Vermont Seller Disclosure Requirements: What Home Sellers Must Reveal

· ✓ Last verified Oct 5, 2026 · March 6, 2026 · by AskDoss Editorial Team ·Home Selling · 9 min read

Vermont’s conveyancing chapter has no general condition-disclosure section. It has 27 V.S.A. § 380: flood information due before or with the contract, or the buyer may terminate before title passes or occupancy, whichever is earlier. Known hidden defects fall under Cushman v. Kirby (1987).

Five smaller statutes add specific items: a well-water handout, a class 4 road notice, a buyer’s exit over unpermitted work, a resale certificate for condominium and HOA units, and Vermont’s own lead-paint paperwork for homes built before 1978, which sits on top of the federal lead rule.

Section 380: what a Vermont seller owes on flooding

Section 380 was added by Act 181 of 2024, effective June 17, 2024, and amended by Act 52 of 2025, effective September 1, 2025. As it now reads, subsection (a) requires the seller, “Prior to or as part of a contract for the conveyance of real property,” to give the buyer:

  • “a physical or electronic copy or a digital link of the official flood insurance rate map, as published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or notice that a flood insurance rate map is unavailable effective for the community in which the real property is located”;
  • “whether the real property was subject to flooding or flood damage while the seller possessed the property, including flood damage from inundation or from flood-related erosion or landslide damage”; and
  • “whether the seller maintains or is required by federal or State law to maintain flood insurance on the real property.”

The 2024 version also asked whether the property sits in a FEMA special flood hazard area or a moderate flood hazard area. Act 52 repealed those two questions and added the flood-damage question; the map stayed.

What happens when the information is missing:

  • Termination. The failure “is grounds for the buyer to terminate the contract prior to transfer of title or occupancy, whichever occurs earlier” (§ 380(b)).
  • Damages. The buyer “may bring an action to recover from the seller the amount of the buyer’s damages and reasonable attorney’s fees,” and “may also seek punitive damages when the seller knowingly failed to provide the required information” (§ 380(c)).
  • Seller’s safe harbor. No damages for an error that “was based on information provided by a public body or by another person with a professional license or special knowledge who provided a written report that the seller reasonably believed to be correct and that was provided by the seller to the buyer” (§ 380(d)).
  • Title. “Noncompliance with the requirements of this section shall not affect the marketability of title” (§ 380(e)).

Section 380 has five subsections, (a) through (e), and none of them lists an exempt kind of sale. The state’s Flood Ready site publishes an “Optional Vermont Flood Disclosure fillable form” and notes that “The Vermont Association of Realtors also has a form.” Using either one is optional. The duty to give the three items is not.

A private well: the 72-hour handout under § 616

This rule covers a property with a potable water supply “that is not served by a public water system,” under a contract executed on or after January 1, 2013. The seller “shall, within 72 hours of the execution, provide the buyer with informational materials developed by the Department of Health.” The materials cover “the potential health effects of the consumption of contaminated groundwater” and “the availability of test kits provided by the Department of Health.” Liability for skipping it “shall be limited to a civil penalty” of “no less than $25.00 and no more than $250.00 for each violation,” imposed by the Department of Health.

Since July 1, 2023 (Act 47 of 2023), “Any property owner who sells property located on a class 4 highway or legal trail shall disclose to the buyer that the municipality is not required to maintain the highway or trail as described in 19 V.S.A. § 310.” As with § 380, noncompliance does not cloud the title.

Work done without a town permit: the buyer’s § 612 exit

27 V.S.A. § 612(b) gives the buyer a right rather than putting a duty on the seller. If, “prior to closing,” the purchaser gives the seller written notice that land development occurred without a required municipal land use permit or in violation of one, “the seller shall have 30 days, unless the parties agree to a shorter or longer period,” to get the permit or comply. If the seller does not, the purchaser may terminate “if, as an owner or occupant of the real estate, the purchaser may be subject to an enforcement action under 24 V.S.A. § 4454.”

Condominium and HOA units: the § 4-109 resale certificate

Under the Common Interest Ownership Act, 27A V.S.A. § 4-109(a), a unit owner furnishes the declaration, bylaws, rules and a certificate “before the conveyance or transfer of the right of possession of a unit, whichever is earlier.” The certificate covers twelve listed items, from the periodic assessment and reserves to pending suits against the association and known code violations. The association must produce it “within 10 days after a request.” A seller who provides the certificate “is not liable to the purchaser for any erroneous information provided by the association and included in the certificate.” If the association is late, the seller “is not liable to a purchaser for the failure or delay of the association to provide the certificate in a timely manner,” but “the purchase contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate has been provided and for five days thereafter” (§ 4-109(c)). The same subsection says the buyer “is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in the certificate.”

Scope matters here. Title 27A reaches residential condominiums and, among other common interest communities created after January 1, 1999, those with 12 or more units that may be used for residential purposes (§ 1-201(a)). A planned community is subject only to §§ 1-105, 1-106 and 1-107, and so not to § 4-109, if it has no more than 24 units and is not subject to any development rights, or if its declaration caps the annual average common expense liability of units restricted to residential purposes, excluding optional user fees and insurance premiums paid by the association, at $300.00 as adjusted under § 1-115, unless the declaration provides that the entire title applies (§ 1-203(a)). The $300.00 exemption holds only if the declarant “reasonably believes in good faith” that the capped assessment will cover the community’s expenses and provides that it may not be raised above the cap during the declarant’s control without the consent of all unit owners (§ 1-203(b)). Unless excepted under § 1-203, § 4-109 also covers communities created before January 1, 1999, for events after December 31, 1998 (§ 1-204(a)(1)). A pre-1999 planned community of no more than 24 units without development rights stays outside unless its declaration is amended to take advantage of § 1-206 (§ 1-204(b)). No resale certificate is needed for a sale that requires a public offering statement, or for any disposition listed in § 4-101(b): a gratuitous disposition of a unit; a disposition pursuant to court order; a disposition by a government or governmental agency; a disposition by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure; a disposition to a dealer; a disposition that may be canceled at any time and for any reason by the purchaser without penalty; and a disposition of a unit restricted to nonresidential purposes.

Hidden defects: Cushman v. Kirby and the duty to speak

In Cushman v. Kirby, 148 Vt. 571, 536 A.2d 550 (1987), the buyers of a house in Waltham asked about a basement unit labeled “water conditioner.” Mrs. Kirby said the water was “a little hard.” It was sulfur water. The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the buyers’ fraud verdict against both sellers, including her husband, who had heard the answer and said nothing. “Silence alone is insufficient to constitute fraud unless there is a duty to speak,” the court said, but “a duty to speak based on the superior knowledge of a seller is equally present where the relationship of the parties is that of vendor and purchaser of real estate.” The court quoted a South Carolina case: “Where material facts are accessible to the vendor only, and he knows them not to be within the reach of the diligent attention, observation and judgment of the purchaser, the vendor [of real estate] is bound to disclose such facts and make them known to the purchaser.”

Timing for that kind of claim: a civil action “shall be commenced within six years after the cause of action accrues” (12 V.S.A. § 511). Under 12 V.S.A. § 555, when fraudulent concealment prevents the buyer from suing, “the period prior to the discovery of such cause of action shall be excluded.”

Agents answer separately. Under 26 V.S.A. § 2296(4), it is unprofessional conduct for a licensee to fail “to fully disclose to a buyer all material facts within the licensee’s knowledge concerning the property being sold.” That duty belongs to the licensee, not to the seller.

Homes built before 1978: Vermont’s § 1767 and the federal rule

Vermont has its own lead statute for sales, 18 V.S.A. § 1767. “Prior to the time a purchase and sale agreement for target housing is executed, the seller shall provide the buyer with materials approved by the Commissioner, including a lead hazard brochure and materials on other lead hazards in housing.” The seller also provides “a disclosure form that shall include any lead-based paint inspection or risk assessment report or letter of exemption, assurance of discontinuance, administrative order, or court order the terms of which are not completed,” and, for rental target housing, verification that the RRPM was used and a current RRPM compliance statement has been filed with the Department of Health. At the time of purchase the seller hands over anything not yet disclosed and “a lead-safe renovation practices packet approved by the Commissioner” (§ 1767(b)). Noncompliance “shall not affect marketability of title” (§ 1767(g)). Vermont’s definition of target housing is “any dwelling constructed prior to 1978, except any 0-bedroom dwelling or any dwelling located in multiple-unit buildings or projects reserved for the exclusive use of elders or persons with disabilities, unless a child six years of age or younger resides in or is expected to reside in that dwelling” (18 V.S.A. § 1751(b)(46)). A buyer of a rental building that is not in compliance with the state’s lead maintenance rules must bring it into compliance “within 60 days after the closing”; within that period the buyer may ask in writing for an extension, which the Commissioner may grant “for good cause only” (§ 1767(f)). Three more rules apply only to rental target housing: no sale may occur while the building or unit is under an assurance of discontinuance, administrative order or court order “unless the assurance or order is amended in writing to transfer to the buyer or other transferee all remaining obligations” (§ 1767(c)); before the purchase, the agents, sellers and other transferors give the buyer Commissioner-approved information “explaining RRPM obligations” (§ 1767(d)); and the buyer must disclose the transfer to the Department of Health (§ 1767(e)). RRPM is the state’s Renovation, Repair, Painting, and Maintenance Program (§ 1751(b)(38)).

The federal rule applies as well. Before a buyer is obligated, 40 CFR 745.107 has the seller provide the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home or an approved equivalent, disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards, and hand over “any records or reports available to the seller.” 40 CFR 745.110 gives the buyer a 10-day period to test “unless the parties mutually agree, in writing, upon a different period of time,” and the buyer may waive the test in writing. Sales at foreclosure are excepted (745.101). Under the federal definition, housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities and 0-bedroom dwellings are outside the rule unless a child under 6 lives there or is expected to (745.103).

Vermont seller disclosure questions

Is the Seller’s Property Information Report a state form?

No. The copy filed with a Senate committee in 2021 is marked “Copyright© Vermont REALTORS®,” form VR-041. It is a private association form. The statutory items are the § 380 flood information, plus, where they apply, the § 616 well-water handout, the § 617 class 4 road notice, the 18 V.S.A. § 1767 lead materials and disclosure form for homes built before 1978, and the 27A V.S.A. § 4-109 resale certificate for a unit in a common interest community.

I inherited the house and never lived there. Do I still owe the flood disclosure?

Yes. Section 380 lists no estate or trustee exception. The damage question only reaches flooding “while the seller possessed the property,” so answer it for your own period of ownership. You still owe the map and the flood insurance answer.

The flood map arrived after we signed. Can I still get out?

Section 380(a) asks for the information “prior to or as part of a contract.” It doesn’t say whether handing it over later cures the failure. The termination right in § 380(b) ends at transfer of title or occupancy, whichever comes first. If that point hasn’t passed, talk to a Vermont attorney before you close.

Do I have to test my well before I sell?

Section 616 requires the Department of Health materials within 72 hours of signing. The duty it sets is the handout. A buyer who wants a test can use the Health Department kits the materials describe, or bring in a home inspector.

More Vermont and New England guides

Primary sources: 27 V.S.A. § 380, § 616, § 617, § 612, 27A V.S.A. § 4-109, 18 V.S.A. § 1767, Vermont Flood Ready disclosure page, and 40 CFR part 745, subpart F.

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