The Disclosure Decoder

The seller’s disclosure for a 1-4 unit home: what they know about its condition, features and defects. Cities and counties can require an extra local disclosure.

how to read it

• Due as soon as practicable before transfer of title; C.A.R.’s purchase agreement sets 7 days after acceptance by default.
• If it reaches you after you sign an offer, you can cancel in writing within 3 days of in-person delivery, or 5 days if mailed or delivered electronically by agreement.
• Exempt sales include probate and other court-ordered sales, foreclosures and lender resales, sales by trustees and executors, transfers between co-owners or to a spouse or relative, and divorce transfers. A living-trust trustee who owned or lived in the home within the past year is not exempt.
• Compare each answer with the inspection reports and the permit history, and ask about anything that doesn’t line up.

A C.A.R. form, not a state one, with more detailed questions about the home than the TDS. It was among the forms C.A.R. revised most in its December 2025 release, so 2026 packets may look different from older ones.

how to read it

• Read it with the TDS; together they’re the seller’s account of the home.
• The explanations matter more than the checkboxes. Ask for the paperwork behind any repair or claim it mentions.

California requires the listing agent and the buyer’s agent to each do a “reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection” of a 1-4 unit home and disclose what it reveals. C.A.R. records it on the AVID form.

how to read it

• It’s a visual walk-through, not an inspection by a licensed inspector.
• It doesn’t cover areas that are normally inaccessible, anything off the property, or public records and permits.
• For a condo or other home in an HOA, it covers the unit, not the common areas.

A state form that says whether the home is in any of six mapped hazard areas. It’s usually prepared with a report from a third-party hazard company. The form text was last updated January 1, 2025.

how to read it

• “Yes” means the parcel is inside a mapped area, not that anything has happened there.
• See the six areas below.
• If the home is in a flood or fire zone, get insurance quotes before you remove contingencies.

Homes in a High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone come with two more items: documentation of defensible space and, for homes built before 2010, a home-hardening notice.

the six features the seller is asked about

1. Eave, soffit and roof vents with large openings or without flame and ember resistance
2. Untreated wood shake or shingle roofs
3. Combustible landscaping or materials within five feet of the home or under an attached deck
4. Single-pane or non-tempered glass windows
5. Loose or missing bird stopping or roof flashing
6. Rain gutters without metal or noncombustible covers

how it works

• Defensible space (since July 1, 2021): the seller provides documentation that the property meets the state or local vegetation rules. If there isn’t any, buyer and seller sign an agreement for the buyer to get it, within a year of closing where no local rule says otherwise.
• Home hardening (built before 2010): the seller says which of the six features they know exist and points to readyforwildfire.org.
• Since July 1, 2025, the notice also includes the State Fire Marshal’s low-cost retrofit list and which ones the seller completed.

A licensed pest company’s report on wood-destroying pests and organisms. The state Pest Board says most lenders require an inspection before a home loan; the purchase contract decides who orders it and who pays for any work.

how reports sort what they find

1. Section 1: infestation or infection that’s evident now.
2. Section 2: conditions likely to lead to infestation or infection, with nothing evident yet. The law says these can’t be called defects or active infestations.
3. Further inspection: areas the inspector couldn’t reach.

how to read it

• “Section 1” and “Section 2” are the labels reports use; the law describes the same two categories.
• The report is due within 10 business days of the inspection. Reinspections are available only within four months; after that, it’s a new inspection.
• The company logs each inspection address with the Pest Board, which lets anyone check whether an address was inspected in the last two years.

For homes built before 1978: the EPA pamphlet, any known lead paint or hazards with the records and reports, and a signed Lead Warning Statement, all before you’re bound by the contract.

how to read it

• You get 10 days to test, unless you and the seller agree in writing to a different period or you waive it.
• Agents share responsibility for making sure it’s done.
• Exempt: foreclosure sales, homes certified lead-free, and homes built in 1978 or later.

For wood-frame 1-4 unit homes built before 1960, the seller gives the state’s Homeowner’s Guide to Earthquake Safety and says whether they know of any of seven weaknesses, plus any repairs. For other homes it may be included anyway: once delivered, the guide counts as the general earthquake information the seller and agents owe.

the seven weaknesses

1. Missing anchor bolts between the sill plate and the foundation
2. Unbraced perimeter cripple walls
3. Unbraced first-story walls
4. An unreinforced masonry perimeter foundation
5. Unreinforced masonry walls
6. A habitable room over the garage
7. An unbraced water heater

how to read it

• The answers cover what the seller actually knows; a structural or foundation inspection tells you the rest.

For a condo, townhome or other home in an HOA, the seller provides the association’s documents as soon as practicable before transfer. The law lists 11 items, including:

what’s in it

1. The governing documents
2. The latest annual disclosures the HOA sent owners
3. Current regular and special assessments and fees, plus anything unpaid
4. Assessment or fee increases the board approved that aren’t due yet
5. Any unresolved violation notice
6. Construction-defect notices the HOA gave members
7. Any rental or leasing limits
8. Any age restriction that conflicts with state law
9. Board minutes from the last 12 months, if you ask
10. The latest inspection report on balconies and other elevated exterior elements

how to read it

• Read the annual disclosures and the minutes for planned projects and special assessments.

If the home carries a Mello-Roos special tax or an assessment paid in installments, the seller makes a good-faith effort to get each agency’s notice. A Mello-Roos notice shows this year’s tax, the maximum tax, how much it can rise each year and how long it lasts.

how to read it

• The agency must provide its Notice of Special Tax within five working days of a request, for no more than $15.
• The notice includes your right to cancel within 3 days if delivered in person, or 5 days after mailing.
• The latest property tax bill or an itemized assessment list can stand in for the notice.

Every purchase contract for a 1-4 unit home includes a notice that the state Department of Justice publishes information about registered sex offenders at meganslaw.ca.gov.

how to read it

• Once the notice is given, the seller and agents don’t have to provide more information about offenders nearby; you can check the site yourself.

The seller certifies in writing that smoke alarms meet state law and water heaters are braced, anchored or strapped, often on C.A.R.’s form WHSD. Homes with a gas appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage need carbon monoxide alarms.

how to read it

• A missing CO alarm doesn’t void a sale, and the law caps damages at $100. It’s still a safety item worth fixing before you move in.

Some cities require the private sewer line from the house to the street to be inspected, and sometimes repaired or certified, before a sale closes.

rules we’ve confirmed

1. San Mateo: an inspection at sale on the city’s form; exempt if inspected in the last 5 years with no repairs needed (or repairs done), or fully replaced in the last 25 years.
2. South San Francisco: a video inspection and a city compliance certificate before title transfers; certificates last 10 years, or 25 after a full replacement.
3. Morgan Hill: a sewer lateral inspection for homes more than 15 years old and a plumbing fixture inspection for homes built on or before January 1, 1994; the city’s certificate is needed to start water service.

how to read it

• Other cities: check the current city code. A buyer can order a sewer scope during the inspection period either way.

The title company’s report on who owns the home and the liens, easements, CC&Rs and other items recorded against it. Title passes subject to the listed exceptions unless you object in writing.

how to read it

• Ask about any easement or restriction that could limit an addition or an ADU.

Sellers can order a home inspection, roof report or sewer scope before listing so buyers can read them before writing an offer.

how to read it

• Check the date and who did the inspection; you can still hire your own inspectors.
• Reports describe the home on the inspection date. They don’t replace the seller’s disclosures.

C.A.R.’s Statewide Buyer and Seller Advisory covers common issues buyers should check and sellers should disclose. The state’s Environmental Hazards booklet describes common hazards and how to reduce them.

how to read it

• These are general. They don’t describe the specific home.