Oregon Excludes Certain Facts From Disclosure as Material Facts to Real Property Transactions
By Jeff Sorg, OnlineEd Blog
(February 10, 2021) – In Oregon, unless one of the limited legal exclusions applies, each seller of residential property is required to deliver to each buyer who makes a written offer a Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement. A seller who is not excluded under the law who fails to deliver this statement is penalized in that the buyer of the property will be able to revoke their transaction at any time up until closing. These allowable seller exclusions are:
- The first selling of a dwelling never occupied;
- The sale of property by a financial institution that acquired the property as a trustee, custodian, or agent, or by foreclosure or by deed in lieu of foreclosure,
- The seller who is a court-appointed trustee, representative, conservator, or guardian; and
- The sale of property by a governmental agency.
While the Oregon form lists many items that must be disclosed and allow for additional material facts not listed in the form to be disclosed, the following are among incidents that are not considered to be material to a real property transaction under Oregon law and do not have to be disclosed by the seller or real estate brokers:
- The fact or suspicion that the real property or a neighboring property was the site of death by violent crime, by suicide, or by any other manner;
- The fact or suspicion that the real property or a neighboring property was the site of a crime, political activity, religious activity, or any other act or occurrence that does not adversely affect the physical condition of or title to real property;
- The fact or suspicion that an owner or occupant of the real property has or had a blood-borne infection;
- The fact or suspicion that a sex offender registered under ORS 163A.010 (Reporting by sex offender discharged, paroled or released from correctional facility or another United States jurisdiction), 163A.015 (Reporting by sex offender discharged, released or placed on probation by court or another United States jurisdiction), 163A.020 (Reporting by sex offender upon moving into state) or 163A.025 (Reporting by sex offender adjudicated in juvenile court) resides in the area; and
- The fact that a notice has been received that a neighboring property has been determined to be not fit for use under ORS 453.876 (Determination that property is not fit for use).
Brokers should advise their buyers of these exceptions and notice them to perform their own due diligence investigations.
(Original article published October 21, 2015)
###
All information in this posting is deemed correct at publication but is not guaranteed by the author and may have been obtained by third-party sources. Due to the fluid nature of the subject matter, regulations, requirements and laws, prices, and all other information may or may not be correct in the future and should be verified if cited, shared, or otherwise republished.
For more information about OnlineEd and their education for real estate brokers, principal brokers, property managers, and mortgage brokers visit www.OnlineEd.com.
