In Florida, the seller of a home must disclose any known defect that materially affects the property's value and that a buyer could not readily see for themselves. The state hands you no mandatory form, but the duty is real, and it traces back to a 1985 Florida Supreme Court case, Johnson v. Davis, rather than to a checkbox. Hide a known roof leak or a flood the sump pump quietly handles every August, and the buyer can come after you in court after closing.

That last part surprises people. They assume Florida is still strict buyer-beware, the way an uncle bought a house in 1979. It changed forty years ago, and the change has teeth. I once watched a clean deal on a marsh-front cottage near the Amelia River nearly come apart at the table because a previous owner's water-intrusion repair never made it onto paper.

Is a seller's disclosure required in Florida?

In practice, yes. Florida has no statute forcing you to complete one specific form, but Johnson v. Davis requires you to disclose facts you know about that materially affect value and are not obvious to a buyer walking through. Almost every listing in Nassau County uses the standard Florida Realtors and Florida Bar "Seller's Property Disclosure," because a signed, written record protects the seller far better than a verbal "I think it's fine."

The duty turns on what you actually know. You are not on the hook for a hidden problem you never noticed. You are very much on the hook for the one you noticed, fixed badly, and stayed quiet about.

What do most seller property disclosures cover?

Most disclosures cover the bones and systems of the house plus a handful of Florida-specific notices. The bones are the roof, the foundation, water intrusion, and any wood-destroying organisms. The systems are plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and the well and septic if you are off city services. Then comes the paper trail: past insurance claims, permits pulled (or skipped) for that back porch, and any pending assessments.

The Florida notices that ride along with most contracts:

  • Radon gas. A standard notice goes into every Florida real estate contract.
  • Property taxes. Buyers are warned not to assume their bill will match the seller's, which matters when a homestead exemption rolls off after the sale.
  • Lead-based paint. A federal rule for any home built before 1978, which covers a good share of the downtown historic district.
  • Coastal Construction Control Line. If the property sits seaward of the line, the seller discloses it. That catches many of the Atlantic-facing lots.
  • Sinkholes. If you have filed a sinkhole claim or know of activity, you disclose it. This corner of the state stays far calmer on that front than central Florida, but the duty is statewide.
  • HOA or condominium. Buyers receive an association disclosure summary, and condo buyers get a short cancellation window.

Does a seller have to disclose mold in Florida?

Yes, when you know about it and it is the kind of problem a buyer would not spot on a walkthrough. Mold spores live in every humid coastal house, so a wiped-down surface stain is not the issue. What you must disclose is a known, material moisture problem: the slab that wicks water each rainy season, the bathroom retiled over a soft subfloor, the crawlspace that smells like the salt marsh on a still day.

The distinction is recurrence. A stain you cleaned once and never saw again is different from a leak you painted over twice. The second one is the latent defect Johnson v. Davis was written about, and it tends to reappear during a buyer's inspection at the worst possible moment.

What about flooding, storms, and salt air?

On the coast this section does the most work. Disclose known flooding, storm-surge intrusion, and prior water damage, and note whether the home sits in a FEMA flood zone if you know it. Salt air also eats hardware, HVAC coils, and fasteners faster than it does inland, so corrosion repairs belong on the form too.

Storms have pushed water into the low streets off Centre Street and along the Intracoastal more than once in recent years, and buyers remember. If a home took water during a named storm and was dried out and repaired, that history is exactly what a buyer is entitled to know before they wire a deposit. A house in a newer Yulee subdivision carries different questions, usually drainage and grading on fresh fill, but the principle holds: write down what you know.

How do you find a seller's disclosure?

Ask the listing agent for it before you write your offer; a well-run listing has it ready to send. Read it next to your own inspection report, never instead of one. The disclosure tells you what the seller admits knowing. The inspection tells you what is actually there. Where the two disagree, raise it in writing before your inspection period closes.

When we take a listing at Salt Harbor Real Estate, the disclosure gets filled out the week we sign, not the week we close, so there is time to track down permits and old invoices before a buyer's question becomes a renegotiation. A buyer who reads the form carefully and still asks follow-ups is doing it right.

What happens if a seller skips it?

A seller who conceals a known material defect can be sued by the buyer after closing, and "I forgot" is a hard defense once the repair receipt turns up in a drawer. The written disclosure cuts both ways. It is the seller's best evidence that they were honest, and the buyer's clearest record of what was promised. On an older heart-pine house downtown or a slab home out toward the marsh, that single page has saved more closings than any clever contract clause.

Frequently asked questions

Is a seller's disclosure required in Florida?

Florida has no statute mandating one specific form, but a 1985 Florida Supreme Court ruling, Johnson v. Davis, requires sellers to disclose known defects that materially affect value and aren't readily observable to a buyer. In practice, nearly every listing uses the standard Florida Realtors and Florida Bar disclosure form because a signed record protects the seller.

Does a seller have to disclose mold in Florida?

Yes, if the seller knows of a material moisture or mold problem a buyer couldn't spot on a normal walkthrough, such as a recurring leak that was painted over or a slab that wicks water each rainy season. A surface stain that was cleaned with no underlying issue generally is not a required disclosure.

What are most seller property disclosures required for?

They cover known material defects in the home's structure and systems (roof, foundation, water intrusion, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and wood-destroying organisms) plus Florida notices like radon, property taxes, lead-based paint for pre-1978 homes, the coastal construction control line, sinkhole history, and HOA or condo information.

How do you find a seller's disclosure?

Ask the listing agent for it before you write an offer; a well-prepared listing will have it ready to share. Read it alongside your own home inspection, since the disclosure shows what the seller admits knowing while the inspection shows the property's actual condition.