What does selling a house as is mean in Virginia?
Selling a house as is in Virginia is a term in the purchase contract, not a status the disclosure law defines. The residential disclosure statement, the separate written disclosures that reach even exempt transfers and the federal lead-based paint steps on most pre-1978 homes do not turn on the phrase. Repairs and inspections follow the contract; what the clause waives is an attorney's call.
The statement a Virginia house seller hands over already disclaims warranties
A Virginia house seller who owes the residential property disclosure statement is already giving the buyer a sentence that sounds a lot like as is. Subdivision B 1 of Va. Code 55.1-703 opens this way:
The owner makes no representations or warranties as to the condition of the real property or any improvements thereon
Va. Code 55.1-703 B 1
The same subdivision advises purchasers to exercise whatever due diligence a particular purchaser deems necessary, under the terms of the purchase contract but in any event before settlement. The statute describes the whole statement as a disclosure for the buyer to beware of certain matters.
An as-is clause carries that posture into the purchase contract itself. The Residential Property Disclosure Act does not define the phrase, so what it means in a given sale starts with the contract's words, and what a particular clause waives is a question for a Virginia real estate attorney. As is, the contract phrase, has its own entry. None of the disclosure provisions below turns on whether the contract uses those words.
Four things an as-is listing still carries
Mark a listing as is and each of these still applies on its own terms.
The statement, where the sale owes one
Whether a sale owes the residential property disclosure statement at all depends on the property and the kind of transfer, which does Virginia require a seller disclosure sorts out.
Three disclosures that reach even exempt transfers
Three written disclosures apply notwithstanding the exemptions in Va. Code 55.1-702, each when the owner has the knowledge its section describes: a pending building code or zoning enforcement matter (Va. Code 55.1-706), a lis pendens (Va. Code 55.1-706.1) and past use of the property to manufacture methamphetamine (Va. Code 55.1-708). The conditions each one carries are set out in Virginia's seller disclosure, explained.
Lead-based paint on a pre-1978 house
The federal rule at 40 CFR 745 Subpart F requires a seller of target housing, which is housing built before 1978 with listed exceptions, to disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, provide available records and reports and a lead hazard information pamphlet, give the buyer a 10-day opportunity for a risk assessment or inspection, and attach disclosure and warning language to the contract, all before the buyer is obligated. The rule's only exception for a sale is a sale at foreclosure. Nothing in its disclosure section obligates the seller to conduct any evaluation or reduction activities. Lead paint disclosure on older homes walks through the steps in order.
The buyer's remedies
Under Va. Code 55.1-713, when an owner fails to provide a required disclosure, the purchaser may terminate the contract within the Act's limits, and when an owner fails to provide one or misrepresents the required information, “willfully or otherwise,” other than information from an officer or employee of the locality, the purchaser may sue for actual damages. The same section says nothing in the Act prevents a purchaser from pursuing other remedies against an owner for intentional or willful misrepresentation of the property's condition.
Repairs, inspections and deadlines are the contract's to write
What an as-is sale does change lives in the purchase contract, and it changes only what the contract's words say.
A seller may use the phrase to signal that no repairs are promised. Whether that is the deal in a particular contract, and whether the buyer can still ask for a repair or a price adjustment after inspecting, turns on that contract's language.
Inspections work the same way. The disclosure statement points the buyer to due diligence under the contract's terms, and the buyer's inspection rights and deadlines are whatever the contract sets, usually through a contingency and a due diligence period. How long a due diligence period runs is answered separately.
On a house built before 1978 the lead rule adds a timeline of its own. The 10-day period for a lead risk assessment or inspection holds unless the parties agree in writing on a different period, and the buyer can waive the opportunity only in writing.
A seller who would rather know what an inspector will say before a buyer's inspector says it has a separate decision to make, covered in whether to get a pre-listing inspection.
Deciding what not to fix is a pricing call, and the disclosures do not move
Choosing to sell as is is usually a decision about repairs, and which repairs are worth making depends on the particular house. That part of the decision belongs to selling a house in Southwest Virginia.
The listing licensee carries a duty written with no as-is exception: the written disclosure duty Va. Code 54.1-2131 places on a licensee engaged by a seller, set out in what a seller's licensee has to disclose in writing. A known crack in the foundation is still known after the listing says as is.
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Questions this raises
Can a buyer still have a house inspected when it is sold as is?
That depends on the contract, not the label. A buyer's inspection rights and deadlines come from the purchase contract's terms, such as a contingency or a due diligence period, and whether a particular as-is clause limits them is a question for a Virginia real estate attorney. On housing built before 1978, the federal lead rule also gives the buyer a 10-day opportunity for a lead risk assessment or inspection, which the buyer can waive only in writing.
Does an as-is clause keep a buyer from suing over a hidden defect?
The disclosure statute does not answer that for a contract clause. Va. Code 55.1-713 says nothing in the Residential Property Disclosure Act prevents a purchaser from pursuing other remedies against an owner for intentional or willful misrepresentation of the property's condition, and it allows an action for actual damages when a required disclosure is not provided. What a specific as-is clause waives, and whether a particular claim survives it, is a question for a Virginia real estate attorney.
Does selling as is protect the owner from mistakes in the disclosures?
Not by itself. The protection that exists comes from the Act, not the label: apart from the military air installation disclosure, the owner is not liable for an error, inaccuracy or omission that was not within the owner's actual knowledge, came from public agencies or other persons, or that the owner reasonably believed correct, so long as the owner was not grossly negligent in obtaining and passing on the information. What an as-is clause adds is a question for a Virginia real estate attorney.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 55.1-703, residential property disclosure statement (subdivision B 1) Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-702, exclusions from the Residential Property Disclosure Act Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-706, pending building code enforcement and zoning violations Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-706.1, lis pendens disclosure Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-708, methamphetamine manufacture disclosure Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-710, owner's liability for errors and omissions Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-713, purchaser's remedies Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 54.1-2131, licensees engaged by a seller Virginia General Assembly
- 40 CFR 745.100, purpose of the lead-based paint disclosure rule (40 CFR 745 Subpart F) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 40 CFR 745.101, scope and exceptions U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 40 CFR 745.103, definition of target housing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 40 CFR 745.107, disclosure requirements for sellers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- 40 CFR 745.110, opportunity to conduct an evaluation U.S. Environmental Protection Agency