Question:
“How can I avoid being sued when I sell my home?”
Answer:
In California, no matter what you do, you can always be sued.
But, you can greatly decrease the odds that a) you’ll be sued, and b) lose if you are sued.
Here are three of the seven ways to protect yourself (my clients get to know the other four…sorry!):
1. Use a skilled, experienced agent or team to sell your home.
Common sense tells you that a good, experienced agent is going to navigate you more safely through today’s complex real estate transactions. The tough part is determining which agent is skilled and experienced! And such an agent will help you with #2 and #3 below.
2. Use all the legally required and recommended forms.
Incredibly, many agents literally break the law every day and don’t use all required forms, leaving their clients legally exposed and vulnerable. Truth be told, real estate is so highly regulated and complex today that it’s tough to follow all the rules. But a true professional has to bite the bullet and comply.
3. Disclose everything completely & CORRECTLY.
We all know you can get in trouble for not disclosing a problem when you sell a home. But did you know you can get into hot water just by HOW you disclose something? You try to do the right thing, and as a “thank you” you get hauled into court and have to hire an attorney! It’s not fair. But who said it would be?
That said, I don’t want to scare you. Lawsuits are statistically rare.
But you do need to do all you can to protect yourself.
