No Duty To Disclose?

I recently found myself in the happy position of representing a newly wed young couple excited to buy their first home, and exciting plans to start a family once settled in. When they fell in love on an older home which had been thoroughly updated, I asked their home inspector to explain  the consequences of Lead Paint and after his explanation they opted to do an additional (inexpensive) test. The listing agent had provided a signed disclosure from the sellers stating no lead paint was present. However, neither of the paragraphs stating that the current owners had "no knowledge of lead paint, nor any records pertaining to the existence of lead paint" had been initialed, they were just checked off.

Every home of this age would have had lead paint to some degree unless it had been professionally removed. Highly unlikely as it is an extremely expensive process. It is more likely that in the recent extensive renovations, that every scrap of old flaking paint had in fact been covered by new drywall or fresh paint, but if there was even a miniscule amount around it could spell trouble and the young decided to find out. Turns out that we did find some, but only on the handrail on the staircase to the basement. The couple then discussed with their attorney and subsequently requested that the paint would be removed before signing contracts at the current owners cost. Had the existence of Lead Paint been discovered after the closing it could have landed this seller in court.

However, Mike Greenspan  a New York based trial attorney points out in his recent article, Buyer's Agents Have No Duty To Disclose, it is  the Seller and their agent who is legally bound to disclose, or they could end up in deep water. In other words I could have been satisfied with the sellers' signature on the bottom of the form, but that just doesn't seem right. Don't buyers agents have a duty to educate their buyers also? Certainly, I sleep better at night knowing that my young buyer's and their future family are less at risk by my actions.

Originally posted at No Duty To Disclose?