What Philly Sellers Must Disclose (Even As-Is)

What do you have to disclose when you sell a house in Philly?

More than most sellers expect, and "as-is" does not get you out of it. Pennsylvania's Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law requires you to tell the buyer about every known material defect, in writing, on the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement, before the Agreement of Sale is signed. That includes problems you already fixed, like a basement that flooded years ago. The one thing the law does not ask you to do is go looking for problems you don't know about, so answer "unknown" honestly when you don't know.

Most of the disclosure conversations we have with Philly sellers start the same way: "The house is old, the buyer will get an inspection, do I really need to list all of this?" You do. The form is not a formality the inspector makes redundant. It is the one document in the deal where your knowledge, not the house's condition, is what's on the record, and it is the document a buyer's attorney pulls first if something goes wrong after settlement.

How the disclosure actually works

The law sits at 68 Pa.C.S. §7301 and following, and the form most Philly sales use is the PA Realtors version of the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement. It walks through 17 sections: roof, basement and water, pests, structure, additions and remodeling, water and sewage, plumbing, heating and air, electrical, appliances, land and drainage, hazardous substances, condo or HOA details, stormwater, and a catch-all for legal issues, violations, and anything else material. The test on every line is the same. Is it a physical defect, do you know about it, and would it matter to a reasonable buyer's decision or price? If yes, it goes on the form. If you genuinely don't know when the roof went on, "unknown" is a legitimate answer. What you can't do is check "unknown" on something you watched a contractor patch last spring.

Timing matters as much as content. The buyer has to receive the completed form before they sign the Agreement of Sale, which is why your agent asks for it before the listing goes live rather than when an offer arrives. And it is not a one-time snapshot. If something changes between signing and settlement, say a storm puts water in the basement in October, you amend the disclosure. Past repairs count too. PA Realtors' own guidance is blunt that a property that flooded in 1972 gets disclosed just like one that flooded last week, along with what was done about it.

Houses built before 1978 add a separate federal requirement: the lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet. In Philly, that covers most of the housing stock, so plan on it.

Row homes are where Philly disclosures get specific. A shared party wall means a leak that started next door can be your known defect if it has reached your side. Shared or old drainage, a history of basement water after heavy rain, and prior roof work that tied into a neighbor's roof all belong on the form if you know about them. The same goes for open L&I violations, which also surface when you order the Property Sales Certification (more on that in whether you need a U&O to sell in Philly). A buyer who finds an open violation in title that you left off the form has a reasonable question about what else you left off.

Where sellers get tripped up is usually one of three places. The first is treating "as-is" as a disclosure waiver. It isn't. As-is means you are not agreeing to make repairs, and the buyer still gets the form and usually still gets their inspection. The second is minimizing: writing "minor dampness" for a basement that took on two inches of water. The third is assuming the inspection covers you. It helps, but a buyer who can show you knew about a defect and didn't disclose it has a claim for repair costs and actual damages, and they have two years from settlement to bring it under the disclosure law.

A short list of sellers are exempt from the form, the most common being executors and other fiduciaries selling on behalf of an estate and builders selling brand-new homes no one has lived in. If you are the executor on an inherited house, that exemption is real, but it doesn't license a false statement; common-law fraud still applies to anything you do say. Our guide to selling an inherited house in Philly covers the rest of that situation.

The practical upside of a thorough disclosure is that it tends to make the deal smoother, not harder. Buyers price in what they know. What they renegotiate hard over, or walk from, is what they find that you didn't mention. That is the same dynamic behind most of what happens when an inspection comes back scary: a surprise costs more than the defect itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to disclose a problem I already fixed?

Yes, if it was a material defect. Pennsylvania's disclosure form asks about past issues and repairs, not just current ones. Disclose what happened and what was done about it, with receipts or warranties if you have them, which usually reassures a buyer more than it worries them.

If I sell my Philadelphia house as-is, do I still fill out the disclosure?

Yes. An as-is sale means you won't make repairs; it does not remove your duty to disclose known material defects under the Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law. The buyer still receives the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement before signing the Agreement of Sale.

What happens if I don't disclose something and the buyer finds out after closing?

If the buyer can show you knew about the defect, they can sue for repair costs and actual damages under Pennsylvania's disclosure law, which allows claims up to two years after settlement. Fraud and consumer-protection claims can add to that exposure. Talk to a real estate attorney if you're unsure whether something counts.

Can I just answer "unknown" on everything?

Only where it's true. "Unknown" is a valid answer for things you genuinely don't know, like the age of a roof installed before you bought. Using it to dodge something you do know about is exactly what the law is designed to catch.

Are estate sales exempt from the Pennsylvania seller disclosure?

Executors and other fiduciaries administering an estate are generally exempt from completing the form. They still can't make false statements about the property, and buyers will often ask for whatever information the estate has.

If you're getting ready to list and want a second set of eyes on your disclosure before it goes to buyers, then our selling your home page is the place to start. It walks through how we prep a Philly listing, disclosure included.