What California Sellers Must Disclose: A Guide for Westside LA Homeowners

California has some of the most detailed disclosure requirements of any state in the country. When you sell a home here, you are legally required to tell buyers about known material facts that could affect the value or desirability of the property. A few of those requirements surprise even longtime homeowners who have sold before, because the rules have changed over the years. This guide walks through the main disclosures most Westside LA sellers face. It is an overview, not legal advice, and your attorney and I will guide you through the specifics for your home.

The Transfer Disclosure Statement, or TDS, is required by California law on most residential sales of one to four units. You fill it out yourself, honestly, describing the condition of the home as you know it: major appliances, systems, structural issues, neighborhood nuisances, and any known defects. The operative phrase is 'as you know it.' You are not expected to know everything about the home, but you are required to report what you are aware of. Decades around a contracting business and years in a legal office before real estate mean I read every TDS closely before we submit it, catching the kinds of condition issues that can come back as a post-closing claim if they are missed.

The Seller Property Questionnaire, or SPQ, supplements the TDS and goes deeper on specific categories: insurance claims, disputes with neighbors, roof history, plumbing, permits, HOA matters, and more. The questions can catch people off guard because they require you to recall things you may not have thought about in years. Answer carefully and honestly. I help you think through your answers without overcomplicating them.

California requires sellers to disclose whether the home sits in designated natural hazard zones, including fire hazard severity zones, flood zones, earthquake fault zones, and seismic hazard zones. For Westside LA properties, fire hazard zone classification has become more significant in recent years. A third-party service typically prepares this report, and it is ordered early in the transaction so everyone is working from the same document.

California law requires sellers to disclose if someone has died in the home within the previous three years. Death more than three years prior does not have to be disclosed unless a buyer asks directly, at which point you must answer truthfully. This surprises many sellers, but it is well-established California law and one of the first points I walk clients through on any seller consultation.

Federal law requires sellers of homes built before 1978 to disclose any known lead paint or lead paint hazards and to provide buyers a specific pamphlet on the topic. A lot of Westside properties, particularly older ranch homes and mid-century properties in Westchester, Mar Vista, and Del Rey, fall in this category. It is a standard form handled routinely in California transactions, but skipping it is a federal violation.

If rooms were added, garages converted, or construction done without permits, that needs to come out in the disclosures. Unpermitted work is one of the most common issues I catch during a pre-listing walkthrough, and it is far better to surface it before an offer is on the table than to have it show up during the buyer's inspection. Sometimes permits can be retroactively obtained. Sometimes the work is disclosed and the price is adjusted. Either way, knowing early gives you options. The walkthrough is part of the process I describe in detail in how to prepare your home for the market.

If the home is in a homeowners association, California law requires a disclosure package covering the HOA: budgets, meeting minutes, financial reserves, rules and restrictions, pending litigation, and more. This package can be substantial for Marina del Rey or Playa Vista condos with large, active associations. Ordering it early avoids delays later in the transaction.

Sellers who have owned a home for twenty or thirty years face a particular challenge: a lot has happened in that time, and memory is not always complete. I help long-tenured sellers think through the history of their home systematically so disclosures are accurate and nothing is missed by accident. A missed disclosure can create a post-closing claim that erases equity you spent decades building. The best defense is a careful, thorough review before the sale closes. For more on protecting the equity in a long-held home, read selling a home you have lived in for decades.

Disclosures are not the exciting part of a home sale. They are the part that protects you. My years in a legal office and around a contracting business mean I take them seriously on every file and help sellers get them right the first time. I handle everything, from the first pricing conversation to the keys changing hands, and I give you real answers with no pressure. Your next chapter starts here.

If you want to talk it through, book a consultation and we will map out your options together. No pressure, just real answers.

If you are weighing a sale on the Westside, the useful first conversation is not about a listing price. It is about what your home needs, what it will cost, and what it is likely to return. First Key Pacific is my practice, and I walk the property before anyone spends a dollar. Tell me about your home and we will start there.