Seller Disclosures California: TDS, NHD, AB-38 and the Full Statutory Stack

If you are selling a one-to-four-unit residential property in California, the law is unusually specific about what you have to put in writing before closing. Seller disclosures California requires are not a courtesy and not a negotiation point, they are statutory duties under the Civil Code, the Government Code, the Health and Safety Code, the Penal Code, and federal lead-based-paint rules. An as-is sale does not waive them. A cash sale does not waive them. A sale to a sophisticated investor does not waive them. This guide walks through the full disclosure stack, the deadlines, the dollar costs, and the penalty exposure if a document is missing or wrong. None of this is legal advice, for a specific transaction, talk to a California real estate attorney.

Seller disclosures California requires: the full stack at a glance

For a typical 1-4 unit residential sale, the seller disclosures California requires include, at minimum, the following statutory documents, and missing any one creates liability that survives close:

1. Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS), Civil Code §1102
2. Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD), Civil Code §1103
3. AB-38 wildfire home-hardening disclosure, Govt. Code §51182 (high or very-high fire severity zones only, for homes built before 2010)
4. Federal Lead-Based Paint Disclosure, 24 CFR §35 (homes built before 1978 only)
5. Megan's Law database notice, Penal Code §290.46
6. Death-in-the-home disclosure, Civil Code §1710.2 (3-year rule)
7. Smoke alarm and water heater bracing certification, Health & Safety Code §17920.9, §19211
8. Carbon monoxide detector certification, Health & Safety Code §13113.7
9. Mello-Roos and 1915 Bond Act disclosures (if applicable)
10. Local point-of-sale ordinances (city-by-city, sewer laterals in Oakland, low-flow plumbing in LA, etc.)

That is the floor. Specific properties pile on more, HOA disclosures for condos, agricultural disclosures, military ordnance, former meth lab notices. The pattern is the same: in writing, before close, with the seller's signature.

The Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS)

The TDS, codified at Civil Code §1102, is the centerpiece of seller disclosures California law mandates on residential transactions. It is a multi-page form on which the seller, personally, not through the agent, checks off every defect and known issue in the property. The form covers:

• Major systems (roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, water heater)
• Structural components (foundation, slab, walls)
• Environmental hazards (asbestos, formaldehyde, mold, radon)
• Neighborhood nuisances (noise, odors, drainage from neighbors)
• Unpermitted additions, room conversions, or modifications
• Insurance claims filed in the last 5 years
• HOA disputes, lawsuits, or pending litigation
• Boundary or encroachment issues

The legal standard is actual knowledge, not perfection. The seller is not certifying that the house has no problems. The seller is certifying that the seller has disclosed everything the seller actually knows about. "I do not know" is a valid answer when it is honest. "I forgot to mention the leak in 2023" is not a defense.

Delivery deadline. The TDS should be delivered as soon as practicable, ideally before the offer. If it is delivered after the buyer has signed an offer, the buyer gets a 3-day rescission right by personal delivery, or 5 days by mail (Civil Code §1102.3). That rescission right is unwaivable. Many California cash deals build TDS delivery into day 1 of escrow specifically so the rescission window expires inside the inspection contingency.

TDS exemptions. A handful of transfers are statutorily exempt: court-ordered sales (probate, foreclosure, bankruptcy), trustee sales, transfers between co-owners, REO sales, and transfers to or from government entities. A standard cash investor purchase from a private homeowner is not exempt. If you are selling to a cash buyer in California, you still owe the TDS.

The Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD)

After the TDS, the second pillar of seller disclosures California law requires is the NHD. Codified at Civil Code §1103, it identifies whether the property sits in any of six statutory hazard zones:

1. Special Flood Hazard Area (FEMA)
2. Area of Potential Flooding (dam inundation)
3. Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (state responsibility)
4. Wildland Fire Area (state responsibility)
5. Earthquake Fault Zone (Alquist-Priolo)
6. Seismic Hazard Zone (liquefaction or landslide)

The seller does not research these themselves. In practice, the seller orders an NHD report from a third-party service, JCP, Disclosure Source, MyNHD, First American, and the report is delivered to the buyer. Cost runs $75 to $130 for a standard residential report, sometimes bundled with tax and environmental databases for $130 to $200.

In high-risk SoCal markets, the NHD often surfaces the issue that prices the deal. A house in Riverside that sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone may face $4,000 to $8,000 annual fire insurance premiums under the FAIR Plan, where the same house outside the zone might pay $1,800. That premium difference shows up directly in the buyer's underwriting and the eventual cash offer.

The NHD is not waivable by contract. A seller cannot ask the buyer to skip it.

AB-38 wildfire disclosure and home hardening

AB-38 is the newest layer in the seller disclosures California stack. Assembly Bill 38, codified at Government Code §51182 and operative since 2021, layered an additional wildfire disclosure on top of the NHD for homes in High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. AB-38 applies to homes built before January 1, 2010 in those zones. The seller must:

• Disclose any required defensible-space compliance (100 feet around the structure)
• Provide a state-prescribed home-hardening checklist covering eaves, vents, windows, roof, decking, and exterior siding
• Disclose which hardening features the home does and does not have

Delivery window: as soon as practicable before close, with at least 6 days' notice to the buyer once the seller becomes aware of the AB-38 trigger (Govt. Code §51182(a)(2)).

For homes in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Escondido, and other VHFHSZ areas, AB-38 is non-trivial. A 1985 stucco home with original wood eaves, single-pane windows, and a wood shake roof will fail almost every line on the hardening checklist. That does not block the sale, the seller is disclosing, not retrofitting, but it shows up in the buyer's repair budget and offer price. We see this daily in our as-is purchases.

Federal lead-based paint disclosure

Federal lead paint rules sit on top of seller disclosures California state law requires. Federal law, 24 CFR §35 (the Title X / Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act), preempts state law for any home built before 1978. The seller must:

• Provide the EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home"
• Disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards
• Provide records of any lead testing or abatement
• Give the buyer a 10-day inspection window to test for lead (waivable in writing)
• Include the federal Lead Warning Statement and signed acknowledgment in the contract

Failure to comply carries federal civil penalties of up to $19,507 per violation (HUD-adjusted) and treble damages in private actions. Pre-1978 housing stock is the majority of older Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, and San Diego inventory, so this disclosure shows up on most California sales of 50-plus-year-old homes.

Megan's Law database notice

Penal Code §290.46 requires every California residential purchase contract to include a specific notice directing the buyer to the Megan's Law database (meganslaw.ca.gov) where they can search for registered sex offenders by zip code or address. The seller does not run the search. The seller does not warrant the database. The seller simply ensures the statutory notice text appears in the contract. The C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement includes it by default.

Death-in-the-home disclosure

Civil Code §1710.2 sets a 3-year rule for deaths on the property. A death that occurred more than three years before the sale does not have to be disclosed. A death within three years generally does, with one explicit exception: deaths from HIV or AIDS-related illness are never required to be disclosed, regardless of how recent.

The statute is narrow. It says nothing about the manner of disclosure for inquiries; if a buyer asks directly whether anyone has died on the property, the seller cannot lie regardless of the 3-year rule. Material misrepresentation in answer to a direct question is actionable separately from §1710.2.

For properties going through probate or inheritance, this rule comes up regularly. An heir selling a parent's home where the parent passed away on the property must disclose if the death was within 3 years and not HIV-related.

Smoke alarms, CO detectors, water heater bracing

Three small but mandatory certifications:

• Smoke alarms, Health & Safety Code §17920.9 and §13113.7. Every dwelling must have working smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level. Seller signs a written statement of compliance at close.
• Carbon monoxide detectors, Health & Safety Code §13113.7. Required in any home with a fossil-fuel appliance or attached garage. Same compliance statement.
• Water heater seismic bracing, Health & Safety Code §19211. Two straps, upper and lower third of the tank. Seller signs written compliance.

None of these are optional. Each costs $20 to $80 to remediate if the home is non-compliant. A buyer cannot waive them in writing, though in practice cash buyers often handle the bracing and detector installation themselves post-close. We do this routinely on vacant property purchases where the seller has already moved out.

As-is and cash sales: what still applies

This is the most important section for sellers considering a cash offer or an as-is listing, because the seller disclosures California requires do not bend to the form of the transaction. As-is does not waive statutory disclosure duties. Full stop.

What "as-is" actually does, under California case law (notably Lingsch v. Savage), is waive implied warranties of habitability and merchantability. The seller is saying: I make no promise about the condition. The buyer is saying: I accept the property in its current condition.

What as-is does not waive:

• The TDS (Civil Code §1102)
• The NHD (Civil Code §1103)
• AB-38 wildfire disclosure
• Lead-based paint disclosure
• Megan's Law notice
• Death-in-home disclosure if within 3 years
• Any of the certifications above

A cash buyer who tells you "don't worry about disclosures, I'm buying it as-is" is wrong on the law and creating future liability. Reputable cash buyers, including the legitimate California operators we cover here, collect the full statutory stack on every transaction. They want it in the file because it protects them too. If your buyer is asking you to skip disclosures, that is one of the ripoff signals we cover in this guide.

The seller disclosures California requires apply equally whether you sell to a retail buyer with financing, a cash investor, or a wholesaler. The form of the deal does not change the form of the disclosures.

Worked example: a 1962 SoCal home

To show how seller disclosures California requires actually stack on a real transaction: a homeowner in Orange County is selling a 1962 single-story tract home in a Moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zone (not High, not Very High). The home has had a re-roof in 2018, an HVAC replacement in 2021, and one bathroom remodel without a permit. The owner's spouse passed away in the home in 2024 from cancer. Here is the disclosure stack:

1. TDS, Required. Owner discloses the unpermitted bathroom, the re-roof, the HVAC replacement, and any known defects. Cost: $0 (form is free).
2. NHD, Required. Owner orders from a third-party service. Cost: ~$110.
3. AB-38 wildfire disclosure, Not required. Property is in Moderate, not High or Very High, FHSZ.
4. Lead-based paint disclosure, Required. 1962 construction, pre-1978. EPA pamphlet plus 10-day inspection window. Cost: $0.
5. Megan's Law notice, Required. Standard contract language.
6. Death disclosure, Required. Spouse died in 2024, within the 3-year window, not HIV-related. Owner discloses on the TDS.
7. Smoke alarms / CO / water heater bracing certifications, Required. Owner verifies and signs. Cost: maybe $80 if any device needs replacement.

Total direct disclosure cost to the seller: roughly $110 to $190. Time investment: 3 to 5 hours of careful form-completion. The biggest risk is not the cost, it is missing something on the TDS that the buyer later discovers and uses as grounds for rescission or a damages claim.

If the same home were in a Very High FHSZ, AB-38 would add the home-hardening checklist and the 6-day notice obligation, plus likely $4,000 to $8,000 of annual fire-insurance premium impact on the buyer's underwriting. That premium delta routinely takes 5 to 10 percent off the eventual offer price on as-is California cash sales.

Penalties for failure to disclose

The penalty side of seller disclosures California law is what makes the paperwork worth doing carefully. Civil Code §1102.13 governs TDS penalty exposure. A seller who fails to deliver the TDS or who delivers a materially false TDS is liable for:

• Actual damages suffered by the buyer (cost to repair, cost to remediate, diminution in value)
• Rescission of the sale if the misrepresentation is material and the buyer acts within the statutory window
• Attorney's fees and costs in successful actions
• Potential exposure under §17200 (Unfair Competition Law) and common-law fraud claims if the misrepresentation was intentional

The rescission remedy is the one that scares sellers most. A buyer who discovers, six months after close, that the seller knew about a foundation issue and did not disclose can potentially unwind the entire sale, give back the property and demand the purchase price back. In practice, courts apply this remedy narrowly, but the threat alone often forces six-figure settlements.

For title issues, code violations, and back tax situations, the disclosure exposure is even higher because the issues are documented in public records the buyer can pull post-close. Sellers who try to hide a recorded mechanic's lien or an active code-enforcement case usually get caught and sued.

A clean, fully-disclosed cash close

The seller disclosures California sellers owe at close are not the obstacle that some cash buyers make them out to be. They are the standard pre-close paperwork stack on every legitimate sale. When you get your offer from us, the disclosure package is built into day 1 of escrow, TDS, NHD, AB-38 if applicable, lead paint if applicable, full statutory stack, so the contingency windows expire on schedule and the close happens on the date in the contract. No skipped forms, no waiver requests, no future-liability time bombs. That is how a clean California cash sale is supposed to work.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For a specific transaction, consult a California real estate attorney.