When good air conditioners go bad - a home buyer’s tale of woe

In Elkin, NC, a home inspection report reveals that a window air conditioning unit isn’t cooling. The seller checked “No Representation” on the Residential Property Disclosure Statement.

The home buyer is confident that the seller must have known that the unit wasn’t working properly.

Could the seller of the home be responsible for the cost of repairing the AC unit if it can be proven he had actual knowledge that it wasn’t working and didn’t disclose that information?

The answer: No

As a general rule, a seller is not required to disclose information about their property to a buyer. They can’t misrepresent the property in any way, but they generally don’t have to volunteer material facts about their property.

An exception to the general rule requires sellers to disclose latent material defects that the buyer will not be able to discover in the exercise of reasonable inspection.

On the other hand, if the seller's listing agent knew that the air conditioner wasn’t working, they would have a duty to disclose it, because a non-functioning air conditioner is a material fact.

Sellers don’t have to disclose material facts, but their listing agents do.