Selling a home in California comes with paperwork that is mostly about one thing: telling the buyer what you know about the property. If you are selling a house or condominium in the San Gabriel Valley, it helps to see those disclosures before you list, because a required form delivered after the buyer’s offer gives the buyer a short window to cancel. This guide summarizes the main state and federal rules for a typical resale, based on the statutes listed under Further reading.
The main form is the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement, usually called the TDS. California Civil Code section 1102 applies it to the sale of single-family residential property, and section 1102.6 sets out the form itself. It records what you know about the home’s condition, and when you have a listing agent it also carries the agent’s own inspection disclosure. Under section 1102, any waiver of these requirements is void, so a buyer cannot simply agree to skip it.
Timing matters. Section 1102.3 says the seller delivers the completed statement as soon as practicable before title transfers. If the statement, or a material amendment to it, reaches the buyer after the offer, the buyer has three days after delivery in person, or five days after delivery by mail (or by electronic record, when the parties agreed to transact electronically), to cancel by written notice. Completing the TDS before the home goes on the market lets buyers read it before they make an offer instead of receiving it during escrow.
A second form, the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement under Civil Code sections 1103 and 1103.2, tells the buyer whether the property lies in any of these mapped areas: a FEMA special flood hazard area, an area of potential flooding from dam failure, a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, a wildland area that may contain substantial forest fire risks, an earthquake fault zone, or a seismic hazard zone for landslide or liquefaction. The form lets the seller and agent rely on a report from a third-party disclosure provider, and it states that the maps estimate where hazards exist and are not definitive indicators.
Three safety items come with their own statements. Health and Safety Code section 13113.8 requires a single-family dwelling that is sold, including a one- or two-unit dwelling, to have an operable smoke alarm, and the seller gives the buyer a written statement of compliance. Section 19211 requires water heaters to be braced, anchored, or strapped against earthquake motion, and the seller certifies that in writing, which can be done in the TDS or the purchase contract. Section 17926 requires owners to install carbon monoxide devices in homes with a fossil-fuel heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage. Checking all three before the listing photos are taken is simpler than sorting them out in escrow.
If the home was built before 1978, federal rules add a lead-based paint disclosure, with a few exceptions listed in the rule. Under 40 CFR section 745.107, before the buyer is bound by the contract, the seller provides an EPA-approved pamphlet such as Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, discloses any known lead-based paint or lead hazards, and hands over any available reports. Under section 745.110, the buyer gets a 10-day period to arrange a lead inspection or risk assessment, unless both sides agree in writing on a different period or the buyer waives it in writing. The rule does not require the seller to test.
Two notices come up often. Every contract to sell residential property of one to four units must include a notice, in at least 8-point type, that information about registered sex offenders is available on the Department of Justice site at meganslaw.ca.gov (Civil Code section 2079.10a). On deaths, Civil Code section 1710.2 says an owner does not have to disclose an occupant’s death on the property that happened more than three years before the buyer’s offer, and it does not protect an intentional misrepresentation in answer to a buyer’s direct question. A more recent death falls outside that rule, so raise it with your agent before you list.
Every home’s list is a little different. If you are planning a sale, you can answer a few questions about your home and timing, and your answers go to Annie with your note. Sending it does not book an appointment.
Selling a condominium or a home in an HOA community adds another set of documents. Civil Code section 4525 requires the owner to give the buyer, as soon as practicable before title transfers, the association’s governing documents, a written statement from the association of current regular and special assessments and any unpaid amounts, a copy or summary of any notice of an unresolved violation, and several other items. Annie’s published Monrovia condominium story describes handling HOA disclosures and preliminary title on a listing.
Not every sale uses the TDS. Section 1102.2 exempts, among others, court-ordered sales such as probate court sales, foreclosure sales, transfers between co-owners, transfers to a spouse or to certain blood relatives, and most sales by a fiduciary administering a trust or estate. The trust exemption does not apply to a trustee of a revocable trust who is a former owner of the property or lived there within the preceding year. The other rules above have their own scope, so an exemption from the TDS is not an exemption from everything.
Your listing agent has a separate duty. Civil Code section 2079 requires an agent with a written listing contract on a home of one to four units to make a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection and to disclose to the buyer the material facts that inspection would reveal. That duty sits alongside yours; it does not replace what you know about the home. The seller page shows how Annie Liu Williams plans the required California disclosures together with pricing, preparation, and photography, in English or Mandarin (Chinese seller page). The neighborhood guides cover the communities she serves.
This article is general information about California and federal disclosure rules as reviewed in October 2026. It is not legal advice. Requirements change, and a real estate attorney can answer questions about a specific situation, such as a trust sale or a known defect.