What Washington Sellers Must Disclose

Washington requires sellers to put it in writing. The form is the Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 17). Under RCW 64.06 most sellers must deliver a Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 17) disclosing known material facts, based on the seller's actual knowledge, within 5 business days after mutual acceptance.

What the disclosure covers — and what it is

Washington sellers must give you Form 17, the statutory Seller Disclosure Statement, covering title, water, sewer/septic, structure, systems and environmental matters including flooding, based on what the seller actually knows. You generally have 3 business days after delivery to rescind. Some transfers are exempt — foreclosure, estate and bankruptcy sales among them — so an exempt sale comes with no Form 17 at all.

Flooding: the answer that matters most

Washington law specifically requires flood disclosure: the seller has to tell you about flood risk or history. Read that answer carefully, then verify it against the official map — FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer is the map your lender will use, and a seller's 'never flooded' is not the same as 'not in a flood zone.'

The Washington traps inside the paperwork

Form 17 has real exemptions. RCW 64.06.010 exempts specified transfers including foreclosure or deed in lieu, transfers by a personal representative of a deceased owner, and transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy — in those sales you may get no disclosure statement and must rely entirely on inspection.

The public registry omits most Level I offenders. WASPC states Washington publishes only Level II, Level III and non-compliant or transient Level I offenders on the public registry; for a specific Level I offender you must contact the county sheriff — a clean registry search is not a clean bill.

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 Washington, property tax reassessment works like this: Your bill is based on the county's annual market-value assessment, not the seller's bill and not a value reset to your purchase price. Because Washington levies are largely budget-based, a higher assessed value alone does not raise your bill proportionally — the levy rate adjusts — but a sale does not freeze anything either — 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 Washington records guide — never budget from the seller's bill.
• Check the address against the official Washington 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 Washington?

Yes — the Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 17). Under RCW 64.06 most sellers must deliver a Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 17) disclosing known material facts, based on the seller's actual knowledge, within 5 business days after mutual acceptance.

Does a Washington seller have to disclose flooding?

Yes — Washington requires flood disclosure. Verify it on the FEMA map anyway; the disclosure is the seller's statement, the map is the lender's rulebook.

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: fennemorelaw.com · waspc.org