Do you need to use the standard seller’s disclosure form when you sell a house?
Question: In , you wrote about the owners of an Avondale home who recently died. Their daughter, the trustee under the family trust, lived in Mesa and had no knowledge of the condition of the Avondale home. Therefore, she did not want to complete the standard Seller's Property Disclosure Statement. Her listing broker, however, said that, under the Arizona Association of Realtors purchase contract, the seller “shall” complete the disclosure statement form.
Your answer to the seller as to whether she had to complete the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement was "yes," but was ambiguous as to the reasoning. Nevertheless, you gave three specific arguments in favor of the disclosure statement: one, the brokers and the buyer want a statement disclosing any problems for their protection; two, relocation companies and foreclosing banks furnish a disclosure statement although they may know nothing about the home; and, three, completing a disclosure statement can serve as a good reminder to the seller of any problems with the home.
My specific question: Can the seller accept the buyer’s offer, but only on the condition that the buyer accept a counteroffer that deletes the lines in the Arizona Association of Realtors purchase contract that say the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement form "shall" be completed?