I came along another legal question that asked the Million Dollar Question: “I am selling my house and I wanted to know if I need to disclose that my neighbor is a nuisance.” The writer was complaining about her neighbor who operates a home business and gets on the phone at 5:30 AM. She loves to sleep in until 8 AM. For whatever reason, she could hear her neighbor’s phone conversations in her bedroom (I’m picturing one of those San Francisco style homes where each house is built right smack on top of the other). This question might not be so easy to answer. What constitutes a nuisance? What do I need to disclose? Or maybe it can be resolved very quickly. When in doubt, always disclose, and do it in writing.
You probably expected me to say this, but this rule of thumb will always make you sleep better at night. If you disclose in writing, even if it is a trivial matter, you have done your duty. Whether your neighbor is a chatty chap at 5:30 AM and you are trying to get your beauty rest or he plays the tuba at 3 AM and you have had to call the cops 30 times in the past year, you should put it in writing. Later, if your buyer complains about an issue, your response is simple. Look at the written disclosure statement. The buyers can’t hold you accountable for the problem—because you warned them.
