What do you have to disclose when you sell a house in Scottsdale, Arizona?

What you have to disclose when you sell a house in Arizona is every important (material) fact you know about the property, and that applies even when the buyer never asks. The Arizona Association of REALTORS® (AAR) seller advisory says the same, and most sellers put their answers on the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement, called the SPDS.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, helping people buy and sell homes. This is general information and not legal advice, and for a question about your own house, a licensed Arizona real estate attorney is the person to ask.

The duty comes from Arizona law and the courts, and the form is only the tool for meeting it. The Arizona Department of Real Estate's Buyer Advisory says a seller's disclosure obligation stays in place even if the buyer and seller agree that no SPDS will be provided. In Hill v. Jones (Arizona Court of Appeals, 1986), a case about past termite infestation, the court held that a seller who knows of facts that materially affect a home's value, which the buyer cannot readily see and does not know, has a duty to disclose them.

The SPDS is a form published by AAR, not a state form, and the seller fills it out. The Department of Real Estate's Buyer Advisory links to it as the “AAR Sample SPDS” and says most sellers provide one. AAR's form lists its instructions at the top: complete it yourself, answer all questions truthfully and as fully as you can, attach invoices, receipts, permits, warranties and inspection reports, and use the blank lines to explain.

So the law requires the disclosure, and the SPDS is the form made to help you give it. If you are using the AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract, the contract is what turns the SPDS into a deadline. AAR's advisory on the form says a seller who does not deliver it as the contract requires is potentially in breach, which can let the buyer cancel and receive the earnest money deposit.

Under Section 4, Disclosure, of the AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract (February 2026 edition, the current one on AAR's forms page), the seller delivers a completed AAR SPDS to the buyer within three days after contract acceptance. An Arizona law firm quotes the same three-day language from the contract. The buyer then has until the end of the inspection period, or five days after receiving the SPDS, whichever is later, to give notice of any SPDS items they disapprove.

The same section asks for something else with its own clock. The seller delivers a written five-year insurance claims history for the home (or for as long as the seller has owned it, if that is under five years) within five days after contract acceptance. The contract says it comes from the seller's insurance company or a reporting agency, or from the seller if those are not available. Some guides mix up the three-day and five-day figures, so check the edition date and the Disclosure section of the contract in your own file, or call me and I'll look at it with you.

Here's how escrow works in Arizona, since these deadlines run while the home is in escrow.

AAR's forms page lists the Residential Seller's Property Disclosure Statement with Seller Advisory, dated February 2023, as its current version.

• Property and ownership. How the home is used (owner-occupied, rented, an estate or vacant), the date you acquired it, and what you know about liens, easements, assessments, a community facilities district and notices of violation.
• Associations. Any association that governs the property, its fees, and unresolved violations or disputes.
• Insurance. Any homeowner's insurance claims filed against the property.
• Roof, structure and termites. Roof age, past or present leaks, repairs and warranties, cracks in the foundation or walls, damage from flood, fire, wind, water or hail, and past or present wood-destroying organisms and treatments.
• Systems. Heating, cooling, plumbing, water heaters, pools, electrical and security systems, with ages and any past or present problems.
• Work done on the home. Improvements and room conversions, if permits were obtained, if a licensed person did the work, if the association approved it, and the names and license numbers of contractors from the past year.
• Utilities, sewer and septic. Providers, the water source, solar, and sewer or septic.
• Environmental. Drainage and soil problems, flood plain, past flooding, mold, asbestos, radon, lead-based paint, and any past use as a drug lab.

The last question asks what other important information you know. The seller then certifies that the answers are true and complete to the best of the seller's knowledge, and agrees to give the buyer written notice of any changes before close of escrow, including anything that later inspections reveal.

The Buyer Advisory is a consumer document provided by AAR and the Arizona Department of Real Estate, dated January 2025. It is written for the buyer. It says the real estate broker is not responsible for verifying the items on the SPDS, so a buyer should review it carefully, and it tells buyers to ask for copies of permits and invoices for repairs and remodeling. The SPDS has its own buyer's acknowledgment saying the answers are based only on the seller's actual knowledge and are not a warranty of any kind. Answers with an invoice, permit or warranty attached are easier for a buyer to check than answers from memory.

According to A.R.S. 32-2156, no criminal, civil or administrative action may be brought against a seller, a lessor or a licensee for failing to disclose three things. The first is that the property is or has been the site of a natural death, suicide, homicide or any other crime classified as a felony. The second is that it was owned or occupied by a person exposed to HIV or diagnosed with AIDS or another disease that is not known to be transmitted through common occupancy of real estate. The third is that it is located in the vicinity of a sex offender. The statute adds that not disclosing any of these is not grounds to terminate or rescind a sale. The Department of Real Estate's Buyer Advisory describes the same rules and points buyers to Arizona's offender registry and the national sex offender site.

That protection covers not disclosing, and it does not cover misleading someone. AAR's seller advisory says the law does not protect a seller who makes an intentional misrepresentation. If you are asked if there has been a death on the property and you know there was one, the advisory says not to answer “no” or “I don't know.” It says to either answer truthfully or respond that you are not legally required to answer. The same advisory says that when a buyer asks about an aspect of the property, you have a duty to give the information even if you do not consider it important. If one of these questions comes up, talk to a licensed Arizona real estate attorney before you answer.

Yes, depending on the property.

• HOA documents. For a condominium or planned community resale, the Buyer Advisory says the seller (if there are fewer than 50 units) or the HOA (if there are 50 or more) must give the buyer a disclosure package. Under A.R.S. 33-1806 for planned communities, the seller delivers it within 10 days after accepting the offer when there are fewer than 50 properties, and with 50 or more the association delivers it within 10 days after the seller gives written notice. The statute lists the contents, including the rules, the budget, assessments and the most recent reserve study. Here's what to know about HOA rules in Arizona.
• Lead-based paint. For a home built before 1978, the Buyer Advisory says the seller must give the buyer a lead-based paint disclosure form. The EPA adds that the seller gives the buyer its pamphlet, discloses known lead-based paint and available records, and that the buyer has 10 days for an inspection unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
• Affidavit of Disclosure. For five or fewer parcels in an unincorporated area of a county, other than subdivided land, A.R.S. 33-422 requires a sworn affidavit delivered at least seven days before the transfer.

The duty is the same, but the answers can be harder to get, because the form asks what you know. The SPDS has a box for an estate and a line for the date you acquired the home, and for a question you cannot answer from your own knowledge it says to explain on the blank lines and not to guess. If the home is in a trust or an estate, who signs the form is a question for your attorney, and here's my post on selling a house held in a trust in Arizona.

If you live out of state, the form asks if the legal owner is a foreign person under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, and says to consult a tax advisor if yes, because mandatory withholding may apply. That is a question for a tax advisor. If you are managing a sale from a distance, call me and I'll help you gather the records for each section before the home is listed.

Don't guess. A written line such as “I bought the home in 2019 and I do not know if the 2015 addition was permitted” tells the buyer what you know and what you do not. Some answers can be found first: owners can request a five-year claims history from their insurance company, as the Buyer Advisory notes, and your closing papers from when you bought may include old invoices and warranties. One limit applies. AAR's advisory says not to answer “I don't know” when you do know, and an Arizona law firm points out that the “are you aware” wording of the form will not stop a buyer from claiming you knew.

• Guessing. The instructions say to explain what you do not know.
• Leaving out fixed problems. A repaired roof leak still belongs on the form, because the questions cover past and present leaks.
• Skipping permits and contractors. The form asks if permits were obtained and if a licensed person did the work.
• Forgetting insurance claims. The form asks about claims filed against the property.
• Not updating the form. The certification agrees to give written notice of changes before close of escrow.

If a roof leaked a few years ago and a roofer repaired it, the roof section asks about past or present roof leaks and about any roof repairs, so both answers are yes. The blank lines are where you say when it happened and what was done, and the roofer's invoice and any warranty are what you attach. If the leak damaged a ceiling, the interior wall and ceiling question applies too, and if you filed an insurance claim, that question is a yes. If a buyer asks about the leak later, AAR's advisory says you have a duty to answer even if you do not think it matters.

Start the SPDS before the home goes on the market, so the three days after contract acceptance are not the first time you read it. Pull the invoices, permits and warranties you have, ask your insurer for a five-year claims history, and write down what you do not know. Then ask an Arizona real estate attorney about anything you are unsure how to answer.

Here's how selling works in Arizona, step by step. If you are selling in Scottsdale or nearby and want to go through the form question by question, get in touch or call me at (480) 203-6605.