Seller Must Disclose Roof Rats Even if Exterminated

Seller Must Disclose Roof Rats Even if Exterminated

  Question:  My husband and I will be listing our home in the next three months. We recently had a home inspection done so that we would have the time to repair any major problems before listing our home. The home inspection report found evidence of roof rats. We hired a local pest control company to exterminate the roof rats, and this pest control company has certified that all roof rats have been removed.  The orange trees that were the problem have been cut down. When we list the home do we have to give the buyer our home inspection report? Do we have to disclose the existence of roof rats even if they have been exterminated?

  Answer:  A seller has to complete a Seller Property Disclosure Statement (“SPDS”) to furnish to any buyer. In the SPDS a seller has to disclose what a reasonable buyer would want to know about the home.  A reasonable buyer would want to know about the recent extermination of roof rats. Therefore, the existence of roof rats, even if exterminated, would have to be disclosed in the SPDS. Your home inspection report itself does not have to be disclosed, but any adverse information in your home inspection report must be disclosed.