Disclosure of Dog Park by Realtor After Close of Escrow

Question: Two years ago we purchased a home in a subdivision of single-family homes in Mesa. At the time that we purchased our home, the Arizona Department of Real Estate subdivision public report given to us by the homebuilder said that the vacant land across the street from our subdivision would be developed into a similar subdivision of single-family homes. We recently received notification, however, that the City of Mesa is condemning this vacant land for a proposed dog park. When we contacted our real estate agent, she said that she did not have any knowledge of this proposed dog park until three months after we had closed escrow on our home. If we had known from our real estate agent three months after the close of our escrow on our home about this proposed dog park, we would have sold our home immediately! Didn’t our real estate agent have a duty to disclose to us this proposed dog park as soon as she knew, even though she didn’t know about this proposed dog park until three months after close of our escrow?

Answer: Probably not. The general rule is that the obligation of a real estate agent to disclose to a client any material and adverse fact about the home will terminate upon close of escrow of the home. Therefore, your real estate agent probably had no obligation to disclose this proposed dog park to you three months after close of escrow.

Note: Even if your real estate agent had disclosed this proposed dog park to you three months after close of escrow, and before everyone knew about this proposed dog park, you would still have had a duty to disclose this proposed dog park to any prospective buyer of your home.