Completing the State of Alaska Seller Disclosure Form

The next time you sell a house or a duplex, the State of Alaska has a new form for you to complete. Mandated by a state law that takes effect July 1, it has 172 questions.

Curiously, if you want to buy a property from the State of Alaska, the State is go­ing to refuse to comply.

First, the form.

With the support of the Realtor lobby and consumer groups Alaska's seller disclo­sure law is one of the first in the nation. The form asks the seller to disclose anything obvious about the property and much that isn't.

Indeed, many of the questions the form asks would cause many agents and even real estate attorneys to pause.

Do you know, for instance, whether your home "meets thermal standards?" Do you know the "flow rate" of your well? Do you know what "unresolved disputes, insur­ance claims or problems" are pending before your homeowner's association board? Do you know the date of their last meeting?

Do you know if you live in a "platted subdivision?" Do you know if there are any "non conforming uses or violations of setback requirements?" Do you know if title to your property is subject to a "life estate?"

Do you know if there is an "encroachment" or "easement?" Do you know the dif­ference between these terms and a "license" (which the form does not ask about)?

Do you know if the structure has "ever been altered?" Not just during your term of ownership, as the question reads. "What was done, when, was a permit needed and ob­tained?"

Do you know if your home harbors radon gas, UFFI insulation or lead-based paint?

The form anticipates all kinds of things that have been the subject of disputes in the past. You will be asked to disclose if a "felony, drug-related or violent crime" took place on the property. (No mention of suicide.) If the neighbors are a "recurring nuisance" or if there are "hazardous conditions" in the neighborhood you should tell all.

You should also confess if you ever rented the property to a pet owner.

If you obtained an appraisal there is a box to check for documents you are attach­ing to your disclosure. You don't have to disclose an appraisal you obtained for your own information, particularly if you suspect the stated value is low. Attaching it might transfer to the appraiser some of the liability for the square footage of the home you quoted the buyer.

The catch-all question asks if there is "anything else affecting the property's value that a prospective owner should know?" Moreover, the form has you promise that if anything about the property changes prior to closing you will disclose that, too.

It will be no surprise if many sellers find themselves forced to give a string of "don't know" answers. There won't be much help from friends or even real estate agents. They won't want the liability of telling you how to word an answer. The general rule is going to be "when in doubt, disclose. If you don't know, say so."

For all that the new form may be a bit of a pain to fill out, it benefits sellers by urging buyers to investigate anything that's been disclosed, or wasn't known and wasn't disclosed. The form says, right above the buyer signature line, that "this disclosure state­ment is not intended as a substitute for any inspection." It tells the buyer to "pay diligent attention [to] material defects which are evident by careful observation."

The rules will all be different if you want to buy a home or duplex from Alaska Home Properties, AHFC's property disposition arm. In an April 30 memo to its marketing brokers, AHP said it won't fill out the form.

Instead, AHP dredged out a loophole in the law that was designed to relieve prop­erty sellers in rural areas from the burden of mandated disclosure. These transactions are typically informal and the Legislature agreed to allow the buyer and seller to waive the requirement.

AHP jumped on this provision and said it won't fill out the 172-question govern­ment form for you, even if as owners they would have to say they have not lived in the property and don't know much about it. Instead, as a buyer you will asked to sign an agreement with AHP that waives the disclosure law.

They will probably still disclose what they do know; they just won't fill out the dratted form.