Senate Bill No. 597

(By Senator Bowman)

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[Introduced February 18, 1998; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact chapter forty-six-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article six-e, relating to requiring disclosure of known defects by sellers of real or personal property; and creating violations and penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter forty-six-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article six-e, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6E. REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
§46A-6E-1. Duty to disclose known defects.
Before the consummation of any transaction between an owner, seller or vendor of any real or personal property and a buyer in which the intended transaction is for an amount in excess of one thousand five hundred dollars it shall be required of the owner, seller or vendor to disclose any known defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition that materially and deleteriously affects the value, use, habitability, safety or future marketability of the real or personal property. In the case of real property, the attorney general shall create a form which requires the seller and seller's agent to state under oath whether any known defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition exists on the property, and if so, what the nature of the defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition is. The form shall be completed and incorporated by attachment to the loan agreement or sales agreement involved in the transaction.
§46A-6E-2. Violations; penalties.
Any person who violates the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars. In the case of any real property or any personal property valued in excess of ten thousand dollars, any person who intentionally and fraudulently misrepresents that no defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition exists which materially and deleteriously affects the value, use or future marketability of the real or personal property, when he or she knows or has reason to know that such a defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition does exist is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or confined to a correctional institution for no less than one nor more than two years, or both fined and confined.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a requirement that sellers of personal or real property disclose known defects to potential buyers. The bill sets forth misdemeanor and felony provisions and respective penalties.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.