Florida Seller Disclosure Requirements: What You Must Tell a Buyer

What are the Florida seller disclosure requirements?

Florida seller disclosure requirements rest on one rule: the seller of a home must disclose known facts that materially affect its value when those facts are not readily observable and not known to the buyer. The Florida Supreme Court set that rule in Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985), a case about a roof the sellers knew leaked, and it still governs every residential sale in Port St. Lucie, the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County.

Before 1985, Florida courts leaned on caveat emptor — “let the buyer beware” — for home sales. Johnson v. Davis replaced that approach for residential property. The court treated a seller’s silence about a serious hidden problem the same way the law treats a false statement: both can support a claim for fraud.

The three-part test a seller can apply to any fact

A fact falls inside the Florida disclosure duty when all three of these conditions are true at the same time:

1. The seller knows it. The duty covers actual knowledge — what the seller has seen, been told, paid to repair or received in writing. Florida law does not require a seller to hire an inspector to discover problems the seller does not know about.
2. It materially affects value. A material fact is a fact that a reasonable buyer would consider important when deciding whether to buy the home or how much to pay for it. A recurring roof leak is material; a scuff on a closet door is not.
3. The buyer cannot readily observe it. A latent defect is a problem that a buyer would not find through an ordinary look at the property — water damage behind fresh drywall, a slab leak, a past sinkhole repair, an open building permit. A cracked window in the living room is in plain view and is not latent.

When a fact passes all three tests, a Florida home seller should disclose it in writing, before the buyer signs the contract. When a fact fails one of the tests, the seller may still choose to disclose it, and often should, because a buyer who later argues about whether a defect was “readily observable” is a buyer with a lawsuit to file.

Whom the duty protects and where it stops

The Johnson v. Davis duty applies to residential property: single-family homes, townhomes, villas, condominium units and similar housing. The Florida Supreme Court framed the duty for the seller of a home, and courts have not applied it the same way to commercial property; anyone selling commercial property should ask a Florida real estate attorney how disclosure works for that sale. A seller of a vacant residential lot should treat the duty as applying to known, hidden facts about the land, such as buried debris or a recorded easement, and confirm the scope with counsel.

The listing agent carries a parallel duty

Florida real estate licensees have their own disclosure duty under section 475.278 of the Florida Statutes. A transaction broker is a licensee who provides limited representation to a buyer, a seller or both, and Florida presumes every licensee is a transaction broker unless a single-agent or no-brokerage relationship is set up in writing (section 475.278(1)(b), accessed October 2026). Both transaction brokers and single agents must disclose all known facts that materially affect the value of residential real property and are not readily observable to the buyer. A seller cannot ask the listing agent to keep a known roof leak or an open permit quiet; the agent’s license does not allow it.

The practical result for a seller in Port St. Lucie or Palm Beach County: the disclosure decision is shared. The seller supplies the facts, the listing agent explains which documents carry them, and a Florida real estate attorney answers any question about whether a specific fact is legally material.

Whether a specific fact is legally material is a legal question; confirm it with a Florida real estate attorney.

Is there a required seller disclosure form in Florida?

No single state-mandated disclosure form exists for Florida home sales, but the flood disclosure under section 689.302 is a required written statement, and most sellers also complete the Florida Realtors seller’s property disclosure. The general Johnson v. Davis duty does not prescribe a form; it only requires that the buyer learn the material facts. A written, signed, dated form is the cleanest evidence that the buyer did.

The forms a Florida seller will usually see

• Seller’s property disclosure. Florida Realtors publishes the Seller’s Property Disclosure – Residential form, which walks through the structure, roof, water intrusion, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, pool, termites, sinkholes, permits, the association and other topics (check that you’re on the current revision in Form Simplicity). Florida law does not make this particular form mandatory, but most listing agents in St. Lucie County and Palm Beach County ask sellers to complete it.
• Flood Disclosure (FD-2). Florida Realtors released form FD-2 in September 2025 to match the expanded wording of section 689.302 that took effect October 1, 2025 (Florida Realtors, September 2025).
• Lead-based paint disclosure. For homes built before 1978, a federal disclosure form and the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.”
• HOA disclosure summary or condominium resale documents. Required when the home sits in a mandatory association or is a condo unit.
• The contract itself. The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contracts carry the radon notice, the property tax summary reference and the seller’s own disclosure representation.

Does an “as is” contract let a Florida seller stay silent?

An “as is” contract does not let a Florida seller stay silent about known hidden defects. The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase is the standard form most Florida sales use; it lets the buyer inspect during an inspection period and cancel if unhappy, while the seller makes no promise to repair. The inspection period is the number of days after the effective date during which the buyer can inspect and, under the AS IS form, cancel for any reason. If the box is left blank, ¶12(a) of the current AS IS form (ASIS-7x, updated in 2026) sets it at 15 days after the effective date.

The same contract also contains a seller representation, ¶10(j) “Seller Disclosure”: “Seller knows of no facts materially affecting the value of the Real Property which are not readily observable and which have not been disclosed to Buyer.” A seller who signs that contract while hiding a known slab leak is making a written false statement, not just staying quiet. The “as is” wording addresses repairs, not disclosure, so do not rely on it to cover a known hidden defect; a Florida real estate attorney can explain how courts have treated the clause in nondisclosure cases.

A common seller belief, tested: “If I skip the form, I have less liability”

Some sellers believe that leaving the seller’s property disclosure blank, or declining to sign it, reduces their legal exposure. The law points the other way. The Johnson v. Davis duty exists whether or not a form is signed, the AS IS contract’s seller representation is signed by every seller who signs the contract, and section 689.302 requires the flood disclosure regardless of any other form. Declining the form removes none of those duties. What it removes is the seller’s best evidence — a dated document showing that the buyer was told about a past roof leak and the later roof replacement before the buyer signed.

The same logic applies to vague answers. “Unknown” is an honest answer when the seller truly does not know, and it is common for estate sellers and investors who never lived in the home. “Unknown” is not an honest answer to a question the seller can answer from a drawer full of invoices.

Updating the disclosure after the contract

A disclosure speaks as of the date it is signed. When a seller learns something new before closing — a new leak after a summer storm, a letter from the city, a special assessment approved by the association — the seller should deliver an update in writing, signed and dated, through the listing agent. A disclosure that was true in March and false in May is still a problem in May.

Questions about how a specific contract paragraph applies to your sale belong with a Florida real estate attorney.

What does a Florida seller not have to disclose?

A Florida seller does not have to disclose that a death, homicide or suicide occurred on the property, or that an occupant had HIV or AIDS; section 689.25 of the Florida Statutes declares those facts not material and bars a lawsuit over not disclosing them. Beyond that statute, the Johnson v. Davis test itself leaves out facts the seller does not know, facts that are readily observable, and facts the buyer already knows.

The statutory “not material” list

Section 689.25 is short and specific. It states that the fact that a property was, or was suspected to have been, the site of a homicide, suicide or death is not a material fact that must be disclosed, and the same is true of an occupant’s HIV infection or AIDS diagnosis. It also says no cause of action arises against an owner, the owner’s agent, the buyer’s agent or a licensee for failing to disclose those facts (section 689.25(2), accessed October 2026). A seller should still answer truthfully if a buyer asks directly; the statute protects silence, not a false answer.

What the Johnson v. Davis test leaves out

• Facts the seller does not know. A seller is not an inspector. A Port St. Lucie seller who has never had a problem with the drain lines and has no reason to suspect one does not have to disclose a defect that has never shown itself.
• Facts the buyer can readily see. A visibly cracked pool deck, an obviously dated kitchen or a roof with missing shingles visible from the street is in plain view.
• Facts the buyer already knows. If the seller’s disclosure, the inspection report or the association documents already told the buyer, the duty is met.
• Opinions and predictions. A seller does not have to forecast future insurance premiums, future assessments the association has not voted, or how a neighboring lot will be developed.

What to leave off the form entirely: people

A disclosure describes the property, never the people near it. Federal fair housing law and Florida’s Fair Housing Act prohibit statements that steer buyers on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status or religion (section 760.23, Florida Statutes, accessed October 2026). A seller’s disclosure should say nothing about who lives on the street, who attends which school or which households are nearby. If a buyer wants information about school assignments, the buyer can check the official St. Lucie County or Palm Beach County school district source directly.

A second belief, tested: “Disclosing more always hurts my price”

Sellers worry that every line on the disclosure becomes a negotiating chip. In practice, the price impact of a defect is set by what it costs to fix and what it does to insurance, not by when the buyer learns about it. A defect that appears on the disclosure before the first showing is priced into the offers. The same defect that appears in the inspection report on day 8 of the inspection period becomes a repair request or a cancellation — after the seller may have turned down other buyers. The series guide on repair requests after the home inspection covers that second scenario from the seller’s side.

The boundaries of section 689.25 and of “readily observable” are legal questions; ask a Florida real estate attorney about your specific facts.

Which HOA, condo and CDD disclosures apply in Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach County?

A Florida seller in a homeowners’ association must give the buyer the HOA disclosure summary before the contract is signed; a condominium seller must deliver the association’s governing documents, financial statements and, where they exist, the milestone inspection summary and structural integrity reserve study. A seller in a Community Development District discloses CDD charges through the tax bill and the contract. Each rule carries its own deadline and its own buyer cancellation right.

Homeowners’ associations: section 720.401

HOA dues are the regular payments an owner makes to a homeowners’ association to run and maintain common areas. A special assessment is a one-time or temporary charge an association levies on top of regular dues for a specific cost, such as resurfacing roads or rebuilding a clubhouse. The HOA disclosure summary under section 720.401 tells the buyer that membership in the association is mandatory, that recorded covenants govern use of the property, what the current regular and special assessments are, that unpaid assessments can become a lien, whether there are recreation or commonly used facility fees, and where to get the full governing documents.

The parcel owner — not only a developer — must supply the summary before the contract is executed. If it was not supplied, the buyer may void the contract by written notice within 3 days after receiving the summary or before closing, whichever comes first, and that right cannot be waived (section 720.401, accessed October 2026). Listing agents in Port St. Lucie usually attach the summary to the MLS listing so every buyer receives it before writing an offer. The MLS, or multiple listing service, is the shared database that brokers use to publish listings and share them with other brokers.

Condominiums: section 718.503(2)

A Florida condo seller who is not the developer must provide the buyer, at the seller’s expense, the declaration of condominium, the articles of incorporation, the bylaws and rules, the annual financial statement and annual budget, the “Frequently Asked Questions and Answers” document and the governance form, plus — where they apply — the inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report, the association’s most recent structural integrity reserve study (or a statement that none was completed) and any turnover inspection report for inspections performed on or after July 1, 2023 (section 718.503(2), accessed October 2026).

A milestone inspection is a structural inspection, performed by a licensed architect or engineer, that Florida requires for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or more in height by December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years of age, or 25 years where the local building official requires it because of conditions such as proximity to salt water (section 553.899, accessed October 2026). A structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) is a study of the reserves a condominium association must fund for specific structural components; for buildings three habitable stories or higher it covers at a minimum the roof, the structure including load-bearing walls, fireproofing and fire protection systems, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and exterior painting, and windows and exterior doors (section 718.112(2)(g), accessed October 2026). The buyer may cancel within 7 days, counting calendar days but excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after the contract is signed and the documents are received; the right ends at closing. For contracts after December 31, 2024, the contract must also contain acknowledgment and voidability language tied to the milestone inspection report, turnover inspection report and SIRS when those documents exist.

Those rules weigh most heavily in Palm Beach County, where older mid-rise and high-rise condominium buildings in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and along the barrier islands are subject to the milestone and SIRS framework. The series guide on selling a condo after the milestone inspection covers pricing and buyer financing in those buildings. An estoppel certificate is a statement from the association, requested at closing, that confirms what the seller owes and whether assessments are current; timing and fees are covered in the guide to the estoppel certificate for Florida sellers.

Community Development Districts: Tradition and other planned communities

A CDD, or Community Development District, is a special-purpose local government created under Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes to finance and maintain infrastructure such as roads, water management and amenities, and it charges landowners assessments that are usually collected on the county property tax bill. A non-ad valorem assessment is a charge on the tax bill that is based on a benefit to the parcel rather than on the property’s value, and CDD charges are a common example.

Section 190.048 requires a bold, conspicuous CDD disclosure statement in the contract for the initial sale of a parcel or unit inside a district — the developer’s sale. On a resale, the seller’s disclosure work is practical: show the buyer the current St. Lucie County tax bill with its non-ad valorem lines, say whether the CDD charge includes a debt-service portion that will continue for years, and disclose any change the district has announced. The FR/BAR AS IS contract handles the CDD on a resale through its money terms: ¶9(f) excludes CDD assessments from the special-assessment paragraph, and Standard K prorates them with property taxes at closing. Port St. Lucie sellers in Tradition answer CDD questions in nearly every showing; the site’s breakdown of HOA and CDD fees in Tradition and the series guide to selling a home in Tradition, Port St. Lucie go further.

Association and CDD disclosure rules change frequently; confirm the current requirements with a Florida real estate attorney.

What happens if a Florida seller does not disclose a known defect?

A Florida seller who hides a known, material, latent defect can be sued for fraudulent nondisclosure or misrepresentation, and the buyer may seek damages or, in some cases, to undo the sale. The claim does not depend on the contract saying “as is,” and the buyer’s time to sue runs from when the defect was or should have been discovered, up to 12 years after the alleged fraud.

The claims a buyer can bring

• Fraudulent nondisclosure. The Johnson v. Davis claim: the seller knew of a material, hidden fact and did not disclose it.
• Fraudulent misrepresentation. The seller answered a disclosure question falsely or signed a contract representation that was untrue.
• Statutory claims. A buyer may rely on a specific statute where one applies — for example, the presumption of fraud in section 162.06(5) for an undisclosed code case, or the federal lead-based paint rule for a pre-1978 home.
• Claims against licensees. A listing agent who knew of the defect can face a complaint to the Florida Real Estate Commission, because section 475.278 makes disclosure of known material facts a licensee duty, in addition to any civil claim.

Remedies in fraud cases are decided by a court on the facts, and a seller should not assume any outcome; a Florida real estate attorney can explain how damages and rescission are measured.

How long the risk lasts

Section 95.031(2)(a) of the Florida Statutes says a fraud action runs from the time the facts giving rise to it were discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence, but must in any event be started within 12 years after the alleged fraud (accessed October 2026). The underlying period for a legal or equitable action founded on fraud is four years (section 95.11(3)(i), Florida Statutes 2025, accessed October 2026). For a seller, the practical message is that a hidden defect does not expire at closing — it can surface in a buyer’s first rainy season or in the buyer’s own resale years later.

What disclosure does to price — the trade-off sellers actually face

Nondisclosure is a legal risk, but most sellers think about disclosure as a pricing question. The two are connected. A comparative market analysis, or CMA, is a written estimate of market value built from recent closed sales, pending sales and active listings of similar homes. When the CMA is built with the known issue in view — an older roof, a repaired slab leak, a CDD with a debt-service line — the list price can account for it, and buyers make offers knowing the facts.

When the same issue surfaces after the contract, the seller negotiates from a weaker position: the buyer has an inspection period, an exit, and a reason to ask for more than the repair costs. The seller’s choice is rarely “disclose and lose money” versus “stay quiet and keep it.” It is “account for the issue before the first showing” versus “renegotiate it after the market has moved on to other listings.”

That is the gap the site’s guide to costly mistakes Port St. Lucie sellers make touches on briefly; the disclosure package in the next section is how it is closed in practice.

Litigation risk and remedies depend on facts; a Florida real estate attorney should evaluate any past or pending nondisclosure claim.

Where do Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach County sellers find the records behind a disclosure?

Port St. Lucie and Treasure Coast sellers find most disclosure records at five offices — the property appraiser, the tax collector, the building department, the clerk of court and the utility — plus FEMA for flood maps; Palm Beach County sellers use the matching county offices or their city’s building department. The table maps each record to the office that keeps it.

Port St. Lucie and the Treasure Coast

Port St. Lucie’s disclosure questions cluster around three local facts. First, many homes in the city’s older sections were built on septic systems, so buyers ask whether the house is on septic or city sewer and whether sewer is available on the street; Port St. Lucie Utility Systems can confirm both for the parcel before listing; the series guide to selling a house with a septic system in Port St. Lucie covers that conversation. Second, master-planned communities such as Tradition carry CDD assessments on the tax bill. Third, many homes in communities such as Tradition and St. Lucie West sit inside one or more HOAs, each with its own disclosure summary and estoppel request.

In Martin County and Indian River County, the same statutes apply; only the offices change — the Martin County and Indian River County property appraisers, tax collectors and clerks, and each city’s building department in Stuart, Fort Pierce or Vero Beach. Oceanfront owners on Hutchinson Island should add the coastal construction control line disclosure to the package.

Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County sellers face a different mix. Condominium resales in older buildings in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach make the section 718.503(2) document list, the milestone inspection summary and the SIRS central to the disclosure package. Oceanfront and barrier-island parcels from Jupiter to Highland Beach raise the coastal construction control line question. And with 39 incorporated municipalities in the county (Palm Beach County, accessed October 2026), the first records step is to confirm which building department holds the permit history. Sellers with a high-value property can see how Jeannie Jacobson handles those listings on the page for her luxury listing service in Palm Beach County.

This article is general information about Florida seller disclosure requirements as of October 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, forms and court decisions change; confirm how they apply to your sale with a Florida real estate attorney before you complete a disclosure or sign a contract. Real estate commissions are negotiable. Jeannie Jacobson, REALTOR®, is a licensed Florida real estate sales associate with RE/MAX Gold and is not an attorney.

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