New Disclosure Rules for Illinois Residential Real Estate Sales
It wasn’t too long ago that the Radon Disclosure became a requirement for every residential sale in Illinois. Now, the Radon Disclosure has been modified. What’s new? Well, 1) If you’re selling a condo or co-op on the third story or higher, you no longer need to provide a Radon Disclosure at all; 2) If you are a seller and your home previously had elevated radon levels which have since been mitigated, you will have space to disclose this on the Radon Disclosure; and 3) A new Radon Disclosure form is now available and should be used whenever a Radon Disclosure is necessary.
There is a also a new Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure form available! Again, this new form should be used in all Illinois residential transactions. There is one primary difference between the old disclosure and the new one — now the seller is required to disclose whether or not he is aware if the property has been used as a meth lab in the past.
Real estate agents and for sale by owner homeowners beware — the law requires the use of the new forms! If you don’t have them already and are in the process of selling a house, make sure you obtain and complete these forms right away!
What about previous flood damage? We are currently looking at place in Portage Park. They said the first time if flooded was this year in June. Well, the took out the carpet and painted the walls. Everything looks perfect. What if this happened before and they are covering it up? How can we find out or make them disclose previous years flood history?
Thanks,
Andy
Hi Andy,
Well, you can’t force the seller to tell you anything if they choose to hide it. There could have been flood damage in the past, and if you move in, have flood-related problems, and are able to prove that the seller suffered repeated flood damage and failed to disclose this to you, then you might have a case against the seller.
However, there is one thing you can do now: Call your insurance agent and see if they can check whether claims have been filed on the property in the past. If an insurance claim has been filed, your agent will probably be able to find it. However, if the sellers did not make an insurance claim, this may not help!
Naheed