Senate Bill No. 575

(By Senator Unger)

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[Introduced February 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend 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-k, relating to requiring disclosure of known defects by sellers of real property; limiting liability of real estate agents; and providing criminal 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-k, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6K. DISCLOSURE OF DEFECTS WHEN SELLING REAL PROPERTY.
§46A-6K-1. Duty to disclose known defects.
Before the consummation of any transaction between an owner, seller or vendor of any real property and a buyer, the owner, seller or vendor shall 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 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, the nature of the defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition. The form shall be completed and incorporated by attachment to the deed or other instrument documenting the sale.
§46A-6K-2. Violations; penalties.
(a) 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. 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 property, when he or she knows or has reason to know that the 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 in a correctional institution for no less than one nor more than two years, or both fined and confined.
(b) When an owner, seller or vendor of any real property is represented by a real estate agent, the agent is not civilly or criminally liable for a misrepresentation made in violation of this section unless the agent:
(1) Had knowledge of the defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition that existed which materially and deleteriously affected the value, use or future marketability of the property;
(2) Had knowledge that the owner, seller or vendor had made the misrepresentation to the buyer; and
(3) Did not inform the buyer of the defect, damage, liability, nuisance or condition prior to the consummation of the transaction.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that sellers of 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.