What Maryland Sellers Must Disclose

Maryland requires sellers to put it in writing. The form is the Maryland Residential Property Disclosure and Disclaimer Statement. The seller must complete and deliver either a disclosure statement or a disclaimer statement on the Real Estate Commission's form; even when disclaiming, the seller must reveal latent defects they actually know of that a buyer could not find by careful visual inspection and that directly threaten health or safety.

What the disclosure covers — and what it is

Maryland sellers give you one combined form on which they either disclose the property's condition or formally disclaim all representations and sell as-is, and many choose the disclaimer. Even on a disclaimer, a seller must flag known latent defects that pose a direct threat to health or safety. If you get a disclaimer, treat the form as no information at all and rely on your inspection.

Flooding: the answer that matters most

Maryland law does not impose a flood-specific disclosure duty, so the paperwork may say nothing about water at all — even for a house in a FEMA flood zone. That silence is why the flood check is on you: run the exact parcel through FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer before you offer, not after.

The Maryland traps inside the paperwork

Homestead Tax Credit is not automatic. The credit that capped the seller's taxable assessment growth does not transfer; a new owner must submit the one-time Homestead application to SDAT and qualify, or the taxable assessment can rise to the full phased-in value uncapped.

Flood-risk disclosure does not start until July 1, 2027. Maryland's dedicated flood-risk disclosure form (HB 200, 2026 session) becomes mandatory only from July 1, 2027; before then a seller using a disclaimer may tell you nothing about flood history, so check the FEMA map and the Maryland iMAP floodplain layer yourself.

What no disclosure will ever tell you

A disclosure is the seller's knowledge, on the seller's timeline. It says nothing about the street's crime trend, the registry, the tax bill you will pay after the sale, permits pulled (or never pulled) for the renovation in the photos, or the rezoning working its way through the planning office. In Maryland, property tax reassessment works like this: Buying does not reset your taxable value to the purchase price; SDAT reassesses on a three-year group cycle and phases increases in over three years. Your bill can still outrun the seller's if the home's taxable assessment was capped by a Homestead Credit you have not applied for yourself — which is why the seller's current bill is a poor guide to yours. Pull those records yourself; they are all public.

Your checks, in order

• Read the disclosure line by line, and get 'unknown' answers in writing anyway — an unknown is a flag, not a pass.
• Run the exact parcel on FEMA's flood map.
• Estimate your post-sale tax bill with the Maryland records guide — never budget from the seller's bill.
• Check the address against the official Maryland registry.
• Ask the county for open and expired permits on the address before you waive anything.

Frequently asked questions

Is a seller disclosure form required in Maryland?

Yes — the Maryland Residential Property Disclosure and Disclaimer Statement. The seller must complete and deliver either a disclosure statement or a disclaimer statement on the Real Estate Commission's form; even when disclaiming, the seller must reveal latent defects they actually know of that a buyer could not find by careful visual inspection and that directly threaten health or safety.

Does a Maryland seller have to disclose flooding?

There is no flood-specific disclosure duty in Maryland law. Assume nothing and check the parcel on FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer yourself.

The seller answered 'unknown' to half the form. Now what?

'Unknown' is legal in most regimes and useful to nobody. Treat every unknown as a job: inspection, permit search, and the county record file. If the seller genuinely doesn't know, the records usually do.

Sources: dat.maryland.gov · dpscs.maryland.gov · insurance.maryland.gov · mdgeodata.md.gov · mgaleg.maryland.gov · law.justia.com