The California Seller Property Questionnaire, known as C.A.R. Form SPQ, is a supplemental disclosure you complete alongside the statutory Transfer Disclosure Statement to give the buyer a fuller account of your property’s condition and history. You fill it out from your actual knowledge, answer every “Are you (Seller) aware of” question yes or no, explain each yes in the space provided, attach supporting documents where you have them, and deliver the signed form to the buyer within seven days of offer acceptance under the standard Residential Purchase Agreement.
The statutory TDS, required by California Civil Code Section 1102 for sales of one-to-four-unit residential properties, covers structural and mechanical basics like the roof, plumbing, and electrical systems.1California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1102 – Disclosures Upon Transfer of Residential Property The SPQ picks up everything else a buyer would reasonably want to know: insurance claims, permit history, water intrusion, mold, neighborhood nuisances, boundary disputes, leased equipment, and more. California common law also imposes a duty to disclose any material fact affecting the property’s value or desirability that a buyer couldn’t reasonably discover on their own, and courts have treated a failure to disclose known material facts as actual fraud.2Justia. CACI No. 1910 – Real Estate Sellers Nondisclosure of Material Facts The SPQ gives you a structured way to meet that duty.
Pull Your Records Before You Open the Form
Answering from memory produces the vague responses that get sellers sued. Before you start, gather:
- Building permits, contractor invoices, and inspection sign-offs for any work done during your ownership. The form specifically asks you to identify improvements costing $1,000 or more and provide the contractor’s name and contact information.
- A CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report, which lists home insurance claims on the property within the past seven years. You can request one from LexisNexis.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. LexisNexis CLUE and Telematics OnDemand
- Past pest inspections, roof certifications, sewer-line camera reports, and any other professional assessments you’ve received.
- Mold remediation clearance certificates and invoices, if applicable.
- CC&Rs and any pending-litigation disclosures if the property is a condominium or in a planned unit development.
The Rule That Governs Every Answer
Each question begins “Are you (Seller) aware of” and takes a yes or no. Checking yes triggers an obligation to explain in the space provided, or on an attached page if you need more room. Yes is the correct answer no matter how long ago the event occurred, unless the question itself specifies a time frame.
Answer from your actual knowledge and recollection. If you truly have no knowledge of a defect, no is honest. If you have some awareness but not every detail, check yes and explain what you do and don’t know. A partial disclosure is safer than a flat denial that later turns out to be wrong. Your agent cannot answer the questions for you or tell you whether your answers are legally sufficient; the form itself directs you to a California real estate attorney if you’re unsure.
Working Through the Form, Section by Section
Documents and Title
The opening questions ask whether you hold reports, studies, or other documents about the property’s condition, such as prior inspections, geological surveys, or environmental assessments. Yes means you provide copies. Title questions cover boundary disputes, encroachments, easements, and shared driveways that might not show up on a standard title report.
Statutorily Required Disclosures
This section captures items California law specifically calls out:
- Whether an occupant died on the property within the last three years. The manner of death may be material and should be disclosed, except for deaths related to HIV/AIDS.
- Whether a government health official has issued an order identifying the property as contaminated by methamphetamine.
- Whether the property sits in or adjacent to a zone allowing manufacturing, commercial, or airport operations, and whether nuisance from that zone affects the property.
- Whether the property is within one mile of a former federal or state military training site that may contain unexploded ordnance.
- Any insurance claims affecting the property within the past five years.
- Whether the property has non-compliant plumbing fixtures under Civil Code Section 1101.3.
Repairs, Alterations, and Permits
If you’ve made any alterations, replacements, improvements, or material repairs, the form requires two things: a list of the improvements, and the name and contact information for every contractor who performed work valued at $1,000 or more. Identify which items you pulled permits for and attach copies. For unpermitted work, provide contact information for the person or company who did it so the buyer can follow up.
The section also asks about recurring maintenance such as drain clean-outs, tree trimming, or pest service, and whether any part of the property was painted within the last twelve months. That paint question ties into lead-based paint rules for pre-1978 homes.
Structural, Systems, and Appliances
Here the form asks about defects — past or present, including any that have already been repaired — in the property’s major systems: heating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing (including polybutylene pipes), water, sewer or septic, sump pumps, wells, roof, gutters, chimney, fireplace, foundation, crawl space, attic, soil, grading, drainage, retaining walls, doors, windows, walls, ceilings, floors, and appliances. Repaired problems still get a yes. A roof leak fixed five years ago belongs on the form.
A separate question covers leased equipment: solar panels, water softeners, alarm systems, propane tanks. Leased equipment brings obligations the buyer will inherit, so flag it now.
Disaster Relief, Insurance, and Settlements
Disclose any financial relief you or a previous owner received from a federal, state, or local agency, an insurer, or a private party for damage from a flood, earthquake, fire, or other disaster. Note the federal rule the form calls out: if disaster assistance was conditioned on maintaining flood insurance, 42 USC 5154a requires the buyer to continue that coverage. If they let it lapse and the property floods again, they may have to reimburse the government for prior aid.
Water, Mold, and Moisture
Water is the single most common source of post-sale disputes, and this section is broad on purpose. Questions cover water intrusion into any structure, appliance and pipe leaks, slab leaks, roof leaks, standing water, drainage problems, flooding, underground water, moisture-related soil settling, and slippage. A separate question covers mold, mildew, fungus, or spores, past or present. Another covers rivers, streams, flood channels, underground springs, high water tables, and tidal effects on the property or the neighborhood.
If you check yes to any of these, your explanation should include when the problem happened, what caused it, who performed the repair, and whether follow-up testing confirmed it was resolved. “Had a small leak, fixed it” is technically responsive but leaves you exposed if the buyer later argues the problem was bigger than you let on.
Neighborhood Issues
The neighborhood section reaches beyond your property line: noise or nuisances from neighbors, traffic, parking congestion, airplanes, trains, freeways, schools, parks, landfills, agricultural operations, restaurants, entertainment venues, construction, pool equipment, air compressors, generators, and wildlife. If the neighbor’s dog barks through the night or freight trains pass at 3 a.m., this is where you say so.
If Your Home Was Built Before 1978
Federal law adds a separate layer alongside the SPQ. Under 42 U.S.C. Section 4852d, you must give the buyer three things before they become obligated under the purchase contract: the EPA’s “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” pamphlet, disclosure of any known lead-based paint or lead hazards, and copies of any lead inspection or risk assessment reports you have. The buyer also gets at least ten days to conduct their own lead inspection unless you agree otherwise.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
The purchase contract must include a signed Lead Warning Statement confirming the buyer received the pamphlet and had the chance to inspect. Agents keep copies for three years. Knowing violations can bring civil penalties and liability equal to three times the buyer’s actual damages.
Signing and Delivering the Form
Sign the completed SPQ through the electronic signing tools built into Lone Wolf Transactions or a platform like DocuSign.5California Association of Realtors. CAR Lone Wolf Transactions zipForm Edition Certification Under the standard C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement, you have seven days after acceptance (unless the parties negotiate a different period) to deliver all disclosures, including the SPQ, to the buyer.6California Association of Realtors. Residential Purchase Agreement
Delivery can be in person, by mail, or by electronic transmission. Your agent typically handles it through the transaction platform, which timestamps the delivery and creates an audit trail. The buyer signs an acknowledgment of receipt. Do not treat the seven-day window as a soft deadline; late delivery triggers statutory cancellation rights.
What Late Delivery Costs You
When you deliver the SPQ or any required disclosure after the purchase agreement has been signed, Civil Code Section 1102.3 gives the buyer a right to terminate. The window depends on how you delivered the document: three days after in-person delivery, or five days after mail or electronic transmission. The buyer terminates by delivering written notice to you or your agent within that window.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1102.3
The clock starts only when the relevant sections are actually completed and delivered. Handing the buyer an incomplete SPQ or TDS doesn’t count as delivery, and it doesn’t start the cancellation window running in your favor.
Good Faith and the Consequences of Getting It Wrong
California law doesn’t demand omniscience. Civil Code Section 1102.4 shields sellers and their agents from liability for errors or omissions when three conditions are met: the mistake wasn’t within your personal knowledge, it was based on information timely provided by public agencies or qualified professionals, and you exercised ordinary care in obtaining and passing that information along. Section 1102.7 requires that all disclosures be made in good faith, defined as “honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction.”8Justia. California Code Civil Code 1102-1102.17 – Disclosures Upon Transfer of Residential Property
Rely in good faith on a licensed inspector’s report and disclose what it says, and you’re protected even if the inspector missed something. Know about a problem and leave it off the form, and no expert report will shield you. Because California courts treat a seller’s failure to disclose known material facts as actual fraud, and the standard C.A.R. purchase agreement lets the prevailing party recover attorney fees (provided both sides participated in mediation before suit), the stakes in a nondisclosure fight run well past the cost of the repair itself.2Justia. CACI No. 1910 – Real Estate Sellers Nondisclosure of Material Facts Filling out the SPQ thoroughly, attaching your supporting documents, and delivering it on time is the single best investment of effort you can make during the disclosure process.