Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure Statement
Ohio Revised Code § 5302.30
(A) As used in this section:
(1) "Good faith" means honesty in fact in a transaction
involving the transfer of residential real property.
(3) "Political subdivision" and "state" have the
same meanings as in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Residential real property" means real property
that is improved by a building or other structure that has one to four
dwelling units.
(B)
(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this
section, this section applies to any transfer of residential real property
that occurs on or after July 1, 1993, by sale, land installment contract,
lease with option to purchase, exchange, or lease for a term of ninety-nine
years and renewable forever. For purposes of this section, a transfer occurs
when the initial contract for transfer is executed, regardless of when
legal title is transferred, and references in this section to transfer
offers and transfer agreements refer to offers and agreements in respect
of the initial contract for transfer.
(2) This section does not apply to any transfer
of residential real property that is any of the following:
(a) A transfer pursuant
to court order, including, but not limited to, a transfer ordered by a
probate court during the administration of a decedent's estate, a transfer
pursuant to a writ of execution, a transfer by a trustee in bankruptcy,
a transfer as a result of the exercise of the power of eminent domain,
and a transfer that results from a decree for specific performance of a
contract or other agreement between persons;
(f) A transfer by a mortgagee,
or a beneficiary under a deed of trust, who has acquired the residential
real property at a sale conducted pursuant to a power of sale under a mortgage
or a deed of trust or who has acquired the residential real property by
a deed in lieu of foreclosure;
(g) A transfer by a fiduciary
in the course of the administration of a decedent's estate, a guardianship,
a conservatorship, or a trust;
(j) A transfer between spouses
or former spouses as a result of a decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage,
annulment, or legal separation or as a result of a property settlement
agreement incidental to a decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage, annulment,
or legal separation;
(C)
Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section and subject to
divisions (E) and (F) of this section, every person who intends to transfer
any residential real property on or after July 1, 1993, by sale, land installment
contract, lease with option to purchase, exchange, or lease for a term
of ninety-nine years and renewable forever shall complete all applicable
items in a property disclosure form prescribed under division (D) of this
section and shall deliver in accordance with division (I) of this section
a signed and dated copy of the completed form to each prospective transferee
or his agent as soon as is practicable.
(D)
Prior to July 1, 1993, the director of commerce, by rule adopted in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall prescribe the disclosure
form to be completed by transferors. The form prescribed by the director
shall be designed to permit the transferor to disclose material matters
relating to the physical condition of the property to be transferred, including,
but not limited to, the source of water supply to the property the nature
of the sewer system serving the property; the condition of the structure
of the property, including the roof, foundation, walls, and floors; the
presence of hazardous materials or substances, including lead-based paint,
asbestos, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, and radon gas; and any material
defects in the property that are within the actual knowledge of the transferor.
The form also shall set forth a statement of the purpose of the form, including
statements substantially similar to the following: that the form constitutes
a statement of the conditions of the property and of information concerning
the property actually known by the transferor; that, unless the transferee
is otherwise advised in writing, the transferor, other than having lived
at or owning the property, possesses no greater knowledge than that which
could be obtained by a careful inspection of the property by a potential
transferee; that the statement is not a warranty of any kind by the transferor
or by any agent or subagent representing the transferor in this transaction;
that the statement is not a substitute for any inspections; that the transferee
is encouraged to obtain his/her own professional inspection; that the representations
are made by the transferor and are not the representations of the transferor's
agent or subagent; and that the form and the representations contained
therein are provided by the transferor exclusively to potential transferees
in a transfer made by the transferor, and are not made to transferees in
any subsequent transfers. The form shall include instructions to the transferor
for completing the form, space in which the transferor or transferors shall
sign and date the form, and space in which the transferee or transferees
shall sign and date the form acknowledging receipt of a copy of the form
and stating that the transferee or transferees understand the purpose of
the form as stated thereon.
(E)
(1) Each disclosure of an item of information that
is required to be made in the property disclosure form prescribed under
division (D) of this section in connection with particular residential
real property and each act that may be performed in making any disclosure
of an item of information shall be made or performed in good faith.
(2) If an item of information is unknown to the transferor
of residential real property at the time the item is required to be disclosed
in the property disclosure form and if the approximation is not used for
the purpose of circumventing or otherwise evading divisions (C) and (D)
of this section, the transferor may make a good faith approximation of
the item of information.
(F)
(1) A transferor of residential real property is
not liable in damages in a civil action for injury, death, or loss to person
or property that allegedly arises from any error in, inaccuracy of, or
omission of any item of information required to be disclosed in the property
disclosure form if the error, inaccuracy, or omission was not within the
transferor's actual knowledge.
(2) If any item of information that is disclosed
in the property disclosure form is rendered inaccurate after the delivery
of the form to the transferee of residential real property or his agent
as a result of any act, occurrence, or agreement, the subsequent inaccuracy
does not cause, and shall not be construed as causing, the transferor of
the residential real property to be in non-compliance with the requirements
of divisions (C) and (D) of this section.
(G)
Any disclosure of an item of information in the property disclosure
form prescribed under division (D) of this section may be amended in writing
by the transferor of residential real property at any time following the
delivery of the form in accordance with divisions (C) and (I) of this section.
The amendment shall be subject to the provisions of this section.
(H)
Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, every prospective
transferee of residential real property who receives in accordance with
division (C) of this section a signed and dated copy of a completed property
disclosure form as prescribed under division (D) of this section shall
acknowledge his receipt of the form by doing both of the following:
(I)
The transferor's delivery under division (C) of this section of a property
disclosure form as prescribed under division (D) of this section and the
prospective transferee's delivery under division (H) of this section of
an acknowledgment of his receipt of that form shall be made by personal
delivery to the other party or his agent or subagent, by ordinary mail
or certified mail, return receipt requested, or by facsimile transmission.
For the purposes of the delivery requirements of this section, the delivery
of a property disclosure form to a prospective co-transferee of residential
real property or his agent shall be considered delivery to the other prospective
transferees unless otherwise provided by contract.
(J)
The specification of items of information that must be disclosed in
the property disclosure form as prescribed under division (D) of this section
does not limit or abridge, and shall not be construed as limiting or abridging,
any obligation to disclose an item of information that is created by any
other provision of the Revised Code or the common law of this state or
that may exist in order to preclude fraud, either by misrepresentation,
concealment, or nondisclosure in a transaction involving the transfer of
residential real property. The disclosure requirements of this section
do not bar, and shall not be construed as barring, the application of any
legal or equitable defense that a transferor of residential real property
may assert in a civil action commenced against the transferor by a prospective
or actual transferee of that property.
(K)
(1) Except as provided in division (K)(2) of this
section but subject to divisions (J) and (L) of this section, a transfer
of residential real property that is subject to this section shall not
be invalidated because of the failure of the transferor to provide to the
transferee in accordance with division (C) of this section a completed
property disclosure form as prescribed under division (D) of this section.
(2) Subject to division (K)(3)(c) of this section,
if a transferee of residential real property that is subject to this section
receives a property disclosure form or an amendment of that form as described
in division (G) of this section after the transferee has entered into a
transfer agreement with respect to the property, the transferee, after
his receipt of the form or amendment, may rescind the transfer agreement
in a written, signed, and dated document that is delivered to the transferor
or his agent or subagent in accordance with divisions (K)(3)(a) and (b)
of this section, without incurring any legal liability to the transferor
because of the rescission, including, but not limited to, a civil action
for specific performance of the transfer agreement. Upon the rescission
of the transfer agreement, the transferee is entitled to the return of,
and the transferor shall return, any deposits made by the transferee in
connection with the proposed transfer of the residential real property.
(3) (a) Subject to division (K)(3)(b) of this section,
a rescission of a transfer agreement under division (K)(2) of this section
only may occur if the transferee's written, signed, and dated document
of rescission is delivered to the transferor or his agent or subagent within
three business days following the date on which the transferee or his agent
receives the property disclosure form prescribed under division (D) of
this section or the amendment of that form as described in division (G)
of this section.
(4) If a transferee of residential real property subject to this section
does not receive a property disclosure form from the transferor after the
transferee has submitted to the transferor or his agent or subagent a transfer
offer and has entered into a transfer agreement with respect to the property,
the transferee may rescind the transfer agreement in a written, signed,
and dated document that is delivered to the transferor or his agent or
subagent in accordance with this paragraph, without incurring any legal
liability to the transferor because of the rescission, including, but not
limited to, a civil action for specific performance of the transfer agreement.
Upon the rescission of the transfer agreement, the transferee is entitled
to the return of, and the transferor shall return, any deposits made by
the transferee in connection with the proposed transfer of the residential
real property. A transferee may not rescind a transfer agreement under
this paragraph unless he rescinds the transfer agreement by the earlier
of the date that is thirty days after the date upon which the transferor
accepted the transferee's transfer offer or the date of the closing of
the transfer of the residential real property.
(L)
The right of rescission of a transfer agreement described in division
(K)(2) of this section or the absence of that right does not affect, and
shall not be construed as affecting, any other legal causes of action or
other remedies that a transferee or prospective transferee of residential
real property may possess against the transferor of that property.
HISTORY: 144 v S 304. Eff 3-19-93.
