By Milan Chatterjee | Founding Attorney, Milan Legal |
The Disclosure Form Causes More Litigation Than the Contract Does
Nevada seller disclosure requirements live in NRS Chapter 113. Get them wrong and the exposure is treble the cost of repair, plus court costs and the buyer’s attorney’s fees.
Buyers and sellers negotiate hard over price, contingencies and closing dates. Those get lawyered. The disclosure form takes ten minutes at the kitchen table and gets almost no attention at all, and it is the document that shows up in litigation two years later.
Seller Disclosure Under NRS 113
The rule itself is simple. NRS 113.130(1)(a) requires a seller to complete a disclosure form and serve it on the buyer at least 10 days before residential property is conveyed. The clock runs to conveyance. Not to acceptance of the offer, not to the end of the inspection period, and not to whenever the agent happened to send it over.
What surprises sellers is how little an as-is sale changes. An as-is clause allocates who pays for repairs. It does nothing to the statutory duty to disclose what you know. Sellers who treat as-is as a shield are the ones who end up on the wrong side of NRS 113.150.
The duty also does not stop once the form is signed. If a defect turns up, or an existing one gets worse, between service of the form and conveyance, the seller has to say so in writing. The buyer can then rescind, or close with the defect disclosed and no further recourse.
Then there is what happens when a seller does not comply.
- Form never served. Under NRS 113.150(1), the buyer may rescind the purchase agreement at any time before conveyance, without penalty.
- Conveyance without compliance, and the seller knew of a defect. NRS 113.150(4) entitles the buyer to three times the amount necessary to repair or replace it, plus court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
- The deadline to sue. One year after the buyer discovers the defect or reasonably should have, or two years after conveyance, whichever is later. Not whichever is earlier. A problem surfacing three years after closing can still be live.
The Exemptions Are Narrower Than People Assume
NRS 113.130(2) lets four categories out: foreclosure sales under Chapter 107; sales between co-owners, spouses, or relatives within the third degree of consanguinity; the first sale of a residence built by a licensed contractor; and transfers by someone holding title temporarily to facilitate a relocation sale.
Everyone else is in. Investors are in. Estates selling a decedent’s house are in. So is the landlord who has never set foot inside the unit. Never having lived somewhere limits what you know. It is not an exemption.
Two provisions do cut the seller’s way. NRS 113.140 says there is no duty to disclose a defect you are unaware of, the form is not a warranty of anything, and the buyer still has to exercise reasonable care. And NRS 113.150(5) gives a seller who relied in good faith on written information from a licensed contractor, engineer, land surveyor, certified inspector or pesticide applicator a defence to the treble damages claim.
One more thing worth knowing: a buyer can waive rights under NRS 113.150, but only in a written document that is signed and notarised. Boilerplate in the contract does not do it.
These Cases Turn on What the Seller Knew
Not on whether the defect exists. On knowledge, and knowledge gets proved from paper the seller created years earlier: the contractor estimate obtained and quietly filed away, the insurance claim, the email to a property manager, the inspection report from the last time the house changed hands.
Title, Escrow and the Gap Before the Deed Records
The title commitment arrives before closing and most buyers never open it. That is a mistake, because Schedule B is where the title company lists everything it will not insure. An easement running across the back of the lot. A recorded CC&R restriction on what can be built. A boundary discrepancy from a survey done in 1987. None of those are defects the policy pays for later. They are conditions you are agreeing to accept, written down, in a document handed to you in advance.
It also helps to know whose interests each policy protects. A lender’s policy insures the lender’s lien position up to the loan balance and expires when the loan is paid off. It does nothing for the buyer’s equity. An owner’s policy is a separate product, optional in Nevada, bought for a single premium at closing, and it runs for as long as you own the property.
Escrow, meanwhile, is doing exactly what it is supposed to do and nothing more. The escrow officer holds funds, coordinates signatures, chases payoff figures and records documents according to instructions both sides gave. They are neutral by design. They are not assessing whether the deal makes sense for you, and they are not permitted to.
And title passes on recording, not on signing. The gap between the two is usually a day or two. It is also where payoff shortfalls, last-minute judgment liens and failed wires tend to appear.
Nobody at a Nevada Closing Table Works for the Buyer
Nevada does not require an attorney at closing. Title and escrow companies handle it, and the vast majority of residential sales close without a lawyer anywhere near them.
Worth sitting with what that means. The buyer’s agent is paid on completion. The seller’s agent is paid on completion. The lender is evaluating its own collateral. The escrow officer is neutral as a matter of law. Every person in that room has an interest, and none of those interests is reviewing the transaction on the buyer’s behalf.
For an ordinary sale of an ordinary house, that arrangement works fine and has for decades. It stops working when the title commitment carries an exception nobody read, or the disclosure form arrived on day four instead of day ten.
Milan Legal Perspective
Before founding Milan Legal, Milan Chatterjee served as Associate Compliance Counsel at Las Vegas Sands Corporation, a Fortune 500 hospitality company, advising senior leadership on compliance, governance and risk across global operations. A UCLA School of Law graduate admitted in Nevada (Bar No. 15159) and California, he was appointed to the Nevada Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission and serves as Founding President of the South Asian Bar Association of Las Vegas.
Milan Legal advises Nevada buyers and sellers on real estate transactions and disputes, disclosure obligations and post-closing claims across Las Vegas, Clark County, Reno and the Lake Tahoe region.
Further Nevada Resources
This guide covers disclosure, title and closing. The rest of a Nevada transaction is covered separately:
- The contract, its contingencies and deadlines: Nevada Real Estate Purchase Agreement Guide
- The buyer’s process from offer to keys: Buying a Home in Nevada
- Selling without an agent: For Sale By Owner: Nevada Legal Risks
- Buying into a planned community: What Is a Homeowners Association in Nevada
- Holding the property as a rental: Nevada Landlord-Tenant Law
Frequently Asked Questions
At least 10 days before the property is conveyed, under NRS 113.130(1)(a). The deadline runs to conveyance, not to acceptance of the offer or the end of the inspection period.
No. An as-is clause allocates responsibility for repairs. It does not touch the statutory obligation to disclose known defects, and it is not a defence to a claim under NRS 113.150.
Three times the amount necessary to repair or replace it, plus court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, under NRS 113.150(4), where the seller knew of the defect and conveyed without complying with NRS 113.130.
One year after discovering the defect or reasonably being expected to discover it, or two years after conveyance, whichever occurs later. The later date controls, so a defect found well after closing can still be actionable.
Four categories under NRS 113.130(2): foreclosure sales under Chapter 107, sales between co-owners, spouses or relatives within the third degree of consanguinity, the first sale of a residence built by a licensed contractor, and transfers by someone holding title temporarily to facilitate a relocation sale.
The seller must inform the buyer in writing. The buyer can then rescind, or close escrow and accept the property with the disclosed defect and no further recourse.
No. Nevada closings run through title and escrow companies. Just be aware that the escrow officer is neutral by law and nobody at the table is reviewing the transaction on your behalf.
Where to Start
Still before closing? Read the title commitment and check the date the disclosure form was served. The rescission right under NRS 113.150(1) exists only until conveyance, and it disappears the moment the deed records.
Already closed and found something? The question is what the seller knew, and the answer usually sits in records created before the sale. The limitations period is generous but it does run.
Conclusion
Nevada hands residential buyers an unusually sharp remedy and hands sellers a straightforward way to never face it. Fill the form out honestly. Serve it with more than ten days to spare. Update it in writing if something changes. Keep whatever shows what you knew and when you knew it.
On the buying side, the two documents that decide most disputes are the two most often signed without being read. Both arrive before closing for a reason. Both are far harder to do anything about afterwards.
