North Carolina law requires home sellers to give buyers a disclosure statement, but there are certain things that they don’t need to disclose. Sellers also have the option to select “no representation” rather than a clear “yes” or “no” on the disclosure form. Real estate brokers, however, have to disclose certain information when you specifically ask them if they know the answer. In private home sale transactions, sellers don’t have to disclose these things.

What brokers have to disclose when you ask

Brokers have to let you know if the house has radon, toxic mold or asbestos. They also need to answer if the house was used as a meth lab in the past. Ask the broker if there are any health and safety issues to know about or any hazardous conditions that affect the property.

You can ask the broker if the house is in a flood zone, fire zone or earthquake zone. Brokers must disclose if the home is in a moderate to high-risk area for natural disasters.

North Carolina real estate law also stipulates that brokers must let you know about future construction projects and pending community litigation. These issues not only affect your lifestyle but could cause property loss and increased fees. If there are odors, smoke or noise from industrial, commercial or military sources, then the broker has to disclose this.

What doesn’t require disclosure

North Carolina doesn’t require disclosure of fire history, deaths or ghosts. Brokers and sellers don’t have to inform you of their financial situation. They also don’t need to give you a disclosure of sex offenders in the neighborhood. You are able to check if there are sex offenders in the neighborhood via the NC Sex Offender Registry.

North Carolina doesn’t have any laws that mandate brokers or sellers to inform you of missing essential items from the home such as kitchen appliances, HVAC systems and water heaters. You could check for those items on your own when you hire a home inspector.

Knowing what brokers have to and don’t have to disclose about real estate will help you choose a home that you’re happy with. There are ways of finding out about some of the things that the law doesn’t require disclosures for.