2. of pre-offer disclosure of any infor- Listing agents beware
mation known about the condition A listing agent confronted with an owner who refuses
of the property. For example, the to complete or sign a seller’s disclosure notice should
owner of a duplex would be well- strongly consider declining the representation of that
advised to provide the notice for owner. The notice is neither long nor complicated, and
each side of the duplex even though any refusal to comply with Section 5.008 should raise
Section 5.008 only applies to sellers serious concerns about the owner’s motives. Compliance
of residential property comprising with Section 5.008 benefits all parties to a real estate
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“not more than one dwelling unit.” transaction. Both the Texas Association of R EALTORS
and the Texas Real Estate Commission offer a seller’s
FSBO sellers disclosure notice. The TREC notice is a voluntary form
For-sale-by-owner sellers must also approved for use by licensees. Both the TAR notice and
comply with the requirements of the TREC form comply with the requirements of Section
Section 5.008. Since many FSBO 5.008. TAR recommends the use of the association’s
sellers may not be aware of the Seller’s Disclosure Notice (TAR 1406), which added pro-
notice requirements, this pres- visions to the statutory form to increase the informa-
ents an excellent educational and tion provided to buyers. Finally, the seller’s disclosure
marketing opportunity for Texas notice is a notice—not a contract. The notice should not
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R EALTORS . A REALTOR ’s knowl- be part of the contract of the parties and should not be
edge of the requirements for seller’s listed as an addendum to the contract. ✯
disclosure and the availability of
the notice form could be the decid- Dennis R. Schmidt is associate counsel for the Texas Association
ing factor in obtaining a listing of REALTORS ®. This article was originally printed in the February
from a FSBO. 1995 issue of Texas REALTOR® magazine.