State bolsters disclosure law
In an effort to beef up home buyers’ protection from unregulated hazard-disclosure providers, the state Legislature last month passed a law requiring real estate agents to exercise good faith in selecting “experts” who sign disclosure reports.
California law requires that natural hazards and home defects -- from cracks in the shower to a home’s location in a flood, earthquake or fire hazard zone -- be disclosed by sellers during escrow.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. July 25, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday July 20, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
Hazard disclosures -- An item in the Update column in Sunday’s Real Estate section incorrectly referred to an Assembly bill about hazard-disclosure providers as AB 209. The bill, signed into law last month, is AB 920.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday July 25, 2004 Home Edition Real Estate Part K Page 4 Features Desk 0 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Hazard disclosures -- An item in the July 18 Update column incorrectly referred to an Assembly bill about hazard-disclosure providers as AB 209. The bill, signed into law last month, is AB 920.
Agents and sellers almost universally rely on hazard-disclosure providers to supply reports to buyers, who can sue agents and sellers who fail to disclose hazards that could affect the safety and desirability of the home. Such providers are often unlicensed and sometimes inexperienced, so their reports are not always reliable, experts say.
With the passage of AB 209, “some agents who may have been neglectful or just plain lazy will be required to learn whether the report they are buying is really adequate to protect the consuming public,” said attorney Steven Spierer. The law goes into effect in January 2005.
