Nebraska Seller Disclosure Requirements: What Home Sellers Must Reveal

Nebraska requires one. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-2,120, the seller of a one-to-four-unit home signs a condition statement due on or before the effective date of the contract that binds the buyer. Noncompliance gives the buyer a claim for actual damages, court costs and attorney’s fees, filed within one year of possession or conveyance, whichever comes first.

Section 76-2,120 and the properties it reaches

The statute dates from 1994 (LB 642). The Legislature’s current text lists amendments in 2002, 2011 and 2015; the 2015 act (LB 34) added the carbon monoxide alarm item. “Residential real property” means property “being used primarily for residential purposes on which no fewer than one or more than four dwelling units are located.” A “seller” is any owner who sells or tries to sell, “whether an individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or trust.” The duty also covers a lease with an option to purchase, and a home sold with a ground lease on the land under it.

Subsection (4) lists what the statement must cover: included appliances and whether they work; the electrical, heating and cooling, water and sewer systems; “any defects that materially affect the value of the real property or improvements”; environmental hazards; title conditions such as encroachments, easements and zoning restrictions; whether utilities are public, private or community; any private transfer fee obligation; and compliance with the carbon monoxide alarm law.

The Real Estate Commission’s form, current version January 1, 2017

Under Title 302, Chapter 1 of the Nebraska Administrative Code, the statement “shall be in substantially the following form.” The Nebraska Real Estate Commission posts that form, the Seller Property Condition Disclosure Statement, and its instruction sheet, updated June 2026, still reads “Current Version – January 1, 2017.”

The form is four pages. Part I rates equipment item by item: Working, Not Working, Do Not Know If Working, or None/Not Included. Part II asks yes/no/do-not-know questions. A few of them are not obvious:

• whether the Noxious Weed Control Authority notified the seller “in the last 3 years” of noxious weeds on the property;
• whether the property is in a flood plain or a floodway, and whether the structures have “been mitigated for radon”;
• whether a pet has lived on the property, and whether the seller made insurance or manufacturer claims and finished the repairs;
• any private transfer fee obligation, owners’ association, shared walls or lawsuits.

The seller also states how long he has owned the home and whether he ever lived in it. Part III holds comments, followed by the seller’s certification and the buyer’s signed acknowledgment of receipt. The Commission’s instruction sheet adds that “Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-2,120 is enforced through the court system and not by the Real Estate Commission.”

Delivery before the buyer is bound, and updates

Subsection (7) sets the deadline: the statement and any update go from the seller or seller’s agent to the buyer or buyer’s agent “on or before the effective date of any contract which binds the purchaser to purchase the real property,” and the buyer acknowledges receipt in writing. Under subsection (5), the seller answers “to the best of the seller’s belief and knowledge” as of the signing date. The seller may mark an item unknown and still comply, and must update the statement before that same effective date “whenever the seller has knowledge that information on the disclosure statement is no longer accurate.”

Section 76-2,120 sets no cancellation period. The statute’s own remedy is the damages claim in subsection (12), not a right to cancel. Subsection (11) adds that a transfer “may not be invalidated solely because of the failure of any person to comply with this section.”

Subsection (6): twelve transfers outside the statute

1. transfers under a court order, a foreclosure sale, or a trustee’s sale under a power of sale in a deed of trust;
2. transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy;
3. a transfer to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or a successor in interest, or to the beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or a successor in interest;
4. transfers by a mortgagee, a deed-of-trust beneficiary or a land-contract seller who acquired the property at a power-of-sale or court-ordered foreclosure sale, or by deed in lieu;
5. transfers by a fiduciary administering an estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust, “except when the fiduciary is also the occupant or was an occupant of one of the dwelling units being sold”;
6. co-owner to co-owner;
7. transfers to a spouse, or to someone “in the lineal line of consanguinity” of a transferor;
8. transfers between spouses under a divorce or legal separation decree, or a settlement agreement incidental to it;
9. a merger, consolidation, sale or transfer of assets of a corporation under a plan of merger or consolidation filed with the Secretary of State;
10. transfers to or from a governmental entity;
11. “newly constructed residential real property which has never been occupied”;
12. a transfer from a third-party relocation company that has given the prospective buyer a disclosure statement from the most immediate seller, unless that most immediate seller meets one of the exceptions in subsection (6). If a statement is required and the relocation company does not supply its most immediate seller’s statement on or before the effective date of the contract that binds the buyer, the company is liable to the buyer “to the same extent as a seller.”

Personal knowledge, the one-year clock, and fees

Subsection (8) says the seller “shall not be liable” for an error, inaccuracy or omission “not within the personal knowledge of the seller.” Under subsection (12), when a conveyance does not comply, the buyer “may recover the actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees.” That claim is “in addition to any other cause of action,” and it “shall be commenced within one year after the purchaser takes possession or the conveyance of the real property, whichever occurs first.”

The Legislature’s annotations to the section summarize how the courts apply it:

• Hutchison v. Kula, 27 Neb. App. 96, 927 N.W.2d 373 (2019): the buyer must plead and prove “either that the seller failed to provide a disclosure statement or that the statement contained knowingly false disclosures by the seller.”
• Pepitone v. Winn, 272 Neb. 443, 722 N.W.2d 710 (2006): “Attorney fees are mandatory for a successful plaintiff in an action under subsection (12) of this section.”
• Burgess v. Miller, 9 Neb. App. 854, 621 N.W.2d 828 (2001): in a claim for failure to provide a statement, the buyer’s knowledge of undisclosed damage bears on the amount of damages “but does not provide a total defense.”
• Heard v. Silvus, 33 Neb. App. 20, 9 N.W.3d 462 (2024): the statement is separate from the purchase agreement, so a claim under the section was not subject to that agreement’s arbitration clause.

Carbon monoxide alarms, transfer fees and condominium resale packets

• Carbon monoxide, §§ 76-604 and 76-605. A seller of a single-family home, or of a unit in an existing multifamily building, offered for sale on or after January 1, 2017, that has “a fuel-fired heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage” must ensure an operational alarm “on each habitable floor” or where the local building code puts it.
• Private transfer fees, § 76-3111. A sale contract for property subject to one must disclose it. If it does not, the seller cannot enforce the contract and the buyer “shall be entitled to the return of all deposits.” A buyer who learns of the fee after taking title may recover damages plus attorney’s fees, and a waiver of these rights in the contract is void.
• Condominium resale, § 76-884. On a resale (not a developer sale that needs a public-offering statement), the unit owner furnishes before conveyance the declaration, bylaws and association rules, plus information that includes the monthly assessment and any unpaid amounts, other fees, the latest balance sheet and budget, and “any threatened or pending litigation involving the unit or the association.” The association has “ten days after a request” to supply the information. Under § 76-826, this section also reaches condominiums created before 1984. Section 76-878(b) lists eight cases that need no resale statement: a gratuitous or testamentary disposition; a disposition under court order; one by a government or governmental agency; one by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure; one to a person in the business of selling real estate who intends to offer the units to a purchaser; one the buyer may cancel at any time and for any reason without penalty; a condominium of not more than 25 units that is not subject to any development rights to add units and in which no power is reserved to the declarant to make it part of a larger condominium, group of condominiums or other real estate; and any condominium of units not intended for residential use.

The listing agent’s own duty (§ 76-2417)

A seller’s agent must disclose in writing to the buyer “all adverse material facts actually known by the licensee,” which may include facts about the property’s physical condition and material defects. The agent “owes no duty to conduct an independent inspection.” Section 76-2,120(10) adds that a licensee need not verify the statement, and a buyer’s agent must make sure a copy reaches the buyer on or before the effective date of the purchase agreement. Commission rule 299 NAC 5-003.24 lists, among actions “demonstrating negligence, incompetency, or unworthiness,” a licensee’s failure to disclose a known error in the statement “in writing, to a potential purchaser and the seller.”

Pre-1978 homes: the federal lead-paint layer

Nebraska’s form asks about lead-based paint, but the separate federal rule still applies to housing built before 1978. The seller provides the EPA pamphlet and any known information and reports before the buyer is obligated (40 CFR 745.107). Under 40 CFR 745.110, the buyer gets “a 10-day period (unless the parties mutually agree, in writing, upon a different period of time)” to test, and may waive it in writing. Sales at foreclosure are exempt (745.101). Housing for the elderly or disabled and 0-bedroom dwellings are excluded unless a child under 6 lives there or is expected to (745.103).

More on this topic

• Home selling guide, selling as-is, selling a house with mold
• Home buying guide, buyer checklist, home inspection, inspection red flags
• Nebraska: real estate overview, closing costs, homeowner insurance
• Bordering states: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming

Frequently Asked Questions

I’m the personal representative of my father’s estate. Do I sign a disclosure statement?

Not if you are selling as a fiduciary in the administration of the estate, unless you live or lived in one of the units being sold. Section 76-2,120(6)(e) makes that occupant exception. A sale by a family member who already took title is a different transfer, and it needs its own exemption, such as a transfer to a spouse or a lineal relative under (6)(g).

Can I answer “Do Not Know” to a question?

Yes, if it is true. Subsection (5) lets the seller indicate that information is unknown “and the seller shall be in compliance with this section.” Liability covers what was within the seller’s personal knowledge, so marking a known leak as unknown is the kind of “knowingly false” statement a buyer can sue over.

Is a newly built house exempt?

Only if nobody has lived in it. Subsection (6)(k) exempts “newly constructed residential real property which has never been occupied.”

The buyer found basement water damage after closing. How long does the buyer have?

For the claim under § 76-2,120, one year after the buyer takes possession or the conveyance, whichever comes first. Subsection (12) keeps the buyer’s other claims open: it makes the statutory claim “in addition to any other cause of action.”