Disclosure Concerns Heat up in South Carolina
If South Carolina Association of REALTORS' legal hotline is any indication,
real estate practitioners in the state are concerned about the care and
handling of the state's newly enacted property disclosure form. Call volume
on questions concerning seller disclosure doubled earlier this year, when
the new state law mandating seller disclosure went into effect. The seller
disclosure form was created by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission,
and is the responsibility of the seller--not the real estate salesperson,
says Byron King, director for legal and legislative affairs for SCAR.
"Under the new law, the real estate practitioner's job is to inform the
sellers of their statutory duty to provide a seller disclosure form, not to
provide one," King says. Still, he adds, to be on the safe side, it's a good
idea to create a paper trail indicating that you notified the client of the
need for disclosure. King also suggests using inspections as a liability
shield. Create a checklist of all the different types of inspections
available, he advises, and let homebuyers know that you highly recommend
each of the various inspections listed.
"When presenting the form to buyer-clients, let them know that you
understand that [conducting] all the inspections may be cost prohibitive,"
says King. "Have them initial the inspections that they want to have made
and sign the bottom. Keep this form in your file to order the inspections
and to defend against any future lawsuits."
King says the volume of calls on the disclosure issue has been slowly
decreasing as "word of mouth on the forms and law infiltrate the real estate
community."
By Bridget McCrea for REALTOR Magazine Online
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