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No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S700
Title of bill
An act to amend the real property law, in relation to requiring a disclosure statement with regards to water testing
Purpose
To require a seller of residential real property to disclose the results of any water tests to a buyer or buyer's agent prior to the signing of a binding contract of sale.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 - amends the real property law by adding a new section 462-a to require a Water Test Disclosure Statement to be delivered to a buyer or buyer's agent and completed prior to the signing of a binding contract of sale. Such disclosure must be signed by both the seller and buyer and be attached to the real estate contract of sale. Failure to make such disclosure shall subject the seller to consequential and incidental damages and permit the buyer to seek recision of the contract and the return of all sums paid to seller. Paragraph 2 provides the required Water Disclosure Statement. Such Disclosure Statement contains questions pertaining to the residence's source(s) of water and requires the seller to summarize the results of any water tests taken and attach the results and/or remediations conducted.
Section 2 - amends the opening paragraph of real property law section 463 to exempt the Water Test Disclosure Statement from certain real estate transactions.
Section 3 - provides an effective date of the one hundred and eightieth day after becoming a law.
Justification
It is important that prospective home buyers carefully examine the health and environmental aspects of any property they intend to purchase and live on. While there are no laws requiring buyers or sellers of residential properties to test private well water, it is reasonable to require that a homeowner who has already tested and/or treated their water supply, disclose such information to a prospective buyer.
Legislative history
2009-2010: S.1251 - Referred to Judiciary 2007-2008: S.8439 - Referred to Rules
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
One hundred and eightieth day after becoming a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.