housing
Home sellers would have to flag dams on the property
The New Jersey measure adds a new disclosure section to the standard form buyers see before they sign. Sellers would also have to share what they know about hazard class, inspections and any duties that could carry over.
New Jersey home sellers would have to say whether a dam sits on the property and what they know about it. The rule is meant to surface a safety issue before the sale is locked in.
- Sellers must disclose dams on New Jersey property
- The warning has to come before a buyer is bound
- The form will ask about hazards, inspections and duties
- The rule is now part of the standard disclosure statement
- In New Jersey, a dam can now become part of the paperwork that comes with a home sale
In New Jersey, a dam can now become part of the paperwork that comes with a home sale. Sellers of real property in the state must disclose, before a buyer is bound by contract, whether a dam is within the property boundaries and any actual knowledge they have about it.
The change is aimed at making a potentially serious water-control issue harder to miss at closing, especially for buyers who would otherwise learn about it only after the deal is already moving forward.
The questions buyers will see
The Division of Consumer Affairs, working with the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, will add a new “Disclosure of Dam Ownership” section to the property condition disclosure statement. That section is meant to push the issue into a standard form instead of leaving it buried in a seller’s memory or a later conversation.
- Whether the dam is wholly or partly on the property.
- What hazard classification the dam carries.
- Whether current law requires inspection, and what the latest inspection found.
- What duties a purchaser would inherit with the property.