What Must a Seller Disclose About a Property in BC?

If you are about to list a home in British Columbia, you may wonder what you have to tell buyers and what you can keep to yourself. The answer is not one single rule. Some duties fall on the licensee who represents you, some come from the paperwork around the sale, and some depend on the facts of your property.

This article walks through the disclosure rules that are set out in BC's real estate rules, and flags where the answer depends on your situation. It is general information, not advice on your own sale.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

The duty that most sellers ask about: hidden defects

The Real Estate Services Rules say that a licensee acting for a seller must promptly, and before any agreement for the sale is entered into, disclose known material latent defects to all other parties to the trade. The duty is placed on the licensee, but in practice it means your listing agent will ask what you know and will not stay silent about a serious hidden problem.

A material latent defect is a material defect that cannot be discerned through a reasonable inspection of the property. The rules give examples of what can be included:

• a defect that makes the real estate dangerous or potentially dangerous to occupants, or unfit for habitation
• a defect that would involve great expense to remedy
• a circumstance for which a local government has given notice that it must be remedied
• a lack of appropriate municipal building and other permits

What happens if you would rather not disclose

If a seller instructs the licensee not to disclose a material latent defect, the licensee must refuse to provide further trading services to that client for the trade. So keeping quiet is not a safe plan when you are working with a licensee. You may simply lose your agent in the middle of a sale.

There is one exception. A licensee need not disclose a defect to a party who has already received written disclosure of that defect from the selling client. That is one reason sellers often put known issues in writing for buyers.

Other disclosures around your sale

Disclosure in a sale is not only about the building. Several other written disclosures are built into the process, and they affect you as the seller:

Facts that may need to be shared in other ways

Some information reaches buyers through documents rather than through your own statements. In a strata sale, an owner, purchaser or authorized person can request an information certificate from the strata corporation, which must give it within one week and must disclose the monthly strata fees. If the home is tenanted, a sale does not itself end the tenancy, and special notice steps apply if the buyer wants to occupy it.

Whether a property disclosure statement is used, and what it must contain, is something to confirm with your brokerage or a lawyer before you sign anything. Do not assume a form answers every question for you.

What to do next

Before you list, take an honest inventory of what you know about the property. Then decide how to share the important items in writing.

• Collect building permits, inspection reports, repair invoices and any notices from the city or regional district.
• Write down past water, structural, mould, pest or electrical problems and what was done about them.
• Tell your licensee about anything you think a buyer would care about, even if it feels minor.
• Read the listing agreement carefully, including how remuneration is described.
• Ask a lawyer to review anything you are unsure about before the contract is signed.

Frequently asked questions