Skip to content
Pass Georgia

National curriculum lesson · Disclosures

Seller Property Disclosure

Seller property disclosure rules vary by state, but a seller and licensee cannot lawfully use a form to commit fraud or conceal a known material defect. A disclosure form reports known conditions and is not a warranty, inspection, or substitute for buyer due diligence. Federal law separately requires specified lead-based-paint disclosures for most pre-1978 housing before the buyer is obligated.

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources. Editorial standards.

What is the exam-ready answer?

Seller property disclosure rules vary by state, but a seller and licensee cannot lawfully use a form to commit fraud or conceal a known material defect. A disclosure form reports known conditions and is not a warranty, inspection, or substitute for buyer due diligence. Federal law separately requires specified lead-based-paint disclosures for most pre-1978 housing before the buyer is obligated.
Official syllabus mapping for Seller Property Disclosure
Official syllabus topicSeller Property Disclosure
Official PSI areaProperty Disclosures
Published area weight7% of the 100-question national portion
Exam portionNational salesperson portion
Source editionPSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026

The Rule

PSI publishes the weight for the complete content area, not a fixed question count for this lesson. Learn the rule well enough to apply it when PSI changes names, numbers, or parties in a new scenario.

The lesson

These ideas work together. On the exam, the wrong answers usually describe a nearby concept, so learn where each one stops.

Known condition disclosure

The seller answers based on actual knowledge and the form's questions. A seller should not guess, omit a known material condition, or describe a repair more broadly than the evidence supports.

Licensee responsibilities

A licensee must disclose material adverse facts required by law, avoid false statements, present the seller's information accurately, and recommend qualified inspection where appropriate.

Form limits

A disclosure statement is not an engineering report, title search, survey, environmental assessment, or guarantee that no hidden defect exists.

Special disclosure regimes

Lead-based paint, flood, association, environmental, and other subjects can have separate federal, state, local, contract, or lender requirements.

Decision rule

Identify who knows the fact, whether it is material, which disclosure regime applies, and when delivery must occur.

Georgia-specific distinction

Georgia does not rely on one universal state-mandated residential seller disclosure form for every resale, but Georgia fraud principles, brokerage duties, contracts, and federal law still matter. A Georgia licensee cannot treat the absence of a universal form as permission to conceal known material adverse facts.

Worked example

Scenario. A seller knows the basement floods after heavy rain but checks 'no water intrusion' on a voluntary disclosure form.

Reason it through. The form does not shield a knowingly false material representation.

Answer. The condition and false answer create serious disclosure and misrepresentation risk and must be corrected before buyer reliance.

Common exam traps

  • Calling a disclosure a warranty
  • Assuming no universal form means no duty
  • Telling the seller to omit known defects
  • Using disclosure instead of inspection

Original practice questions with detailed explanations

These questions were written for instruction and mapped to the current outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.

Question 1

A buyer reads the seller's completed disclosure statement and wants to skip the home inspection because the form lists no problems. What should the buyer's agent explain?

  1. A. The form is a warranty that no defects exist
  2. B. The form reports the seller's knowledge, not an inspection
  3. C. The form is reliable once the listing agent signs it
  4. D. The form covers defects the seller did not know about
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: B. The form reports the seller's knowledge, not an inspection

A disclosure statement reports what the seller knows; it is not an inspection, a warranty or a guarantee against hidden defects. Treating the form as a warranty is the common misreading that leads buyers to skip due diligence.

Question 2

A seller knows the septic system backed up twice last year and asks whether that must be mentioned, since Georgia has no single state-required disclosure form. What is correct?

  1. A. No form is required, so nothing must be disclosed
  2. B. It is up to the buyer's inspector to find it
  3. C. Known material defects cannot be concealed either way
  4. D. It must be disclosed only if a buyer asks directly
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: C. Known material defects cannot be concealed either way

Georgia has no universal state-mandated seller disclosure form, but fraud principles and brokerage duties still bar concealing known material adverse facts, and a seller's broker must disclose known adverse physical conditions a diligent inspection would not reveal. The direct-question option confuses this with Georgia's separate rule for deaths and crimes on a property.

Question 3

A house built in 1965 is being sold. Which subject has a specific federal disclosure process that must be completed before the buyer is obligated under the contract?

  1. A. Lead-based paint
  2. B. Radon
  3. C. Termite history
  4. D. Flood zone status
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: A. Lead-based paint

Federal law requires the lead pamphlet, disclosure of known lead information and records, and an evaluation opportunity for most pre-1978 housing before the buyer is bound. Radon is a common guess, but there is no parallel federal resale disclosure rule for it.

Ready to move on?

You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.

  • Explain Seller Property Disclosure in one clear answer without notes.
  • Separate Known condition disclosure from Licensee responsibilities using a fresh example.
  • Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
  • State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
  • Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
  • Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.

Recommended next lesson

Continue with Inspection and Survey Red Flags. Inspection and Survey Red Flags picks up where the disclosure form stops, showing how to describe a stain, crack or encroachment without diagnosing it and which expert should evaluate it.

Return to the Property Disclosures hub to see every official branch and the complete lesson sequence for this content area.

Seller Property Disclosure questions

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources. Editorial standards.

Is Seller Property Disclosure on the Georgia real estate exam?

Yes. It belongs to PSI's Property Disclosures content area, which is 7% of the 100-question national portion. PSI publishes content-area weights, not a guaranteed question count for this individual lesson.

What is the main rule for Seller Property Disclosure?

Identify who knows the fact, whether it is material, which disclosure regime applies, and when delivery must occur.

What Georgia-specific distinction should I remember?

Georgia does not rely on one universal state-mandated residential seller disclosure form for every resale, but Georgia fraud principles, brokerage duties, contracts, and federal law still matter. A Georgia licensee cannot treat the absence of a universal form as permission to conceal known material adverse facts.