Seller Disclosure Laws in Virginia
Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Statement (Form under the Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act, Va. Code § 55.1-700 et seq.) — issued/maintained by the Virginia Real Estate Board / DPOR — Code of Virginia § 55.1-700 through § 55.1-713 (Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act, Title 55.1, Chapter 7). Current operative version of § 55.1-703 is labeled "Effective until January 1, 2027"; a further-amended version (adding a land-use taxation item) is labeled "Effective January 1, 2027" per 2026 Acts ch. 510 (SB 577). Delivery timing is governed by § 55.1-709; exemptions are in § 55.1-702.
Virginia is honestly and accurately described as a "buyer beware" (caveat emptor) state — this is not an invented characterization, it is how Virginia courts, DPOR, and practicing real estate attorneys describe it. Sellers of 1-4 unit residential property are required by the Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act to give purchasers the Real Estate Board's "Residential Property Disclosure Statement" before ratification of a purchase contract (or the buyer may have a right to terminate). But the form is not a substantive condition disclosure like California's TDS. On almost every line item, the seller may simply check "The Owner makes no representations" with zero further obligation — there is no duty to inspect, investigate, or affirmatively volunteer defects. Sellers still may not lie if directly asked, and are separately bound by federal lead-based-paint disclosure law for pre-1978 homes and common-law prohibitions on active fraudulent concealment. A handful of items (e.g., dam break inundation zone status, proximity to a military air installation/surface danger zone, known pending zoning/building code violations, and now special flood hazard area status since a 2025 amendment) call for an actual factual answer rather than allowing a blanket "no representation" checkbox, but even these are keyed to the seller's "actual knowledge," not to any duty to investigate. Net effect: Virginia has a disclosure FORM requirement, but very little disclosure SUBSTANCE requirement compared to affirmative-disclosure states.
Key Disclosures
- Delivery/timing (§55.1-709): the Disclosure Statement (and, since July 1, 2025, a separate Flood Risk Information form) must be furnished to the purchaser before ratification of the real estate purchase contract; late delivery can give the purchaser a limited right to terminate.
- The operative disclosure list (§55.1-703, version effective until Jan. 1, 2027) has 19 items — expanding to 20 on Jan. 1, 2027 — covering things like: property condition generally, lot lines/boundary/expansion rights, adjoining land use, historic district designation, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area status, registered sex offender registry existence, dam break inundation zone, on-site sewage/septic systems, solar energy device rights, special flood hazard areas, conservation easements, community development authority assessments, marine clay/problem soils, radon, lead in drinking-water pipes, defective drywall (Chinese drywall era issue), dams/impounding structures, airport noise zones, military air installation proximity, and (from Jan. 1, 2027) land-use value assessment/roll-back tax exposure.
- 'Present actual knowledge, no duty to investigate' standard: sellers disclose only what they actually know at the time, with zero obligation to inspect or research the property to find out more — a materially lower bar than states requiring affirmative, good-faith investigation.
- 'Owner makes no representations' opt-out: on nearly every enumerated item the seller can simply check a box declining to represent anything about that topic, effectively converting the 'disclosure' into a notice that the buyer must investigate the issue independently (e.g., via FEMA flood maps, a home inspection, HOA docs, etc.).
- A few narrow items are treated as more mandatory factual disclosures when the seller has actual knowledge (rather than blanket 'no representation' outs) — notably dam break inundation zone status and proximity to a military air installation — and Virginia courts still bar active concealment and outright lies in response to a buyer's direct questions.
- Overlapping, separately-required disclosures outside the Act itself: federal Lead-Based Paint Disclosure (pre-1978 housing, 42 U.S.C. § 4852d), HOA/condominium resale certificate and association disclosure packets (Va. Code Title 55.1, Chapters 18/21), and the new Real Estate Board flood risk information form referenced above.
Exemptions
- First sale of a new dwelling that has never been occupied (exempt from the standard disclosure statement, but the builder must still separately disclose known material code violations)
- Court-ordered or fiduciary transfers: foreclosure sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, bankruptcy trustee transfers, eminent domain, estate/guardianship/conservatorship/trust administration, and tax-delinquency foreclosures
- Transfers among family/co-owners: between spouses (including divorce-related transfers), transfers solely among persons in the lineal line of consanguinity, and transfers from one or more co-owners solely to other existing co-owners
- Transfers to or from government entities, public housing authorities, and certain other institutional/exempt transferees specified in § 55.1-702
Recent Changes
2025: HB 1706 / SB 1210 amended the Act (Acts 2025, cc. 15 & 25), most notably adding a flood-hazard framework effective July 1, 2025 — sellers with actual knowledge that the dwelling sits in a special flood hazard area must say so, and the Real Estate Board now also publishes a standalone Flood Risk Information form directing buyers to FEMA/NFIP and Virginia DCR flood-risk resources; a companion deed-fraud study group was also created. Looking ahead: a further amendment to § 55.1-703 (2026 Acts ch. 510 / SB 577) takes effect January 1, 2027, adding a 20th disclosure item on land-use value assessment/taxation, warning buyers about potential roll-back taxes under § 58.1-3237 if the property's qualifying land-use classification changes after purchase. As of today (mid-2026) the currently-operative version is still the 19-item, pre-January-2027 text.
Facts on this page reflect research current as of 2026-07-05. Programs, rates, and laws change — confirm current figures with the relevant state agency before relying on them.