[WSBARP] HB 1951 Seller Disclosure Statement

[Kary Krismer]

Michael,

Are you sure you're thinking of the right bill?  I just double checked 
to make sure I was referencing the right bill.  I can't see this has 
much if anything to do with zoning or HOAs.

If so, can you explain how sellers are supposed to answer yes/no to 
questions they don't know the answer to?  For example, fill dirt on the 
property.  Unless a seller saw the property being developed from the 
time trees were bulldozed down, there's no way they would know that.  Or 
has the roof leaked within five years of the seller has only owned it 
three years?  Or virtually any question about contamination on the property.

If this bill is passed the only course of action for a seller would be 
to refuse to fill it out and risk a buyer backing out before closing.

Kary L. Krismer
206 723-2148

On 1/31/2022 1:56 PM, Michael Brandt wrote:
> All:
>
> I, as the Chair of the Legislative Action Committee of the Washington Chapter of the Community Association Institute, worked on this proposed amendment to the Sellers Disclosure Statement to align it with other legislation we are working on that affects zoning issues in community association properties.  As many of you know, I mostly represent individual property owners in their disputes with associations.  As such, I would suggest digging into the issues a bit before launching into your campaign.  Thanks.
>
> Michael D. Brandt
> BRANDT LAW GROUP
> 1200 - 5th Avenue, Suite 1950
> Seattle, Washington 98101
> 206.441.5739
> 206.299.9115 (fax)
> www.brandtlawgroup.com
>
>
>
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Kary Krismer
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 12:12 PM
> To: wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com
> Subject: [WSBARP] HB 1951 Seller Disclosure Statement
>
> I sent this out earlier today to the Google RP group, but forgot this group:
>
> Washington Realtors put out a "Call to Action" on this bill, which requires sellers to answer yes/no to Form 17 questions they don't know. A Call to Action requests brokers contact their legislators.  I'm taking that as meaning that the bill is getting some traction.
>
> I would suggest real estate attorneys and their regular clients do the same.  You can find your representatives in the House here:
> https://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
>
> [RANT] As an aside, I'm getting rather discouraged if not depressed by the quality of legislation that has been coming out of Olympia for the past 15 years or so.  My attention was first drawn to that with the first version of the Distressed Property Law, but after that I noticed piece after piece of legislation that was not necessarily a bad idea, but at a minimum just poorly drafted.  It's like inertia just carries these things through without all the fixes necessary.
>
> But then there's this recent work on the Seller Disclosure statement. Last year they amended the thing twice, with neither bill recognizing the other.  One change was totally unnecessary (yet another notification the buyer gets that racial covenants are not enforceable) and one of questionable necessity but clearly poorly thought out (Internet provider where no service available and no service currently connected get the exact same answer). And now this year, where rather than deal intelligently with the problems Form 17 has had for years they introduce legislation that can only be described as ignorant.[/RANT]
>
> Anyway, please consider doing what you can to let your legislators know about what a bad idea this legislation is.
>