What Arizona Actually Requires You to Disclose When You Sell Your Home
Arizona law requires home sellers to disclose known material facts about their property, using a form called the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement, or SPDS. It’s due to the buyer within three days after your offer is accepted, and it covers everything from HOA violations and past repairs to roof age, pest history, and known problems in every major system in the home.
What the SPDS actually asks
The form runs about nine pages, and nearly every question is phrased the same way: are you aware. It works through ownership and HOA status, liens and assessments, the roof and structural condition, termite and pest history, HVAC, plumbing and electrical, pool equipment, permits and any work done without a license, utilities and water source, sewer or septic, and environmental issues like flood zones or airport noise. If you’ve owned the home for any length of time, most of it you already know the answers to. You just have to write them down.
Why we send it before the clock starts
Technically, you have three days after contract acceptance to get the SPDS to a buyer. I don’t like waiting on that clock. My team sends it out right after you sign your listing agreement, so it’s already done by the time we’re under contract. We also load it into the MLS as a private, agent-only document. That satisfies the three day rule automatically, since it’s already sitting there for the buyer’s agent to pull. But the bigger reason is it filters serious buyers from tire kickers. Someone who reads your disclosures before writing an offer either moves forward with their eyes open or adjusts what they offer based on what they read. Either way, there are fewer surprises once you’re under contract.
What “are you aware” actually means
That phrasing matters more than it looks like on the page. You’re only responsible for what you actually know. If you’ve never seen or heard evidence of roof rats in your attic, answering no isn’t a lie, even if they happen to be up there. The form isn’t asking you to investigate your own house. It’s asking you to tell the truth about what you already know.
Disclose, don’t lie, and don’t overdo it
Here’s the line I hold every seller to. This isn’t an opportunity to lie. If you know about something, it goes on the form. I would much rather you get ahead of it than have it surface in a buyer’s inspection report, or worse, in a lawsuit after closing. But it’s also not a research paper. If you replaced the HVAC system last year, I don’t need the exact install date and the receipt total. Answer the question. You don’t have to over-explain it.
What Arizona law doesn’t require you to disclose
There are a few narrow exceptions. You’re not legally required to disclose a death that occurred in the home, a felony crime that happened there, or whether a sex offender lives nearby. That said, if a buyer asks you about any of it directly, you’re required to answer truthfully. Silence is one thing. A direct lie is another.
If you’re getting ready to sell in South Tempe or South Chandler, it also helps to know why South Chandler homes often carry two HOA fees, or you can call or text me directly at 480-448-2020.
Ben Graham, real estate advisor, South Tempe and South Chandler, $1M+ homes.
