“I managed a real estate agents and brokers errors and omissions claims unit for a major commercial insurance company for several years, and am very familiar with suit against agents, brokers, and sellers.  While I agree in theory that normal wear and tear shouldn’t have to be disclosed, what I have found in reality is that if a buyer is so picky that they are going to pass on buying your house because you disclosed normal wear and tear repairs, you are better off finding a different buyer.  There are a couple of things at work here.  One, buyers that are looking for problems with a house are going to find problems with a house.  Two, there aren’t a lot of attorneys out there that are truly familiar with what an agent’s duties are, so it’s not hard for disgruntled buyers to find an attorney to file suit, and when they do, they name every party that had a hand in the transaction.  Three (perhaps it’s the Murphy’s law of disclosures), the one thing a seller doesn’t disclose is going to be the one thing that becomes a problem down the road, and results in a claim.  Once a “non-disclosure” comes to light, that claim becomes more expensive.  Sellers usually don’t have any kind of insurance coverage for claims by buyers, so the real estate agents and brokers become the targets.

When I talk to agents and brokers, the question always comes up:  what if my seller made a repair and doesn’t want to disclose it?  My answer is that if the question comes up, the seller is better off disclosing.  After buying houses myself, and seeing how many ways a transaction can go wrong, I think an informed buyer is the best buyer.”