Lead-Based Paint Disclosure

Seller, buyer, and both agents. The federal disclosure form includes a specific agent certification: each agent involved in the transaction certifies they have informed the seller of the seller's obligations and are aware of their own duty to ensure compliance. That certification is why lead paint is the one disclosure where agents have an explicit federal enforcement exposure of their own.

Every seller on title signs. The buyer signs both the disclosure and the acknowledgment of the 10-day opportunity — including where the buyer waives it, since a waiver must be in writing.

Before the buyer is obligated under the contract. That is the federal standard, and it is earlier than California's "as soon as practicable before transfer of title." Practically: deliver the disclosure and pamphlet with the offer package or immediately at acceptance, and start the 10-day clock at once.

The 10-day inspection period runs from an agreed start; the parties can mutually agree in writing to a different length or to waive it entirely. Do not let it run silently in the background — confirm in writing whether the buyer is exercising or waiving it, because that document is the compliance record.

Federal penalties are the distinguishing feature here. Violations can trigger civil penalties per violation and, in the statutory scheme, treble damages in a private action by an injured buyer or tenant. HUD and EPA enforce it, and enforcement actions against real estate professionals are not hypothetical.

Practically, missing this disclosure on a pre-1978 home is one of the easiest compliance failures for an opposing party to prove — the build year is a matter of public record, and either the signed form exists in the file or it does not.

Retain the signed disclosure. The seller and each agent must keep the completed disclosure attachment for no less than three years from the completion date of the sale — 40 CFR section 745.113(c), mirrored by HUD at 24 CFR section 35.92(c).

Skipping it because "the paint was all redone." The trigger is the pre-1978 build year, not the current paint.

Providing the pamphlet but not the disclosure form. They are separate obligations.

Letting the 10-day period lapse without documentation. Exercise or waiver, either way, in writing.

Missing the agent certification. That block on the form is yours, not the seller's.

Forgetting rentals. Landlords of pre-1978 units have their own version of this obligation.