Arizona For Sale by Owner: Seller's Disclosure Statement

If you are selling a home in Arizona, the single most expensive mistake you can make has nothing to do with price, marketing or negotiation. It is failing to tell the buyer something you already knew.

 

Arizona has no statute that orders a home seller to fill out a general disclosure form. What Arizona has instead is a rule from its courts: a seller must disclose facts known to the seller that materially affect the value of the property and that the buyer could not reasonably discover on his own. That rule comes from Hill v. Jones, 151 Ariz. 81, 725 P.2d 1115 (Ct. App. 1986), a case about a Tucson home with a history of termite damage the sellers knew about and did not mention. The buyers won.

 

On top of that court-made duty, a handful of Arizona and federal statutes require specific written disclosures in specific situations — a pool, a pre-1978 house, land in an unincorporated county area, soil remediation, a nearby military airport, a homeowners association. Each has its own deadline and its own consequence for missing it.

 

This article explains what Arizona law requires, what it does not require, and how to document your disclosures so that a disappointed buyer cannot turn a normal house into a lawsuit two years after closing.

The One Rule That Decides Most Disclosure Cases

Strip away the statutes and Arizona disclosure law reduces to a single sentence: if you know it, and it matters, say it.

 

Courts phrase the test in terms of materiality. A fact is material if a reasonable buyer would attach importance to it in deciding whether to buy or what to pay. That is a deliberately broad standard, and it is broad in the buyer's favor. It captures the obvious — a leaking roof, a cracked slab, a failed septic system — and it also captures things sellers routinely talk themselves out of mentioning:

• A defect you repaired, if the repair might not hold or the underlying cause is still there.
• A problem a prior owner told you about, even if you never saw it yourself.
• An inspection report from a deal that fell through, sitting in a drawer.
• An ongoing dispute with a neighbor over a fence, a wall, a driveway or a barking dog.
• A condition outside the property lines that affects it — a planned road widening, a wash that floods, a shooting range a mile away.
• Work you did yourself without a permit.

Three things about the rule surprise sellers, and all three are worth understanding before you fill out a single line of a disclosure form.

 

First, "as is" is not a shield. An as-is clause allocates the risk of conditions the buyer could have discovered through inspection. It does not license concealment. Arizona courts have repeatedly refused to let an as-is clause defeat a claim that the seller actively hid or affirmatively lied about a known defect. If you are selling as is, you still disclose.

 

Second, fixing it does not erase it. Sellers reason that a repaired problem is no longer a problem, so there is nothing to disclose. That reasoning is exactly backwards. The repair history is itself material — it tells the buyer where to look, who did the work, whether a permit was pulled, and whether a warranty exists. A buyer who discovers a patched slab crack you never mentioned will not believe the patch worked, and will not believe you.

 

Third, you are not required to investigate, but you are required to be honest about what you find if you do. Arizona does not obligate a seller to hire an inspector before listing. It does obligate you to answer truthfully, and once you have a report in hand, its contents are knowledge you cannot un-know.

The Written Disclosures Arizona and Federal Law Actually Require

These are the disclosures with a statute behind them. Each is separate from the general duty described above, and each applies only when its trigger is present.

Disclosure	When it applies	Authority
Lead-based paint disclosure, EPA pamphlet, and a 10-day inspection opportunity	Any dwelling built before 1978	42 U.S.C. § 4852d
ADHS Residential Pool Safety Notice	Any dwelling with a pool, spa or contained body of water	A.R.S. § 36-1681(E)
Affidavit of Disclosure, delivered 7 days before transfer and recorded with the deed	Seller of five or fewer unsubdivided parcels in an unincorporated area of a county	A.R.S. § 33-422
Soil remediation notice	Soil remediation has occurred on the property	A.R.S. § 33-434.01
Military airport vicinity disclosure	Property is in territory in the vicinity of a military airport or ancillary military facility	A.R.S. § 28-8484
Public airport disclosure	Property is in a public airport influence area	A.R.S. § 28-8486
Planned community resale disclosure package	Property is in an HOA-governed planned community	A.R.S. § 33-1806
Condominium resale disclosure package	Property is a condominium unit	A.R.S. § 33-1260
On-site wastewater inspection and Notice of Transfer of Ownership	Property is served by a septic or other on-site system	A.A.C. R18-9-A316
FIRPTA affidavit or withholding	Seller is a foreign person	26 U.S.C. § 1445
Affidavit of Property Value	Nearly every recorded transfer, unless exempt	A.R.S. § 11-1133

What You Are Not Required to Disclose

Arizona law protects sellers from liability for failing to disclose three categories of information under A.R.S. § 32-2156:

1. That the property was the site of a natural death, suicide, homicide or any other felony.
2. That the property was owned or occupied by a person exposed to HIV or diagnosed with AIDS, or any other disease not known to be transmitted through common occupancy of real estate.
3. That a registered sex offender lives nearby.

The statute goes further than merely excusing the silence — it says the omission is not grounds for terminating or rescinding the transaction. You may volunteer any of it if you choose. What the statute does not do is authorize a lie. If a buyer asks you directly whether someone died in the house, the safe answer is the true one, or a refusal to answer. An affirmative false statement is a different legal problem entirely, and § 32-2156 does not protect it.

How to Get a Seller's Disclosure Statement

A thorough disclosure statement walks a seller through every part of the property — ownership and access, the roof, the well, the septic system, the pool, the HOA, the tax districts and the environmental conditions. Whatever form you use, a few habits make the difference between a disclosure that protects you and one that hurts you.

 

If you hire us to prepare your for sale by owner sales contract, our service includes giving you an 18 page fillable disclosure statement that has 21 subsections.

 

Fill it out yourself. Not your spouse from memory, not your agent, not the buyer's agent. The disclosures are statements of your knowledge. Someone else guessing on your behalf produces statements that are wrong in your name.

 

Never leave a blank. A blank is not an answer, and it reads later as an evasion. If a question does not apply, write "N/A." If you truly do not know, mark unknown.

 

Use "unknown" honestly and sparingly. Unknown means you do not know. It does not mean you would rather not say. A seller who marks "unknown" next to a question about a roof leak she reported to her insurer has not been careful — she has made a false statement.

 

Explain every yes. A checked box with no explanation invites the buyer to imagine the worst and gives a future lawyer a place to start. Give the date, the cause, who did the work and the condition today.

 

Attach everything. Inspection reports, engineering reports, termite treatment records, roof invoices, well tests, permits, HOA notices, insurance claim records, solar contracts. Attaching a document you disclosed is what turns "I told them" into proof.

 

Deliver it early and prove delivery. Deliver the disclosure statement and attachments as early in the transaction as possible — before the buyer's inspection period, not at the end of it. Get a signed, dated acknowledgment of receipt. Keep the signed original.

 

Update it if anything changes. Your duty runs until the deed is delivered. If the air conditioner dies in escrow, if a monsoon floods the wash, if the HOA sends a violation notice, you deliver a signed and dated written update immediately.

Arizona Seller Disclosure FAQs

Does Arizona law require a seller to fill out a disclosure form?

No statute requires a general disclosure form. Arizona case law requires the disclosure of known material facts, and a completed form is simply the best available proof that you made those disclosures. Sellers who skip the form do not reduce their duty; they only lose the evidence that they satisfied it.

What is the SPDS, and do I have to use it?

SPDS stands for Seller's Property Disclosure Statement. The form most Arizona real estate agents use is a copyrighted form published by the Arizona Association of REALTORS® for the use of its members. It is not a statutory form, and you are not legally obligated to use that particular document. A for-sale-by-owner seller can use any disclosure form that does the job, as long as it actually covers the property and the seller answers it honestly.

What does Arizona law actually require me to disclose?

Facts you actually know that materially affect the value or desirability of the property and that the buyer could not reasonably discover through his own inspection and investigation. Add to that the specific written notices listed in the table above whenever their triggers apply.

What is a "material fact"?

A fact a reasonable buyer would consider important in deciding whether to buy the property or what to pay for it. Cost is a useful proxy but not the test — a $400 recurring plumbing problem can be material because it signals a larger defect, and a $40,000 kitchen remodel done without permits can be material even though nothing is broken.

Does selling my house "as is" mean I do not have to disclose anything?

No. An as-is sale shifts the risk of discoverable defects to the buyer and relieves you of any obligation to repair. It does not excuse concealment of known material facts, and it will not defeat a fraud or nondisclosure claim. Sellers who believe otherwise are the ones who end up in court.

Do I have to disclose a problem I already fixed?

Yes. The history is material even when the current condition is fine. Disclose what the problem was, when it happened, who repaired it, whether a permit was obtained, and whether any warranty survives. A buyer who learns about a repaired defect from you is a buyer who moves on. A buyer who learns about it from a contractor after closing is a buyer who calls a lawyer.

What if I genuinely do not know the answer to a question?

Mark it unknown and say so plainly. A seller who inherited a house and never lived in it will legitimately mark many questions unknown. What you must not do is guess. A guess that turns out wrong looks indistinguishable from a misrepresentation when it is read back to you in a deposition.

Am I required to inspect my own home before I sell it?

No. Arizona imposes no duty on a seller to investigate the condition of the property. Your duty attaches to what you know. Be aware, though, that if you do obtain an inspection, everything in it becomes knowledge you must disclose, and you cannot cure the problem by declining to read the report you paid for.

What happens if I lie or leave something out?

A buyer who discovers a concealed material defect can sue for fraud, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation and consumer fraud, and can seek the cost of repair, the diminished value of the property, rescission of the sale, and in some cases punitive damages and attorney fees. The practical damage is usually worse than the legal exposure: you will spend years and tens of thousands of dollars defending a problem that would have cost you a paragraph on a form.

How long can a buyer sue me after closing?

Longer than most sellers expect. A fraud claim in Arizona carries a three-year limitations period under A.R.S. § 12-543, and the clock generally does not start until the buyer discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the fraud. Consumer fraud claims carry a one-year period under A.R.S. § 12-541. Claims on the written contract itself run six years under A.R.S. § 12-548. Keep your signed disclosure statement, your attachments and your proof of delivery for at least six years.

Do I have to disclose that someone died in the house?

No. Under A.R.S. § 32-2156 a seller has no liability for failing to disclose that the property was the site of a natural death, suicide, homicide or other felony, and the omission is not grounds to rescind the sale. You may disclose it voluntarily. If a buyer asks you directly, do not answer falsely.

Do I have to disclose that a sex offender lives nearby?

No. A.R.S. § 32-2156 covers this as well. Buyers who care can search the Arizona Department of Public Safety sex offender registry themselves, and many purchase contracts direct them to do so.

What about a house with a reputation — a "haunted" house, a former crime scene, a hoarder house?

Reputation alone is generally not a disclosable material fact, and the death and felony categories in § 32-2156 are expressly excluded. Physical consequences are a different matter. If a former methamphetamine lab left contamination, if a hoarding situation caused pest infestation or structural damage, if a fire left smoke damage inside the walls — those are physical conditions and they are squarely disclosable.

What must I disclose about lead-based paint?

If the dwelling was built before 1978, federal law under 42 U.S.C. § 4852d requires you to give the buyer a lead warning statement, disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards, provide any records or reports you have, deliver the EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home," and allow the buyer a 10-day period to conduct a lead inspection or risk assessment unless the buyer waives it in writing. Federal penalties for violations can reach three times the buyer's damages. This one is not optional and it is not negotiable.

What must I disclose if my home has a swimming pool?

A.R.S. § 36-1681(E) requires a person who sells a dwelling with a swimming pool or contained body of water to give the buyer a notice explaining pool safety education and the responsibilities of pool ownership, as approved by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Separately, the barrier requirements in the same statute and in local ordinances apply to the pool itself, and any known defect in the barrier, the gates, the door alarms, the pool shell or the equipment is a material fact you disclose.

What is the Affidavit of Disclosure, and when do I have to give one?

A.R.S. § 33-422 requires a seller of five or fewer parcels of land, other than subdivided land, in an unincorporated area of a county to complete a statutory Affidavit of Disclosure and furnish it to the buyer at least seven days before the transfer of the property. The affidavit runs to two dozen items and covers legal and physical access, road maintenance, flood plain status, water and sewer service, well registration and water rights adjudication, septic systems and percolation tests, zoning, land division compliance, military airport proximity and title encumbrances. The buyer must acknowledge receipt, and the executed affidavit is recorded at the same time as the deed.

What happens if I do not deliver the Affidavit of Disclosure?

The buyer gets five days after the affidavit is furnished to rescind the transaction. Deliver it late and you hand the buyer a rescission right at the worst possible moment. The statute also provides that a waiver of the seller's liability is void, so you cannot contract around it, and the county recorder does not verify accuracy — an inaccurate affidavit is your problem, not the recorder's.

Do I have to disclose soil remediation?

Yes, if you know about it. A.R.S. § 33-434.01 requires an owner with actual knowledge that soil remediation has occurred on the property to give the purchaser written notice before transferring ownership. The statute carves out remediation that attained residential-use standards under the rules adopted pursuant to A.R.S. § 49-104.

Do I have to disclose that my home is near a military airport?

Yes. A.R.S. § 28-8484 requires a seller of residential property located within territory in the vicinity of a military airport or ancillary military facility to give the buyer written notice before title transfers, including a reference to the state real estate department's registry and the maps of military flight operations and high noise or accident potential zones. In the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas this affects a substantial number of neighborhoods around Luke Air Force Base, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and several auxiliary fields.

What about a public airport?

A.R.S. § 28-8486 imposes a parallel disclosure obligation for property located in a public airport influence area. Aircraft noise is a classic disclosure dispute, because it is obvious to a seller who has lived under a flight path for a decade and easy for a buyer to miss during a Sunday afternoon showing.

What do I have to disclose about my homeowners association?

Everything you know that a buyer would care about: the assessment amount and how often it is billed, any special assessment that is payable, approved, pending or under discussion, any unpaid amounts, any violation notice you have received, any improvement you made without written architectural approval, any rental or occupancy restriction, and any association litigation. Buyers who inherit an unapproved paint color, an unpermitted patio cover or a $6,000 special assessment tend to remember who did not mention it.

What does my HOA have to give the buyer, and what can it charge for it?

For a planned community, A.R.S. § 33-1806 requires the association, within ten days after receiving written notice of a pending sale, to deliver the declaration, bylaws, rules, current operating budget, most recent annual financial report, most recent reserve study, a litigation summary, and a dated statement of the assessments owed, the insurance in place, the reserve funds held and the violation history. For a condominium, A.R.S. § 33-1260 imposes a comparable package, with the unit owner rather than the association responsible in communities of fewer than fifty units. Both statutes cap the fees: $400 for the disclosure and lien estoppel, up to $100 more for 72-hour rush service, and up to $50 for an update if more than thirty days have passed. Request the package the day you go under contract, not the week before closing.

Do I have to disclose a past termite infestation?

Yes — this is the fact pattern of Hill v. Jones itself. Disclose the infestation, the treatment, the treating company, the date, whether any bond or warranty is in effect and transferable, and whether any damage was repaired. Arizona is termite country and buyers expect a history; what they do not expect is to find the treatment records in a kitchen drawer after closing.

Do I have to disclose past flooding, or that my home is in a flood zone?

Yes to both. Disclose any flooding, ponding, sheet flow, wash flow, drainage or erosion problem you know of, whether or not it damaged the house and whether or not you fixed it. Disclose whether any portion of the property is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, whether you carry flood insurance, and whether a lender has ever required it. In much of Arizona the water arrives once every few years and leaves within an hour, which is exactly why a buyer touring in April will never see it.

What must I disclose about a private well or a septic system?

For a well: the ADWR registration number, depth, pump age, production rate, whether the well is shared and whether a recorded sharing agreement exists, any history of the well going dry, being deepened or showing a declining water level, and the results of any water quality test. For an on-site wastewater system: the type, the installation date, the permit, when it was last pumped, the location of the tank and disposal field, and any backup, surfacing effluent or failed inspection. Arizona also requires an inspection of the on-site wastewater facility and a Notice of Transfer of Ownership at the time of sale under A.A.C. R18-9-A316, and the transfer notice is a condition of the buyer's ability to operate the system lawfully.

Do I have to disclose work I did without a permit?

Yes. Unpermitted work is material for three separate reasons: it may not meet code, it may not be insurable, and the buyer may be forced to remove it or bring it up to code at his own expense. Converted garages, enclosed patios, added bedrooms, added bathrooms, casitas, electrical work and structural alterations are the usual culprits. Disclose what was done, when, by whom, and whether a permit was obtained and finalized.

Do I have to disclose insurance claims on the property?

Arizona practice is to provide the buyer with a claims history — commonly a CLUE report — covering the last five years or the length of your ownership if shorter. Beyond the report, a claim you filed is direct evidence that you knew about the underlying condition, so a claim you do not disclose is nearly impossible to explain later. Disclose the date, the carrier, the cause, the amount paid and whether the repair was completed.

Do I have to disclose a leased or financed solar system?

Yes, and you should disclose it in writing before the buyer makes an offer. A solar lease, a power purchase agreement, a PACE assessment or an equipment loan secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing all affect the buyer's financing, the title commitment and the monthly cost of owning the home. Deals collapse late in escrow over exactly this issue. Identify the lender or lessor, the monthly payment, the remaining term, the payoff amount and whether the obligation can be assumed by the buyer.

Do I have to disclose problems with a neighbor?

An ongoing dispute over a boundary, a fence, a shared wall, a shared driveway, a shared well, an easement or a nuisance is material and should be disclosed. So is any use a neighbor has made of your property over a long period — a path, a parking area, a section of yard on the wrong side of the fence — because it may support a prescriptive easement or adverse possession claim against the buyer. A purely personal feud with no effect on the property is a closer question; when in doubt, disclose.

Should I attach an old inspection report from a deal that fell through?

Yes. This is one of the most common ways Arizona sellers get themselves sued. A buyer cancels after an inspection, the seller relists, and the report goes in a drawer unmentioned. Everything in that report is knowledge you possess. Attach it, and if you repaired the items it identified, attach the invoices too.

Can my real estate agent fill out the disclosure form for me?

No, and no competent agent will try. The statements are yours, made from your knowledge, and your signature attests to them. An agent who completes the form on your behalf creates statements you did not make and cannot defend. Agents have their own separate duty to disclose material facts they know, which does not substitute for yours.

What if I am selling a home I inherited and never lived in?

Your duty is still limited to what you actually know, which may be very little. Mark unknown where you do not know, and say expressly on the form that you never occupied the property. Do disclose anything you learned from the decedent, from family members, from a property manager, from a tenant or from documents you found in the house. Personal representatives who repeat "unknown" for a condition described in a letter in the file are the ones who get into trouble.

What if something changes after I sign the disclosure but before closing?

You update it. The duty runs until the deed is delivered. Deliver a written, signed and dated supplement identifying what changed, and get the buyer's acknowledgment of receipt. A supplement delivered in escrow is an inconvenience. The same fact discovered by the buyer after closing is a lawsuit.

Does a home warranty or a home inspection protect me from a disclosure claim?

Not by itself. A home warranty may cover the buyer's repair cost for a covered system, which can defuse a dispute in practice, but it does not eliminate a fraud claim for a concealed defect. A buyer's inspection helps you only as to conditions the inspection would reasonably have revealed. Neither substitutes for telling the buyer what you know.

Should an attorney review my disclosures before I deliver them?

If the transaction has any complexity — a well, a septic system, unpermitted work, an HOA dispute, land in an unincorporated county area, a solar lease, an inherited property, or a defect you are unsure how to describe — an hour of an Arizona real estate attorney's time before you deliver the form is dramatically cheaper than defending a nondisclosure claim after closing. That is particularly true for a for-sale-by-owner seller, who has no broker in the transaction reviewing the paperwork.

Selling Your Arizona Home Without a Realtor?

Arizona attorney Richard Keyt has practiced Arizona law since 1979. KEYTLaw prepares the documents a for-sale-by-owner seller needs to close an Arizona home sale correctly, including the disclosures described in this article.

 

Our flat fee for the for-sale-by-owner document package is $2,497, which includes the purchase and sale agreement, a special warranty deed, the FIRPTA affidavit and the affidavit of legal value. Add $297 for expedited two-business-day preparation, and $375 if you want us to review the buyer's title commitment. We do not represent both sides of a transaction, and we do not represent sellers who finance any part of the purchase price.

 

See our Arizona for-sale-by-owner document preparation service, or get started by completing our Arizona Home Purchase & Sale Questionnaire.

 

Questions? Call 480-664-7478 or email rk@keytlaw.com.

 

This article is general information about Arizona law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every property and every transaction is different. Consult an Arizona real estate attorney about your specific situation. © 2026 KEYTLaw, LLC.