Friday, January 27, 2023
Chuck Marunde, J.D., Broker/Owner 360-775-5424


iRealty Virtual Brokers


Broker/Consultant

Washington State

SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Search MLS
    • Sequim MLS
    • Sequim MLS Map Search
    • Port Angeles MLS
    • Port Townsend MLS
    • San Juan Islands MLS
    • All Islands MLS
    • How to Search the Sequim MLS
  • Videos
    • Sequim Videos Q&A
    • Buyer Videos Part 1
    • Buyer Videos Part 2
    • Buyer Videos Part 3
    • Buyer Videos Part 4
    • Living in Sequim Video Channel
  • Books
    The Coming Real Estate Crash

    The Coming Real Estate Crash

    The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

    The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

    Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

    Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

    Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

    Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

    Get Healthy

    Get Healthy: Increase Natural Immunities, Cellular Energy, Deep Sleep & Decrease Blood Pressure

    Manage Your Energy

    Manage Your Energy Not Your Time

    Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

    Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

    7 Myths of Selling Your Home

    7 Myths of Selling Your Home

    Buying Your Retirement Home

    Buying Your Retirement Home

    The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

    The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

    Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

    Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

    24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

    24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

    Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

    Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

    Living Off The Grid iin Alaska

    Living Off The Grid in Alaska

    Buying and Selling Real Estate

    Buying and Selling Real Estate

    Trending Tags

      • Sequim Real Estate for Buyers (Free eBook Updates Forever)
      • Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide (Paperback)
      • Escaping California to The San Juan Islands
      • Buying & Selling Real Estate in The Rain Shadow
      • Real Estate From Bricks & Mortar to High Tech Virtuality
      • The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home
      • Buying Your Retirement Home
      • The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents
    • Agents
      Marunde Google

      Chuck Marunde on Google

      Flat Fee Listing Broker

      Flat Fee Listing Broker

      Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde

      Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde

      Trending Tags

        • Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde
        • Flat Fee Listing Broker
        • Google Profile & Leave Reviews
      Tetralogy
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Login
      • Register
      • Home
      • Search MLS
        • Sequim MLS
        • Sequim MLS Map Search
        • Port Angeles MLS
        • Port Townsend MLS
        • San Juan Islands MLS
        • All Islands MLS
        • How to Search the Sequim MLS
      • Videos
        • Sequim Videos Q&A
        • Buyer Videos Part 1
        • Buyer Videos Part 2
        • Buyer Videos Part 3
        • Buyer Videos Part 4
        • Living in Sequim Video Channel
      • Books
        The Coming Real Estate Crash

        The Coming Real Estate Crash

        The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

        The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

        Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

        Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

        Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

        Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

        Get Healthy

        Get Healthy: Increase Natural Immunities, Cellular Energy, Deep Sleep & Decrease Blood Pressure

        Manage Your Energy

        Manage Your Energy Not Your Time

        Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

        Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

        7 Myths of Selling Your Home

        7 Myths of Selling Your Home

        Buying Your Retirement Home

        Buying Your Retirement Home

        The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

        The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

        Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

        Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

        24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

        24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

        Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

        Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

        Living Off The Grid iin Alaska

        Living Off The Grid in Alaska

        Buying and Selling Real Estate

        Buying and Selling Real Estate

        Trending Tags

          • Sequim Real Estate for Buyers (Free eBook Updates Forever)
          • Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide (Paperback)
          • Escaping California to The San Juan Islands
          • Buying & Selling Real Estate in The Rain Shadow
          • Real Estate From Bricks & Mortar to High Tech Virtuality
          • The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home
          • Buying Your Retirement Home
          • The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents
        • Agents
          Marunde Google

          Chuck Marunde on Google

          Flat Fee Listing Broker

          Flat Fee Listing Broker

          Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde

          Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde

          Trending Tags

            • Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde
            • Flat Fee Listing Broker
            • Google Profile & Leave Reviews
          No Result
          View All Result
          iRealty Virtual Brokers
          No Result
          View All Result
          Home Seller Disclosure

          Seller Misrepresentation

          Chuck Marunde by Chuck Marunde
          January 12, 2010
          Reading Time: 5 mins read
          0 0
          0

          The hot topic of the day is the new change in the Purchase and Sale form in Washington and the seller’s disclosure requirements. [Read the previous article explaining the law and issues of negligent misrepresentation] A Realtor asked if the Form 17 Seller’s Disclosure Statement offers any real protection against negligent misrepresentation.

          Good question. My thinking is that it offers some, but very little.

          When the law was passed back in 1995, I remember saying that it won’t have any effect on whether a seller misrepresents the condition of a property. A person who lies will also lie on the form 17, and a person who tells the truth will not lie on the form 17. But that didn’t change the law governing seller misrepresentation; it only required the seller to complete a formal questionnaire about the property, which supposedly would give the buyer adverse information if there was any. The form 17 also didn’t have any effect on buyer remedies (although that was the intent), whether the suit was against a seller for intentional or unintentional misrepresentation. The same prima facie elements must be proven now in the same way as before the form 17 was required.

          So what has changed? Read more to find out.

          Here’s what has changed.

          The form 17 gave buyers another document to use in court against a seller, even if the seller was totally honest. For example, there’s a question that asks if the septic system is entirely within the property boundaries. Normally an owner would have relied upon a licensed surveyor, if he had a survey done (not required in Washington to buy or sell), and normally an owner would have hired a licensed septic system installer (if he was the one who had the system installed). If the seller answers, “Yes,” and it turns out years after closing that the surveyor screwed up and the septic system is on the adjacent property by six inches, the seller made an unintentional misrepresentation on form 17. In court (or in a deposition or interrogatory), the seller gets nailed by the question, “Did you answer this question ‘Yes,'” and after he responds that he did, the next question, “You know now that the septic system is actually six inches on the neighbor’s property. Right?” Then after the “yes” answer, the killer question, “So your answer on the form 17 was incorrect, right?” The only answer for the seller on the witness stand under oath is, “Yes.” Of course, there is a lot of hemming and hawing by the witness, but ultimately the judge will force him to answer yes or no to all these questions.

          A sharp lawyer will want to interject in this discussion that the form 17 is only the seller’s reasonable understanding of the condition of the property, not a guarantee. That’s a good discussion for a law professor in a classroom, but not in the real world where finely tuned legal arguments might get you off the hook. Believe me, in a real trial, the above guy gets nailed to the cross.

          So, how would a reasonable seller who does not want to get sued long after closing the sale answer such a question about the septic (and many other issues)? He would have saved himself much stress, attorney’s fees, and perhaps the entire lawsuit if he had simply answered the question with a “don’t know.” Then he could have added a narrative explanation, if he wanted, that explained he did not personally know if the septic system was “entirely” within the boundaries, that he hired experts to do the work, or that he purchased the property as it is, but that he personally has no absolute knowledge of the correctness or incorrectness of the boundary lines, or words to that effect. Of course, in public attorneys cannot and would not advise clients to do anything but tell the truth on the form 17, but in private behind closed doors, they must have a confidential conversation about what telling the truth could do to them. Telling the truth in this current legal environment in Washington could get a person crucified in court, even if they never lied in their entire life and did not lie on the form 17. Remember, it is unintentional and completely innocent misrepresentations that I’m talking about here, and a seller could find himself getting raked over the coals in our injustice system for several years. So in his confidential discussion with his client, the attorney will hint that the seller is well advised to fudge and answer with a safe “don’t know.” No attorney would admit this, but if you were giving a client honest and confidential advise, would you not have a duty to discuss this with the client, and of course, leave it to the client to decide how to answer his form 17?

          It’s a bit ironic that the state statute creating the form 17 states that the form 17 is not part of the parties’ contract to purchase the property, yet it is used in trial all the time in misrepresentation cases, and the new purchase and sale agreement incorporates the form 17 into the contract (not with the words “incorporates here” but certainly by reference and creating contract and tort remedies for a buyer against a seller by using the form 17).

          It’s always been difficult to prove actual knowledge and the intent of a seller in a misrepresentation case. What the seller did or did not know must be proven, and you really need extrinsic evidence, since you can’t get inside a seller’s head and lay that evidence out at trial. The form 17 was an attempt, feeble though it is, to protect consumers, but it has failed and only created more confusion and litigation.

          As with most bad law and good intentions, the only real winners here are the lawyers. I made tens of thousands of dollars myself as a lawyer litigating misrepresentation cases. That reminds me, there is a silver lining in all of this. This latest brouhaha about seller misrepresentation and the new Purchase and Sale Agreement will turn out to be silver for practicing attorneys. On behalf of those attorneys, I would extend a hearty thank you. Attorneys will ponder that eternal question again, “Let’s see, what kind of boat do I want?” ( P.S. I’m really glad I’m retired from law practice.)

          If I may offer some sarcastic humor with a rhetorical question, wasn’t it attorneys who created the form 17 statute, and wasn’t it attorneys who decided Alejandre v. Bull, and wasn’t it attorneys who came up with line 9 in the new Purchase and Sale Agreement, and isn’t it attorneys who are going to litigate this issue in the months and years ahead? Hmm. Shakespeare had a humorous solution regarding lawyers, which I’m afraid of quoting here, lest I get sued. Hint: Google this exact clause without the quotes “Shakespeare lawyers” and read to first result, but if you tell anyone you got this hint from me, I’ll deny it under oath.

          Last Updated on January 12, 2010 by Chuck Marunde

          Tags: seller disclosure statement
          ShareTweet
          Chuck Marunde

          Chuck Marunde

          Chuck grew up in remote Alaska, graduated from the University of Alaska with a degree in Economics and Teacher Certification, and after teaching high school for two years, went to law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He served four years as a Captain and JAG in the USAF at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. After practicing real estate law for 20 years in Washington, Chuck founded iRealty Virtual Brokers covering Sequim and the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. He is the author of 2,200 real estate articles and a dozen real estate books, and he produced over 100 real estate videos. Chuck combined his love for real estate and technology to create a massive Internet presence, and his articles and videos and books have been viewed by millions. Chuck is a well recognized real estate expert and his counsel is sought by other brokers and practicing attorneys around the country. Buyers from New York to Hawaii and from Florida to Alaska seek him out to retain him as their buyer's agent, and home owners around the State of Washington seek him out because of his new Flat Fee Listing Service. 

          Related Posts

          Seller Disclosure
          Seller Disclosure

          Washington Seller Disclosure Statement Huge Failure

          September 10, 2020
          297
          Seller Disclosure
          Seller Disclosure

          Seller Disclosure Law in Washington

          March 11, 2019
          26
          Seller Disclosure

          Basement Flooding Not Disclosed

          September 6, 2019
          18
          Seller Disclosure

          Seller Disclosure Statement and Buyer Beware

          September 4, 2011
          1
          Seller Disclosure

          Seller Disclosure Statement – Form 17

          July 27, 2012
          51
          Seller Disclosure

          Disclosure Statement for Sellers

          September 2, 2019
          1
          Next Post

          Real Estate Divorce

          Sequim Water View Real Estate

          Leave a Reply Cancel reply

          Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

          I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

          This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

          "I wish I read this before selling my
          home. I could have saved $50,000." Andy 

          Search 2,200 Articles by Category

          • Trending
          • Comments
          • Latest
          Buyer and Seller

          What if a Buyer and Seller Talk to Each Other?

          August 5, 2022
          Prorate Propane

          How to Prorate Propane at Closing

          August 15, 2015
          Terminate a real estate contract

          How to Terminate a Real Estate Contract

          December 31, 2020

          The Sequim Blue Hole – A Map of Rainfall

          September 1, 2019
          print newspapers

          Print Newspapers Losing Readers to the Internet

          42
          Buyer and Seller

          What if a Buyer and Seller Talk to Each Other?

          32
          FNMA Killing Transactions by Requiring Private Road Maintenance Agreements

          FNMA Killing Transactions by Requiring Private Road Maintenance Agreements

          31

          What Documents Does a Buyer Need to Buy Real Estate?

          24
          Seattle Real Estate Market in Decline

          Seattle Real Estate Market in Dramatic Decline

          December 22, 2022
          Buying a home

          Buyers Must Be More Cautious Than Ever

          December 7, 2022
          Flat Fee Listing Service

          Sellers Chase the Market Down Once Again

          December 10, 2022
          Sequim homes

          Sequim Homes Sold Recently

          October 22, 2022

          Subscribe to Chuck 
          Marunde's Newsletter

          Popular Stories

          • Buyer and Seller

            What if a Buyer and Seller Talk to Each Other?

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • How to Prorate Propane at Closing

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • How to Terminate a Real Estate Contract

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • The Sequim Blue Hole – A Map of Rainfall

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • Why is Sequim One Of The 10 Best Places To Retire?

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0

          Leaving Comments   I hope you’ll join our community and leave comments from time to time. Please realize that comments, if approved, will be public, so do not use any personal information you don’t want broadcast to the world, and definitely don’t leave a phone number. Comments are not the place to ask Chuck Marunde for help in finding a home. To do that, call or text Chuck.

          Neither Chuck Marunde nor iRealty Virtual Brokers offers legal advice on this site. Please Read Our Legal Disclaimer

          If you’d like to view how we protect your privacy, see our Privacy Policy.

          iRealty Virtual Brokers

          iRealty Virtual Brokers reaches out to buyers around the United States with thousands of online articles, MLS sites, apps, real estate books, videos, and much more specifically to help buyers find all the answers to their questions. We also now offer a flat fee commission listing service that saves sellers tens of thousands of dollars.

          iRealty Virtual Brokers
          125 Olympic Ranch Ln
          Sequim, Washington 98382
          360-775-5424

          Search the entire NWMLS in Washington State:

          Sequim-Homes.com

          The largest independent real estate blog in the State of Washington with over 2,200 articles totally focused on our client’s best interest, their needs and their curiosity. All free and 100% reliable. I’m here if you need me, 

          © 2006-2022 iRealty Virtual Brokers and Chuck Marunde

          No Result
          View All Result
          • Home
          • Search MLS
            • Sequim MLS
            • Sequim MLS Map Search
            • Port Angeles MLS
            • Port Townsend MLS
            • San Juan Islands MLS
            • All Islands MLS
            • How to Search the Sequim MLS
          • Videos
            • Sequim Videos Q&A
            • Buyer Videos Part 1
            • Buyer Videos Part 2
            • Buyer Videos Part 3
            • Buyer Videos Part 4
            • Living in Sequim Video Channel
          • Books
            • Sequim Real Estate for Buyers (Free eBook Updates Forever)
            • Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide (Paperback)
            • Escaping California to The San Juan Islands
            • Buying & Selling Real Estate in The Rain Shadow
            • Real Estate From Bricks & Mortar to High Tech Virtuality
            • The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home
            • Buying Your Retirement Home
            • The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents
          • Agents
            • Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde
            • Flat Fee Listing Broker
            • Google Profile & Leave Reviews
          • Login
          • Sign Up

          © 2006-2022 iRealty Virtual Brokers and Chuck Marunde

          Welcome Back!

          Login to your account below

          Forgotten Password? Sign Up

          Create New Account!

          Fill the forms bellow to register

          *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
          All fields are required. Log In

          Retrieve your password

          Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

          Log In
          This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.