Delaware Seller Disclosure Requirements: What Home Sellers Must Reveal
Yes. Delaware’s Buyer Property Protection Act (6 Del. C. §§ 2570–2578) makes a 1–4 family home seller disclose known material defects in writing on the Real Estate Commission’s report, due before the buyer’s offer. It gives no cancellation period, and it shields sellers from suits over defects disclosed on time.
Which Delaware transfers § 2576 covers
The Act reaches “transfers by sale, exchange, installment land sale contract, lease with an option to purchase or ground lease” of three kinds of property: “a manufactured housing lot,” residential real property “improved with dwelling units for 1-4 families,” or “vacant land zoned for residential use and marketed as appropriate for the construction of a dwelling for 1-4 families.” Vacant land was added by 80 Del. Laws c. 308 (approved July 13, 2016), which took effect for agreements of sale signed 30 days after the Commission published a vacant-land version of the report. A five-unit building sits outside the § 2571(4) definition.
The seller owes the disclosure of “all material defects of that property that are known at the time the property is offered for sale or that are known prior to the time of final settlement” (§ 2572(a)). The test is the seller’s knowledge. Nothing in the Act orders the seller to hire an inspector.
The nine exclusions in § 2577
The subchapter does not apply to:
- Transfers under the Delaware Out-of-State Land Sales and Promotions Act (now repealed) where that law’s property report is given to the purchaser.
- Transfers under a court order, such as a Court of Chancery order in the administration of an estate, trust or guardianship, a writ of execution, a sale by a bankruptcy trustee or receiver, eminent domain, or a decree for specific performance.
- A deed in lieu of foreclosure from a defaulting mortgagor to the mortgagee.
- Sheriff’s sales for default on a mortgage, judgment, tax or other lien.
- Transfers by a fiduciary “in the course of the administration of the decedent’s estate, guardianship or trust.”
- Transfers from one co-owner to one or more other co-owners.
- Transfers to a spouse, or to people “in the lineal line of consanguinity” of a transferor.
- Transfers between spouses under a divorce property settlement.
- Transfers to or from any government entity.
First sales of new homes are not on that list. They get their own Commission form, and § 2578(b) makes the new-construction version carry a fire-sprinkler notice. For an exempt sale, the Commission publishes an “Exempt Property Certification” covering both the condition report and the radon disclosure.
Two deadlines: the listing agreement, then the offer
Section 2572(b) says the written disclosure “shall be made in writing before the seller signs the listing agreement and shall be updated as necessary for any material changes occurring in the property before final settlement.” Section 2573 then puts the copy in the buyer’s hands “prior to the time the buyer makes an offer to purchase.” Signed by buyer and seller, the report “shall become a part of the purchase agreement.”
A leak that starts after the house goes under contract belongs in an updated report, not a remark at the walk-through.
Inside the report dated August 1, 2026
Section 2578(a) has the Commission write and amend the form. The version on the Division of Professional Regulation’s forms page is stamped “Effective Date: August 1, 2026” and runs 11 pages across sixteen sections, from I. Occupancy through XVI. Additional Information. The seller marks Yes or No, or writes “U if Unknown or NA if Not Applicable.”
Several questions are specific to this form. It asks about underground storage tanks for heating fuel, propane or septic, and whether an abandoned tank was closed with permits. It asks whether methamphetamine was made, stored or used in the house, and whether the property was ever tested for mold. For a septic system, it asks whether a Class H inspector looked at it within the last 36 months. It also asks about flood zone, wetlands and flood insurance. By statute (§ 2578(c)), every version must say whether the owner or the state pays to repave the adjacent streets, with the warning that “Repairing and repaving of the streets can be very costly.” Two other versions of the report exist, one for new construction and one for vacant land.
Radon: § 2572A
Every buyer of a residential property with a dwelling on it “shall be notified that said property may present the potential for exposure to radon.” The seller must “provide the buyer with any information on radon from tests or inspections in the seller’s possession, and notify the buyer of any known radon hazards.” The Commission’s radon form records that this happened. Under § 2578(d), any test results the seller has also go on the condition report. The statute requires sharing results, not ordering a new test.
What §§ 2574–2575 do to a claim after settlement
The completed report “is not a warranty of any kind by the seller” or by the agents, and it “is not a substitute for any inspections.” Under § 2575, a buyer has no cause of action against the seller, agent or subagent for three kinds of defect. The first is a defect disclosed before the buyer made an offer. The second is one that developed after the offer and was disclosed before final settlement, “provided seller has complied with the agreement of sale.” The third is one that occurs after final settlement.
The Act does not print a damages rule or a rescission right. In Osborn-Gustavson v. Waite, C.A. No. K22C-01-009 DJB (Del. Super. Ct. Oct. 3, 2022), the Superior Court let a buyer’s claim under the Act go forward against the seller’s agent. The court said the Act “creates statutory obligations on a selling agent” and that the § 2575 exceptions imply liability for the rest. The same buyers also pleaded common-law fraud. Fraud needs a knowingly false statement, intent to induce, justifiable reliance and resulting damage.
For timing, 10 Del. C. § 8106 bars any “action based on a statute” after “3 years from the accruing of the cause of such action.” When that clock starts on a hidden defect is a question to put to a Delaware lawyer early.
Homicide, suicide and HIV: 24 Del. C. § 2927
Delaware defines a “psychologically impacted” property as the site, actual or suspected, of “a homicide, suicide or other felony except arson,” or one where an occupant had HIV, AIDS or a disease “highly unlikely to be transmitted through the occupancy of a dwelling place.” That status “is not a material fact that must be disclosed,” and failing to raise it creates no cause of action. There are two limits. If a buyer sends the owner a specific written question, the owner must answer truthfully to the best of their knowledge. But the owner “shall not make any disclosure” about HIV or AIDS even when asked.
Condos and HOA homes: the § 81-409 resale certificate
On a resale in a common interest community, the unit owner hands the buyer the declaration, bylaws, rules and a certificate with 19 listed items (the periodic assessment, unpaid special assessments, the operating budget and pending suits among them) no later than the signing of the contract. If the buyer receives the certificate only after signing, the buyer “before conveyance, may cancel the contract within 5 calendar days after first receiving the resale certificate.” No certificate is needed for the nine dispositions in § 81-401(b): a gift, a disposition under court order, one by a government or governmental agency, a foreclosure or deed in lieu, a disposition to a dealer, one the purchaser may cancel at any time and for any reason without penalty, a disposition by operation of law on the owner’s death, a unit restricted to nonresidential purposes, and a unit under a written sale contract signed “prior to the effective date.”
The listing agent’s separate duty
A licensee’s duties under 24 Del. C. § 2936(b)(8) include “disclosing to all prospective buyers or tenants any adverse material facts actually known by the licensee.” That duty belongs to the agent. It sits alongside the seller’s report and does not replace it.
Houses built before 1978
Lead paint disclosure comes from federal law (42 U.S.C. 4852d; 40 CFR part 745, subpart F), not from Delaware. Before a buyer is bound, the seller hands over the EPA pamphlet, discloses any known lead-based paint and gives the buyer any reports. Under 40 CFR 745.110, the seller must allow “a 10-day period (unless the parties mutually agree, in writing, upon a different period of time)” for an inspection, and the buyer may waive it in writing. The rule does not apply to foreclosure sales. Housing for the elderly or disabled and 0-bedroom units are also outside it, unless a child under 6 lives there or is expected to.
Delaware seller and buyer questions
Does an “as is” listing excuse me from the report?
No. “As is” is not one of the nine § 2577 exclusions. The report’s own buyer acknowledgment already says the property is sold “in its present condition” unless the contract says otherwise, so the two work together. If you plan to sell as-is, fill out the report anyway.
I inherited my father’s house. Do I fill out the report?
It depends on who signs the deed. A sale by the executor “in the course of the administration of the decedent’s estate” is exempt under § 2577(5). If the house has already passed to you and you sell in your own name, none of the nine exclusions is written for that sale. The report’s first question has an “Inherited Property” box for this case, and you answer from what you know.
Can the buyer back out after reading the report?
The Act gives no cancellation window, because the report is due before the buyer makes an offer. Any later exit has to come from the agreement of sale’s own terms. Separate rules apply to a condo or HOA resale certificate that arrives late (5 calendar days under § 81-409) and to the federal lead-paint inspection period.
We found water damage after settlement that the sellers must have known about. What now?
Section 2575 protects the seller only for defects disclosed on time or arising after settlement. A known defect left off the report can support a claim under the Act and a fraud claim; in Osborn-Gustavson both claims survived a motion to dismiss against the sellers’ agent. Photograph the damage, keep the signed report, and see a lawyer well inside the three-year limit § 8106 sets for claims based on a statute.
Related pages
Sellers: the selling guide and selling a house with mold (the report asks about mold tests). Buyers: home inspection, inspection red flags, the checklist and the buying guide. Delaware: closing costs, homeowner insurance, state overview. Next door: Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey.