Ohio Residential Purchase Agreement

Seller’s Duties – The seller is required to provide a completed property disclosure form to the buyer before an offer is made. The form outlines any known conditions and information concerning the property.^[1]

Disclosure Exceptions – This property disclosure requirement does not apply if the transfer of residential property is made:^[2]

1. Pursuant to court order, including, but not limited to, a transfer ordered by a probate court during the administration of a decedent’s estate or due to bankruptcy;
2. From a mortgagor to a mortgagee by deed in lieu of foreclosure or in satisfaction of the mortgage debt;
3. From a trustor to a beneficiary of a deed;
4. In a foreclosure sale that follows a default in the satisfaction of an obligation secured by a mortgage;
5. In a sale following a default in the satisfaction of an obligation that is secured by a deed of trust or another instrument containing a power of sale;
6. By a mortgagee, or a beneficiary under a deed of trust, who has acquired the residential real property at a sale under a mortgage or a deed of trust or who has acquired the residential real property by a deed in lieu of foreclosure;
7. By a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent’s estate, a guardianship, a conservatorship, or a trust;
8. From one co-owner to one or more other co-owners;
9. To the transferor’s spouse or to one or more family members;
10. Between spouses or former spouses as a result of a decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage, annulment, or legal separation;
11. Involving the state or another governmental entity;
12. Involving newly constructed residential real property that previously has not been inhabited;
13. To a transferee who has occupied the property as a personal residence for one or more years immediately prior to the transfer; or
14. From a transferor who both has not occupied the property as a personal residence within one year immediately prior to the transfer and has acquired the property through inheritance or devise.

Buyer’s Rights – If the buyer does not receive a property disclosure form from the seller after an offer is made, the buyer may rescind the purchase agreement within 30 days of its execution in a written, signed, and dated document dated to the seller or their agent. In this case, the seller must return any deposits made by the buyer.^[3]