonging the revocation period. Again, this is not to say listing agents should become involved in answering the questions, checking boxes, or authoring explanations. Those responsibilities belong exclusively to the seller. ~ Phil 

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[1] The statutory form found at ORS 105.464 is wrong. It should say “five business days.” The original legislation at Section 1, Chapter 547 of the 1993 Oregon Session Laws provided “five business days.”  Why this error has remained ignored and uncorrected for nearly 20 years is a mystery. We changed the OREF Disclosure form years ago to be consistent with ORS 105.475(1).

[2] This is not to suggest that a buyer could accept a disclosure form, realize it was incomplete, say nothing and retain the right to revoke all the way to closing. A buyer’s failure to act promptly under those circumstances would likely operate as a waiver or estoppel against them.