Are Fannie Mae and a listing agent exempt from the real estate disclosure law?
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Are Fannie Mae and a listing agent exempt from the real estate disclosure law?
I signed a contract to purchase a home from Fannie Mae. I have since discovered a support beam in the crawl space is cracked in half and the home is sloping. As it turns out the same engineer had already done a report of this problem for the sellers real estate agent. There seems to be conflicting laws about disclosure because this is bank owned. If I interpreted the law correctly, foreclosed property owners (ie banks) and the real estate agent representing them are excluded from state disclosure law. Is that correct?
Asked on April 24, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Virginia
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Under the laws of all states in this country, the seller of foreclosed property (REO) such as Fannie Mae in your situation is not required to complete a transfer disclosure statement or a supplement. Likewise, neither is its real estate agent.
However, if the listing agent or the seller know of a material item regarding the home being sold that would affect price or desirability, such material item must be disclosed to all potential buyers of the property.
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