What Is a Seller's Disclosure in California? (TDS, SPQ, and More)

Why California disclosure law is stricter than almost anywhere else

California has some of the most comprehensive real estate disclosure requirements in the United States. The state's approach is grounded in a straightforward principle: buyers deserve to know everything material about a property before they commit to purchasing it, and sellers bear the legal responsibility to provide that information. Failing to disclose a known material fact is not just a contract dispute — it can expose a seller to fraud liability, rescission of the sale, and significant financial damages years after closing.

For sellers, understanding what you must disclose, what you are not required to disclose, and how to present disclosures correctly is one of the most consequential parts of the transaction. An experienced agent does not just hand you a stack of forms — they walk through every item with you, flag potential issues, and make sure the disclosure package protects you as much as the buyer.

The Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS)

The Transfer Disclosure Statement is the foundational disclosure document for California residential real estate. It is required by Civil Code Section 1102 for virtually all sales of one-to-four unit residential properties. The TDS is a three-page form that asks sellers to answer questions about the property's condition across a wide range of categories: appliances and systems, structural components, environmental conditions, neighborhood features, and any known defects or malfunctions.

The TDS is divided into two sections. In the first section, the seller answers each question to the best of their knowledge — checking yes, no, or unknown. In the second section, the listing agent and buyer's agent complete their own visual inspection and note any conditions they observe that are inconsistent with the seller's answers or that are independently notable.

Key areas the TDS covers include: the condition of the roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and water heater; any room additions or modifications made with or without permits; flooding, drainage, or grading problems; any encroachments, easements, or shared walls; neighborhood noise sources, nuisances, or disputes; any insurance claims made in the past five years; and whether the property is subject to any liens, litigation, or governmental actions.

One common misconception: the TDS requires you to disclose only what you know. You are not required to conduct an independent investigation to discover defects you are unaware of. However, if you know about a leaking roof and fail to disclose it, "I did not think it was important" is not a defense. The standard is actual knowledge, disclosed honestly.

The Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ)

The Seller Property Questionnaire supplements the TDS with more detailed questions about specific property conditions. Where the TDS asks broad yes/no questions, the SPQ asks sellers to elaborate. If you checked "yes" to any condition on the TDS, the SPQ gives you space to explain the history, what was done to address it, and when.

The SPQ also covers topics the TDS does not address in depth, including: the history of pest or rodent infestations and any treatments performed; water intrusion events — whether in the basement, crawl space, or through walls — and what remediation was done; any known mold and the steps taken to address it; disputes with neighbors over property lines, shared fences, or access; any pending or threatened litigation involving the property; and any work done by contractors without permits that was later permitted or remains unpermitted.

Sellers often underestimate the SPQ's importance. Because it is more detailed than the TDS, it gives buyers more specific information to evaluate — and gives sellers more surface area for liability if the answers are incomplete or misleading. An experienced agent helps you answer SPQ questions accurately and completely without over-disclosing speculative issues or under-disclosing documented ones.

The Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD)

California's Natural Hazard Disclosure requirement reflects the state's geographic realities. Sellers of residential property are required to disclose whether the property is located in any of the following designated hazard zones:

• Special flood hazard areas — FEMA-designated zones with elevated flood risk
• Areas of potential flooding — state-designated inundation zones near dams or levees
• Very high fire hazard severity zones (VHFHSZ) — CalFire-designated areas with elevated wildfire risk
• Wildland fire areas — state responsibility areas where the state, not the local jurisdiction, is responsible for fire protection
• Earthquake fault zones — Alquist-Priolo fault zones where active fault traces have been mapped
• Seismic hazard zones — areas with elevated risk of liquefaction or landslide during an earthquake

The NHD is typically prepared by a third-party natural hazard disclosure company rather than the seller directly. These companies pull parcel-level data from state and local databases and issue a report that covers all required disclosures plus optional supplemental disclosures. The cost is modest — generally $100 to $150 — and the seller pays for it. Delivery to the buyer must occur before closing, and buyers have a right to cancel based on NHD contents.

In California's current insurance environment, fire hazard zone disclosure carries added weight. Properties in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones face significantly restricted insurance options and higher premiums. Buyers need this information to accurately model their ownership costs — and sellers who are in a VHFHSZ should expect buyers to ask detailed questions about current insurance coverage, premium history, and available alternatives.

Lead paint disclosure

If your home was built before 1978, federal law — specifically the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act — requires you to disclose any known lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards in the property. You must provide buyers with an EPA-approved informational pamphlet on lead paint hazards and give them ten days to conduct a lead inspection or risk assessment if they choose.

The lead paint disclosure does not require you to test for lead. It requires you to disclose what you know. If you had the property tested and found lead paint, that test report must be shared. If you have no knowledge of lead paint, you disclose that. Buyers purchasing pre-1978 homes in California routinely conduct their own lead inspections as part of the inspection contingency period.

HOA documents

If your property is part of a homeowners association, California Civil Code Section 4525 requires the seller to provide the buyer with a comprehensive package of HOA documents within a specific timeframe after contract acceptance. The required documents typically include: the current CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions), bylaws, and operating rules; the most recent financial statements and operating budget; the reserve fund study; the minutes from the past two years of HOA board meetings and member meetings; any pending special assessments; and a statement disclosing any ongoing litigation involving the HOA.

The HOA document package is almost always ordered through the HOA's management company or a third-party HOA document service. It costs between $200 and $500 in most cases and can take up to ten days to compile. Sellers should order these documents as early as possible — delays in delivery can push out the buyer's review period and create timeline complications for closing.

Buyers have the right to cancel based on HOA document review. An HOA with underfunded reserves, pending litigation, or a large upcoming special assessment is a material factor in the purchase decision. Sellers who are aware of significant HOA issues should discuss them with their agent before listing — not after an offer is accepted.

Permit history and unpermitted work

One of the most common disclosure issues in California involves improvements made without building permits — room additions, garage conversions, deck expansions, electrical panel upgrades, and plumbing modifications done without pulling permits are widespread in the state's housing stock. Sellers are required to disclose unpermitted work they are aware of.

Buyers who purchase a home with unpermitted additions take on the risk that the local building department may require retroactive permitting, correction of code violations, or in extreme cases, removal of the unpermitted structure. These costs can be substantial. Disclosing unpermitted work accurately — and letting buyers evaluate it with their inspectors and contractors — is both a legal obligation and a practical risk management strategy. Sellers who conceal known unpermitted work and are later discovered face claims that go well beyond the cost of the original permit.

Death on the property

California Civil Code Section 1710.2 requires sellers to disclose any death that occurred on the property within the past three years, if the buyer directly asks. If a death occurred more than three years ago, there is no disclosure obligation — except in the case of deaths caused by AIDS, which cannot be disclosed under California law to prevent discrimination against buyers based on a prior occupant's medical condition.

Sellers are not required to volunteer information about deaths proactively — but if a buyer asks directly, the seller must answer honestly within the three-year window. An agent working with a buyer who has concerns about this can advise them to ask explicitly, and an agent working with a seller must make sure their client answers the question truthfully if asked.

What sellers are not required to disclose

California law also specifies what sellers are not required to disclose. You are not required to disclose that the property is or was occupied by a person who has or had AIDS. You are not required to disclose that a death occurred on the property more than three years ago. You are not required to investigate and discover defects you were unaware of. You are not required to disclose that a registered sex offender lives in the neighborhood — buyers must check the Megan's Law database themselves, and the purchase contract typically includes language directing them to do so.

Understanding these limitations matters. Sellers sometimes over-disclose out of anxiety, volunteering speculative information or unverified issues that are not legally required. An experienced agent helps you draw the line correctly — disclosing everything you are required to disclose, clearly and accurately, without creating unnecessary clouds on conditions that do not rise to the level of required disclosure.

The agent's role in disclosure: guiding, not just handing over forms

A disclosure package done poorly — answers that are vague, inconsistent, incomplete, or that contradict what the inspection later reveals — is a significant liability for sellers. A disclosure package done well creates a clear, documented record that the seller acted in good faith, disclosed all known material facts, and gave the buyer a fair basis for making an informed decision.

Experienced agents bring direct knowledge of how disclosures are reviewed by buyers and their agents. They know which questions commonly trip up sellers, which answers tend to create buyer objections, and how to frame disclosures accurately without making sound issues sound alarming. They also know when to recommend that a seller get pre-inspections — a strategic choice that surfaces disclosure items before buyers discover them through their own inspector, giving the seller control of the narrative.

An agent who has closed dozens of transactions in your area has seen how disclosure issues play out: which ones are deal-killers, which ones are easily negotiated, and which ones are best surfaced early rather than discovered late. That knowledge is not in any disclosure form — it is in the agent's transaction history.

How Best Agents Match connects sellers with disclosure-savvy agents

Disclosure management is one of the clearest markers of agent experience. Agents who have closed high volumes of transactions in specific California markets have processed hundreds of disclosure packages — they know the local hazard zones, the common permit issues in different neighborhoods, the HOA documents that tend to have problems, and the inspection findings that typically surface in different property types and price ranges.

Haven AI, the matching engine behind Best Agents Match, scores every licensed real estate agent in California across 20 performance dimensions. Transaction volume and local market concentration are two of those dimensions — and they are strong proxies for disclosure fluency. Agents who have closed many transactions in your specific zip code have navigated local disclosure conditions repeatedly. They are less likely to miss something, less likely to give you generic advice, and more likely to guide you through the disclosure process in a way that protects you.

When you submit your property at bestagentsmatch.com/sell, Haven AI identifies the single highest-scoring agent for your specific home — not a shortlist of candidates competing for your listing, but one expert matched to your property, your neighborhood, and your situation. The service is completely free for sellers.

Disclosure is not where you want to learn on the job. Get a match at bestagentsmatch.com/sell. The process takes under five minutes. Best Agents Match is headquartered at 2934 Newark Way, San Jose, CA 95124.