Florida Seller Disclosure Requirements: What Home Sellers Must Reveal

Florida’s duty to reveal home defects is judge-made: Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985), requires a home seller to disclose known, material facts that are not readily observable, and a misled buyer sues in fraud. Statutes add flood, radon and property-tax notices, due by contract signing.

The rule from Johnson v. Davis

The case involved a three-year-old house bought for $310,000. When the buyer asked about peeling plaster by a window and stains on the ceilings, the seller told her the window had had a minor problem “that had long since been corrected” and that the stains were wallpaper glue and the result of ceiling beams being moved. Then a heavy rain came, and water was “gushing” in. The Court held that “where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer,” and added: “This duty is equally applicable to all forms of real property, new and used.” The buyers got their entire deposit back, $5,000 plus $26,000, along with costs and fees.

Each part of that sentence limits the duty. The seller has to know the fact, and it has to matter to value. It also has to be something the buyer could not readily see and did not already know. The Court also restated the four elements of fraud: “a false statement concerning a material fact,” the speaker’s knowledge that it is false, intent to induce reliance, and injury to the person who relied. None of this sets up a checklist. Chapter 689 of the Florida Statutes prescribes wording for flood, tax and subsurface-rights notices, but none of its sections lays out a whole-house condition form.

The flood form in § 689.302

A seller “must complete and provide a flood disclosure to a purchaser of residential real property at or before the time the sales contract is executed.” The statute prints the form. It opens with a warning that homeowners’ policies “do not include coverage for damage resulting from floods.” The seller then checks a box on three statements:

• whether the seller has knowledge of flooding “that has damaged the property during Seller’s ownership”;
• whether the seller filed a flood-damage insurance claim, including one with the National Flood Insurance Program;
• whether the seller received assistance for flood damage, “including, but not limited to, assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

“Flooding” covers overflow of inland or tidal waters, rapid runoff from an established water source, and “sustained periods of standing water resulting from rainfall.” The section was created by ch. 2024-215, effective October 1, 2024, with only the claim and federal-aid lines. Chapter 2025-166, effective October 1, 2025, added the knowledge line and struck the word “federal” from the aid line. Use the current three-line version. The section says nothing about what happens if the form is skipped.

Other notices tied to the contract

• Radon, § 404.056(5). At least one document signed at or before the contract for the sale of “any building” must carry the statutory paragraph beginning “RADON GAS: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas.” It is a notice, and it does not require a test.
• Property taxes, § 689.261. A buyer of residential property gets a Property Tax Disclosure Summary “at or before execution of the contract for sale.” It warns the buyer not to rely on the seller’s current tax bill. Unless the summary is written into the contract, the seller provides it. Starting February 1, 2027, printed listing materials may not include the current owner’s ad valorem taxes.
• Sewer lateral, § 689.301. Before the contract, the seller discloses known defects in the sanitary sewer lateral, which the statute defines as “the privately owned pipeline connecting a property to the main sewer line.”
• Sinkhole claims, § 627.7073(2)(c). A seller who made a sinkhole claim that the insurer paid must tell the buyer, “before the closing,” that the claim was paid and whether the full proceeds went to repairs.
• Beachfront, § 161.57. For land partly or totally seaward of the coastal construction control line, the seller gives the statutory coastal-erosion statement at or before contract. The seller also provides an affidavit or survey locating the line before closing, unless the buyer waives it in writing. Missing either one does not “create any right of rescission by the purchaser.”

HOA and condo purchases: 3 days or 7 days

For a home in a mandatory homeowners’ association, § 720.401 requires a disclosure summary before the buyer signs. If it arrives late, the buyer may void the contract by written notice “within 3 days after receipt of the disclosure summary or prior to closing, whichever occurs first.” The right cannot be waived and it ends at closing. Associations under chapters 718, 719, 721 and 723 fall outside § 720.401, and so does a sale where the association disclosure is already made under one of those chapters.

For a condominium resale, § 718.503(2) entitles the buyer, at the seller’s expense, to the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the annual financial statement and budget, the FAQ sheet, the milestone-inspection summary if applicable, the association’s most recent structural integrity reserve study or a statement that it has not completed one, and the report of any turnover inspection performed on or after July 1, 2023; the seller also owes the state’s condominium governance form. The contract must either confirm that the buyer had the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, financial statement, budget and FAQ sheet more than 7 days before signing, or let the buyer cancel “within 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays,” after signing and receipt of those documents. For contracts signed after December 31, 2024, if the association has completed a milestone inspection, a turnover inspection or a reserve study, the contract carries the same pair of clauses for those reports; if one is required but not completed, or is not required, the contract must say so in conspicuous type. A waiver of these cancellation rights has no effect, a contract without the required clauses is voidable by the buyer before closing, and the right to cancel ends at closing.

Deaths and HIV: § 689.25

That a property was, or was suspected to be, “the site of a homicide, suicide, or death” is “not a material fact that must be disclosed.” The same goes for an occupant’s HIV or AIDS diagnosis. No cause of action arises against the owner or a licensee for staying silent on either.

What the agent owes under § 475.278

Florida presumes a licensee is a transaction broker unless a single-agent or no-brokerage relationship is set up in writing. Both roles carry the duty of “disclosing all known facts that materially affect the value of residential real property and are not readily observable to the buyer.” That duty runs from the licensee to the buyer. It sits beside the seller’s Johnson duty and does not take its place.

Lead paint in pre-1978 houses

The lead-paint rule for home sales is federal, from 42 U.S.C. 4852d. For a house built before 1978, the seller gives the buyer EPA’s lead pamphlet, any known lead information and any reports before the buyer is bound (40 CFR 745.107). Section 745.110 gives the buyer 10 days to test, a period the parties can change by written agreement or the buyer can waive in writing. Sales at foreclosure are outside the rule. So are 0-bedroom units and elderly or disabled housing, unless a child under 6 lives there or is expected to.

Florida seller and buyer questions

Is there an official state form for the whole house?

No statute in chapter 689 prescribes one. The legislature wrote out the flood, tax and subsurface-rights texts. The general duty is the Johnson rule, so whatever condition form your contract uses, answer it from what you actually know.

The house flooded in 2021, before I bought it. How do I fill in § 689.302?

The first line asks only about flooding “during Seller’s ownership,” so an event before you bought the house doesn’t belong there. The claim and assistance lines ask what the seller filed or received. Johnson still reaches any known, hidden, value-affecting fact, such as water damage you found and never repaired.

After closing we found a roof leak the sellers hid. How long do we have?

A fraud action must be brought within four years (§ 95.11(3)(i)). Under § 95.031(2)(a), that period runs from when the facts “were discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence,” with a hard stop 12 years after the fraud was committed.

Can we cancel because the HOA summary came after we signed?

Yes. Send written notice within 3 days after you receive it, and before closing (§ 720.401(1)(c)). For a condominium, the 7-day window in § 718.503(2) applies instead.

Related pages

Selling: the selling guide, selling as-is, and selling with mold. Buying: inspections, red flags, the checklist, the buying guide. Florida: closing costs, insurance, market overview. Neighbors: Georgia, Alabama.