The Indiana Seller’s Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure Form, officially State Form 46234, is a standardized questionnaire that sellers of one-to-four-unit residential property must complete and deliver to a prospective buyer before accepting an offer. It documents what you personally know about the home’s physical condition — appliances, structure, water and sewer systems, hazardous materials, and location-based issues like flood plains. You can download a fillable copy from the Indiana State Forms Center on in.gov by searching for form 46234.
Who Has to Use the Form
If you own a one-to-four-unit residential property and are selling it in an ordinary market transaction, the form is required. Indiana Code § 32-21-5-1 exempts several categories where either the seller never occupied the home or the buyer already understands what they’re getting.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-1 – Application of Chapter
Court-ordered transfers are exempt across the board: probate, foreclosure sales, bankruptcy, eminent domain, divorce decrees, property settlement agreements, and decrees of specific performance. A mortgagee that acquired the property through a foreclosure sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure doesn’t owe a disclosure. Neither do fiduciaries administering an estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust.
Transfers inside the family are also exempt. Conveyances between spouses or to anyone in a direct line of descent — a child or grandchild — don’t trigger the form. The same applies to transfers solely between existing co-owners, transfers to or from a government entity, and transfers resulting from the owner’s failure to pay federal, state, or local taxes.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-1 – Application of Chapter
What the Form Asks You to Disclose
The form is organized into numbered sections, and for most questions you pick “Yes,” “No,” or “Do Not Know.” A “Do Not Know” answer means you have no personal awareness of the issue, not that the issue doesn’t exist.
Section 1 covers the home’s working systems: appliances like the garbage disposal, range, and dishwasher; the electrical system; the water supply (public or private well); the sewage system (public sewer, septic, aerator); and the HVAC equipment, including furnace, air conditioning, heat pump, and any geothermal setup. The water and sewer portion is the most detailed, with separate lines for a septic system, sump pump, well, water softener, cistern, and similar equipment. If additions to the home may require sewage system improvements, you answer whether that work has been done.
Section 2 covers the physical shell: roof condition and prior roof repairs, foundation and structural issues, water leakage in the basement or crawlspace, and any history of damage from wood-destroying insects like termites or carpenter ants.
Section 3 addresses environmental and health hazards. The form lists lead paint, radon gas (in the house or well water), asbestos insulation, methane, radioactive material, mold, PCBs, toxic materials, expansive soil, proximity to a landfill or mineshaft, and other biological contaminants. Two additional questions ask whether a controlled substance was ever manufactured on the property and whether methamphetamine production or waste dumping occurred in a residential structure. If drug-manufacturing contamination exists, the form asks whether an approved inspector has certified the property as decontaminated.
Section 4 picks up location-based factors a buyer might not discover on their own:
- Whether an airport sits within a set distance of the property, with the Indiana Real Estate Commission setting the distance based on whether the airport serves commercial airlines.
- Whether the property is near a military installation within a state area of interest, and whether local laws restrict use to stay compatible with military operations.
- Whether all or part of the property lies within a FEMA flood plain, limited to your personal knowledge — you aren’t required to pull FEMA maps, but if you know, you must say so.
- Whether the property sits inside a locally designated historic district.
- Whether a conservation easement burdens the property.
When to Deliver It, and What Happens If You’re Late
Indiana Code § 32-21-5-10 requires you to complete, sign, and deliver the form to the buyer before accepting an offer.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-10 – Disclosure Form, Presentation Required Before Acceptance of Offer The buyer then signs to acknowledge receipt. Until both signatures are on the document, an accepted offer is not enforceable against the buyer before closing.
If the buyer receives the disclosure — or an amended disclosure — after an offer has already been accepted, and the form reveals a defect, Indiana Code § 32-21-5-13 gives the buyer the right to nullify the contract. The buyer must deliver written rescission to the seller or the seller’s agent within two business days of receiving the disclosure, and a buyer who rescinds is entitled to the full return of any deposits.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-13
After closing, your failure to deliver the form does not by itself unwind the transaction. A buyer also cannot invalidate a sale based on their own failure to sign a form they already received.
Lead Paint Disclosure for Pre-1978 Homes
For homes built before 1978, federal law adds a separate obligation on top of Form 46234. Under 42 U.S.C. § 4852d, you must disclose any known lead-based paint or lead hazards, provide copies of any lead inspection reports you have, and give the buyer the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home.”4US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards The sales contract must include a Lead Warning Statement signed by the buyer confirming receipt of the pamphlet and acknowledging their right to test for lead.
The buyer gets at least 10 days to arrange a lead inspection or risk assessment before the contract becomes binding, though both sides can agree in writing to shorten or extend that window.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property If the inspection finds hazards, the buyer can cancel the contract when that right is written into the agreement. This federal requirement runs independently of the Indiana form.
Your Liability if Something Turns Out Wrong
Indiana Code § 32-21-5-11 shields you from liability for errors, inaccuracies, or omissions on the form when both of two conditions are met: the issue was either outside your actual knowledge or you relied on information from a public agency or a licensed professional whose report you reasonably believed was correct; and you weren’t negligent in obtaining or passing along that third-party information.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-11 – Owner Liability for Disclosure
The standard is actual knowledge, not perfection. You’re reporting what you know, not conducting an engineering survey. A pipe quietly leaking behind a finished wall for years is different from water you’ve watched pool in the basement. The form asks what you’ve observed, and the safe harbor matches that.
Intentional concealment is a separate matter. If you know about a defect and hide it, Indiana’s general fraud principles apply. A buyer who proves you knowingly misrepresented the property’s condition can pursue compensatory damages and potentially recover attorney fees. The form protects sellers who are forthcoming; it offers nothing to sellers who aren’t.
Why a Pre-Listing Inspection Can Help
The disclosure form itself notes that both parties “may wish to obtain professional advice or inspections of the property.”7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-7 – Indiana Real Estate Commission Disclosure Form Indiana is a buyer-beware state, and your disclosure supplements rather than replaces the buyer’s own inspection. A professional home inspection digs into the roof, foundation, structure, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and fireplace in far more detail than the form’s checkboxes.
Ordering your own pre-listing inspection can also work in your favor as the seller. If a licensed inspector flags something you didn’t know about, you can disclose it upfront and either price around it or fix it. And because the safe harbor under § 32-21-5-11 specifically protects sellers who relied on reports from licensed professionals, a written inspection report strengthens your position if questions come up later.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-21-5-11 – Owner Liability for Disclosure