Publishing legal notice of asbestos findings cancel a realtor’s future plausible deniability for disclosure?

Question

If one home in a particular housing tract has asbestos in the ceiling, it is safe to assume homes, constructed in the same time frame; of similar construction have similar construction methods and materials. Homes were constructed under rigid specifications & control of Builder/Developer.

General understanding is that homes built pre 1970 have it, early 1970s probability very high have it, mid 1970s possibly have it and 1980 and after, it was outlawed.

Many environmental risk assessments rely on exposure levels in parts per million or billion.

State is CA

If a legal notice is published stating that one home in the tract has asbestos, is this sufficient legal grounds to force all realtors selling homes in the tract to declare the prospect of asbestos on future selling documents?

What if notice is sent to local realty board?

What if notice is sent to each local realty broker who operates a sales office?

Answer 1

This is just my opinion...
When in doubt, DISCLOSE. However, I don't think a Realtor can be found at fault for not disclosing that a home down the street or even next door contained Asbestos. I also don't think that you can force the realtors to disclose this fact. Also, you can't be sure that the other homes weren't already improved upon. Someone may have found this earlier & cleaned them out before you found this one. Same deal with Lead Paint. Many of those cases have already been fixed so just because my house has lead paint, doesn't mean all of my neighbors do too.

Let everyone know about this home & the possibility of similar situations so that the Realtors will be sure to have the properties inspected ASAP! It is as much the property owners obligation to disclose this type of info as it is the Realtor. Most states have a "Seller's Disclosure" in which the sellers tell everything that is or maybe wrong with the property. This also protects the Realtor from not disclosing things.
If the Realtor says, "There has never been a problem with ___ in this home (or area)" KNOWING that there has been, THAT is a different story entirely! That Realtor maybe liable.
CYA! Consult Your Attorney!

Answer 2

Realtors are generally required under law to 'disclose material facts'. A material fact relates only to the property being advertised for sale. The fact that other properties in the same subdivision MAY have asbestos is not a material fact, unless the realtor specifically knows which other houses contain asbestos.

Furthermore, the existence of asbestos in a house is not necessarily an issue. It depends on where the asbestos is located and whether or not it is encapsulated. As an example, in the 1970's, many vinyl sheet floorings contained asbestos in their substrates. This asbestos poses no danger whatsoever unless someone starts tearing it apart, sanding it, or some similarly dumb act. The same applies to certain exterior sidings which contained asbestos.

Legally, unless the realtor has been advised by the seller that asbestos exists in a property, the realtor has no obligation to inspect for same and disclose. The buyer should be guided by the result of an independent home inspection prior to purchasing the property.

Answer 3

California is a disclosure state which means any Realtor selling any property known to have a defect, someone died on property, leaks,etc must disclose that fact!

Agent or Realtor of said property for sale, not each individual house in a development. Asbestos and Lead Paint are big issues and any house built before 1976 in California usually has both Asbestos and Lead Paint in them. There are actual disclosures for both those items as part of the contract.

It won't do you any good to send the posted notice to the realty board. They are aware of the real estate laws and are not responsible for each agent.

That is why agents and Realtors have E & O insurrance (Errors and Ommissions Insurance) to cover any legal trouble they may get themselves into.

Again, all real estate Brokers know the laws and should be adhereing to them. They don't always know about their agents transactions.