Seller’s Disclosure When You Sell a House As-Is in Texas

What the statute actually asks of you

Section 5.008(a) says the seller must give the purchaser “a written notice as prescribed by this section or a written notice substantially similar” that contains, at a minimum, all of the same items. Subsection (b) then prints the form itself. So the law sets a floor, not a particular piece of paper.

The statutory form runs eleven numbered items. In order, they cover: the equipment and systems the house has and whether you know of any that are broken or need repair; working smoke detectors under Chapter 766 of the Health and Safety Code; known defects in walls, ceilings, floors, roof, foundation or slab, basement, walls and fences, plumbing, electrical and other structural components; a list of conditions such as termites, previous structural or roof repair, improper drainage, previous fires and asbestos; any item or system in need of repair; the property’s flood exposure; prior flood insurance claims; prior FEMA or SBA flood assistance; a set of questions about unpermitted work, association fees, common areas, deed-restriction violations, lawsuits, health or safety conditions, a large rainwater harvesting system, and whether the property sits in a groundwater conservation or subsidence district; a coastal-area statement; and a statement that the property may sit near a military installation affected by noise or compatible-use zones.

The smoke-detector item carries a footnote worth knowing about, because it can cost you money. A buyer may require the seller to install smoke detectors for the hearing impaired if three things all happen: the buyer or a family member who will live there is hearing impaired, the buyer gives the seller written evidence of the impairment from a licensed physician, and the buyer makes a written request specifying the installation locations within 10 days after the effective date. Who pays, and which brand goes in, is left to the parties to agree.

That last item is not academic in Bell County. Property around Fort Hood can fall inside the zones described in an Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Study or a Joint Land Use Study, and the statutory form tells the buyer where that information is published rather than asking you to summarize it.

Most brokered sales in Texas use the Texas Real Estate Commission’s version instead of retyping the statute. That is Form 55-1, “Seller’s Disclosure Notice,” with an effective date of 05/28/2026. TREC describes it as required of sellers of previously occupied single-family residences and says it contains the information Section 5.008 requires. It is longer than the statutory minimum, which is permitted — the statute sets what the notice must contain at least.

“As is” settles who pays for repairs, not what you have to say

This is where sellers most often get the wrong idea, and it is an easy mistake to make, because both things are about the condition of the house.

An “as is” term is a deal point. It allocates the cost and the risk of repairs between you and the buyer: the buyer agrees to take the house in its present condition and not to ask you to fix things. It is a promise about money and work.

The disclosure notice is not a deal point. It is a statutory report of what you know, and the statute’s own heading on the form says so in capital letters: it is a disclosure of the seller’s knowledge of the condition of the property as of the date the seller signs, it is not a substitute for any inspection or warranty the purchaser may want, and it is not a warranty of any kind by the seller or the seller’s agents.

Read those two together and the practical rule falls out. Selling as is means you do not have to repair the slab. It does not mean you can leave blank the question asking whether you know of a defect in the foundation.

“Unknown” is a complete and lawful answer

Subsection 5.008(d) is the part of this section that most helps an owner who is selling a house they have never lived in. The notice is to be completed to the best of the seller’s belief and knowledge as of the date it is signed. If the information the notice asks for is unknown to the seller, the statute says the seller indicates that on the notice “and by that act is in compliance with this section.”

So the honest answer is the compliant answer. The form is built for it: item 1 asks you to write Yes, No or Unknown for each system, and the roof-age line asks only for an approximate age. The form also opens by asking whether you are occupying the property and, if not, how long it has been since you did — a question that exists precisely because some sellers are at a distance from the house.

Guessing is the real hazard. “Unknown” reports your actual state of knowledge. A confident answer you have invented does not, and it is the kind of thing a buyer can later point to.

Two things the statute says you have no duty to disclose, and sellers ask about both: whether a death by natural causes, suicide or accident unrelated to the condition of the property occurred there, and whether a previous occupant had, may have had, has or may have AIDS, an HIV-related illness or HIV infection. Subsection 5.008(c) puts that beyond argument for both the seller and the seller’s agent.

The eleven transfers the section does not reach

Subsection 5.008(e) lists transfers the section simply does not apply to. If your sale is one of them, there is no statutory disclosure notice to deliver at all.

The fiduciary exemption is the one that gets stretched, so it is worth being exact. It applies to a transfer by a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent’s estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust. An executor or administrator selling while the estate is open is inside it, and so is a trustee selling out of a trust, or a guardian or conservator selling in that capacity. An heir who has already taken title — by a distribution, an affidavit of heirship or a muniment of title — and who then sells the house in their own name is an ordinary seller with an ordinary notice to complete. Which of those you are depends on how the estate was settled, and that is covered in our guide to selling an inherited house in Bell County.

The questions that matter most on a house that needs work

If the house is repair-heavy, a handful of the form’s questions do most of the work. These are the ones worth sitting down with before you sign anything.

• Previous structural or roof repair. Item 4 asks about it directly, separately from current defects. Work you had done years ago and considered finished still belongs there if you know about it.
• Foundation and slab. Item 3 names the foundation and slab among the components where a known defect must be reported, along with interior and exterior walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, roof, basement, walls and fences, driveways, sidewalks, plumbing, sewers and septics, electrical systems, lighting fixtures, and an open line for other structural components.
• Improper drainage, and landfill, settling, soil movement or fault lines. Item 4 asks about each of these as its own line.
• Previous fires, termites and wood rot. Item 4 asks about active termites, previous termite damage, previous termite treatment, termite or wood rot damage needing repair, and previous fires as separate questions.
• Previous use of the premises for manufacture of methamphetamine. It is on the statutory form, and a buyer will read that line.
• Work done without permits. Item 9 asks about room additions, structural modifications, alterations or repairs made without necessary permits or not in compliance with the building codes in effect at the time — a question that catches a lot of enclosed garages and added rooms.
• Anything that materially affects physical health or safety. Also item 9, and deliberately broad.
• Association fees, common areas, deed-restriction violations and lawsuits affecting the property. Item 9 again — and it closes with two more questions: a rainwater harvesting system larger than 500 gallons that uses a public water supply as an auxiliary source, and whether any portion of the property is located in a groundwater conservation district or a subsidence district. The groundwater question is a live one on rural Bell County land.

None of this requires you to inspect, investigate or hire anyone. The questions ask what you are aware of.

A septic system is the version of this that most often changes who can buy the house, because a lender has property rules of its own. If that is your situation, see selling a house with a failing septic system in Bell County.

Flood history belongs to the house, not to you

Items 6, 7 and 8 are the flood block, and they reach further back than most sellers expect.

Item 6 asks whether you are aware of present flood insurance coverage, previous flooding caused by the failure or breach of a reservoir or a controlled or emergency release from one, and previous water penetration into a structure from a natural flood event. It then asks whether the property sits wholly or partly in a 100-year floodplain, a 500-year floodplain, a floodway, a flood pool or a reservoir.

Those terms are defined on the form itself. A 100-year floodplain is an area shown on the flood insurance rate map as a special flood hazard area — Zone A, V, A99, AE, AO, AH, VE or AR — with a one percent annual chance of flooding, and the form adds that it may include a regulatory floodway, flood pool or reservoir. A 500-year floodplain is the moderate-risk shaded Zone X, with a two-tenths of one percent annual chance. A flood pool is the area next to a reservoir, above its normal maximum operating level, that is subject to controlled inundation under the management of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Items 7 and 8 then ask whether you have ever filed a claim for flood damage to the property with any insurance provider, including the National Flood Insurance Program, and whether you have ever received FEMA or Small Business Administration assistance for flood damage to it. “Ever” is doing the work in both questions. A claim you filed years ago is still a yes.

Four other written notices Texas can require before you sign

Section 5.008 is the famous one, but it is not the only pre-contract notice in Chapter 5, and the others catch Bell County sellers regularly.

Possible annexation — Section 5.011. A seller of an interest in real property must give the buyer a notice saying that property outside a city’s limits may now or later fall inside a municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and may be annexed, that each city keeps a map of its boundaries and ETJ, and that the buyer should contact all municipalities in the general proximity of the property to find out. It may be delivered separately, inside the contract during negotiations, or as part of another notice. Subsection (c) lists ten transfers it does not reach: property located wholly inside a city’s corporate boundaries, the same court-ordered, bankruptcy, lender, fiduciary, co-owner, family and governmental transfers described above, and a transfer of only a groundwater right, surface water right, mineral interest, leasehold interest or security interest. If notice is given, the seller has no further duty to provide information about possible annexation.

Additional tax liability on vacant land — Section 5.010. An owner of an interest in vacant land who contracts to transfer it must normally include a bold-faced notice in the contract warning that land appraised under a special method at less than market value may not qualify for that appraisal in a later year, and that the transfer or a later change in use can trigger an additional tax plus interest as a penalty. The notice itself points the buyer to the appraisal district for the current value and appraisal method, which for Bell County property is the Tax Appraisal District of Bell County.

There are three ways out of it, and they are easy to miss. Under subsection (d) the notice is not required at all if a separate paragraph of the contract expressly provides for payment of any additional taxes and interest that become due as a penalty because of the transfer or a later change in use. Under subsection (c) it is not required where every transferee is a co-owner of an undivided interest in the land, a spouse, or a person in the seller’s lineal line of consanguinity. And subsection (b) exempts seven transfers, among them a court-ordered or foreclosure sale, a bankruptcy trustee, transfers to or by a lienholder, a fiduciary administering a decedent’s estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust, a transfer of only a mineral, leasehold or security interest, and transfers to or from a governmental entity. Where none of that applies and the notice is left out, the person the land is transferred to may recover from the owner the additional taxes and interest they are required to pay because of the transfer, or because of a change in use occurring before the fifth anniversary of the transfer.

Public improvement district assessments — Section 5.014. Property inside a public improvement district created under Subchapter A of Chapter 372, or Chapter 382, of the Local Government Code carries a separate prescribed notice, executed by the seller and acknowledged by the purchaser, explaining that an assessment has been levied, that it may be paid in full at any time, that annual installments vary year to year, and that failure to pay can lead to penalties, interest, a lien and foreclosure. The exact amount comes from the city or county that levied it. Section 5.0141(a) sets the timing: before the execution of a binding contract of purchase and sale, either separately or as an addendum or paragraph of the contract. A contract with a performance period of less than six months counts as a sale requiring the notice, and Section 5.014(c) exempts the same nine categories of transfer as the lien disclosure described below.

This is also the one notice in the group with a cure. Under Section 5.0141(c), if the seller furnishes the notice at or before closing and the purchaser elects to close even though it was not furnished before the contract was signed, it is conclusively presumed that the purchaser has waived all rights to terminate or to recover damages. And under 5.0141(b) the purchaser can only terminate for missing notice if the municipality or county had filed a copy of the service plan with the county clerk, as Section 372.013 of the Local Government Code requires, before the contract date.

Water level fluctuations — Section 5.019. Residential or commercial property adjoining an impoundment of water, including a reservoir or lake, constructed and maintained under Chapter 11 of the Water Code and holding at least 5,000 acre-feet at its normal operating level, carries a notice that the water level fluctuates — including because an entity is lawfully exercising its right to use the stored water, or because of drought or flood conditions. Whether a particular lake brings a specific property inside that section is a question for your title company or attorney rather than something to assume either way.

Two features of this one are unusual. If the notice is late, the buyer’s seven days run from receiving either the notice from the seller or the same information from any other person — so a title company or a neighbor can start that clock without the seller doing anything. And after closing, the buyer may bring an action for misrepresentation if the seller failed to give the notice and had actual knowledge that the water level fluctuates.

If a buyer wants to take the house and leave your loan in place

Some cash offers are not a payoff at all. The buyer proposes to take title while your mortgage stays on the property — often called a “subject to” purchase. Texas has a notice for that situation too, and it runs the other way: it is a disclosure you owe, and it protects the buyer and the lienholder.

Section 5.016 says a person may not convey, or contract to convey, an interest in residential real property that will still be encumbered by a recorded lien unless, on or before the seventh day before the earlier of the effective date of the conveyance or the execution of an executory contract binding the purchaser to purchase the property, an option contract, or other contract, the seller gives the purchaser and each lienholder a separate written disclosure in at least 12-point type. It must identify the property; name each lienholder with address and phone number; state the amount of each secured debt; set out the terms under which that debt was incurred, including interest rate, periodic installments and account number as applicable; say whether the lienholder has consented to the transfer; give the details of any insurance policy on the property; and state the amount of any property taxes due.

It must also carry a warning at the top, in substantially the statute’s words, that recorded liens have been filed against the property, and that if a lien is not released and the property is conveyed without the lienholder’s consent, the lienholder could demand immediate payment of the full outstanding balance. The statute tells the reader to contact each lienholder and discuss the matter with an attorney.

Two more details worth knowing. A violation of 5.016 does not invalidate the conveyance; the buyer’s stated remedy is to terminate for any reason on or before the seventh day after receiving the notice, in addition to other remedies provided by that section or other law. And a violation is not actionable if the person who owed the notice reasonably believes and takes the necessary action to ensure that each lien left out of the notice will be released on or before the 30th day after title transfers.

What happens if the notice is late

Section 5.008(f) sets the timing: the seller delivers the notice to the purchaser on or before the effective date of an executory contract binding the purchaser to buy. If a contract is entered into without the seller providing it, the purchaser may terminate the contract for any reason within seven days after receiving the notice.

Notice the clock. It runs from receipt, not from the contract date. A notice handed over three weeks into the deal starts a fresh seven-day exit for the buyer at that point, which is how a sale that looked locked becomes cancellable again late in the process.

The annexation notice works slightly differently: under 5.011(e) the buyer’s termination right runs to the earlier of seven days after receiving the notice or the date the transfer occurs. The lien disclosure in 5.016(b) gives the same seven-day window from receipt.

If the notice never arrives at all, the seven-day clock in 5.008(f) simply never starts, because it is keyed to receipt. Section 5.008 does not itself set out damages, and once a sale has closed there is no contract left to terminate — which is not the same as saying a seller who concealed a known defect has nothing to worry about, and is a question for a lawyer rather than this page.

All of which is the quiet argument for delivering everything early. These notices are not only a compliance chore; completed and handed over before signing, they stop a buyer picking up a late exit. The statutes are not uniform about it, though. The public improvement district notice can be cured at closing under Section 5.0141(c), while the ones in 5.008 and 5.016 cannot.

Does any of this change how you should sell?

Not as much as people expect, and that is the useful part of the answer.

The disclosure duty travels with the sale, not with the route. List with an agent and you complete the notice. Sell to a cash buyer and you complete the same notice. A broken slab, an unpermitted addition or a 2019 flood claim has to be written down either way, so the condition of the house is not a reason to pick one path over the other in order to say less.

What the two routes really differ on is what happens after the disclosure. On the open market, a disclosed defect usually becomes a negotiation: a price reduction, a repair, or a buyer who walks and a return to the market. With a cash buyer who is pricing the house in its current condition, the disclosed defect is meant to be inside the number from the start, and the test of that is whether the number survives the buyer actually seeing the problem.

If reading the form convinces you the house shows better than you assumed and the open market is worth the preparation, that is a perfectly good outcome of this exercise. Temple Dream Homes, the brokerage site described in the next section, lays out what getting a house ready for the open market actually involves, from the repairs worth making to the timeline to plan for. Nothing here obliges you to take a cash offer, and comparing the two is the point.

Either way, fill the notice in honestly, use “unknown” where it is true, and deliver it before you sign.

Where we fit, and what we are

Bell County Cash Offers is a home-buying business. It is not a real estate brokerage. When we buy, the buyer is acting as a principal for its own benefit and is not representing you. Jessie Walters separately holds Texas real estate broker license #509401 and owns JD Walters Real Estate LLC, and that brokerage is a different business from this one.

We say that here because this page is about a disclosure you owe a buyer, and we may be that buyer. If you want the house marketed to the public instead, that is a brokerage service and a different conversation — one we are happy to point you toward.

This page explains Texas disclosure statutes in general terms. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the notice forms themselves or talking to a lawyer about your own sale.