Form 17: Washington's seller disclosure, explained

6 min read · 8 sections
By Henos Adhana · Licensed WA Real Estate Broker #25016434 · eXp Realty

Form 17 is the disclosure statement Washington requires from most sellers of homes with one to four units, including resale condos. The seller answers yes, no or don't know across nine sections. It is due within five business days of mutual acceptance unless the contract says otherwise, and the buyer then has three business days to accept it or rescind and get their deposit back. It is a disclosure, not a warranty.

Who fills it out, and who is exempt#

The law covers what it calls improved residential real property: a home with one to four units, a resale condo or other residential common interest community, a residential timeshare, and a manufactured home that is personal property. A brand-new condo sold with a public offering statement is outside it, because that statement does the job instead.

Seven kinds of transfer are exempt: a foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure; a gift or transfer to a parent, spouse, domestic partner or child; a transfer between spouses or domestic partners in a divorce; a sale to a buyer who owned an interest in the property within the past two years; a transfer of less than full ownership; a sale by an estate's personal representative or a bankruptcy trustee; and any sale where the buyer expressly waives it.

The edges trip people up. A sale by an estate's personal representative is exempt. A sale by the trustee of a living trust is not, and neither is one signed under a power of attorney or by a guardian. The foreclosure itself is exempt, but a bank reselling the house afterwards is not on the list.

New construction that has never been occupied still gets a Form 17, but the builder does not have to answer section 4, Structural, or section 5, Systems and fixtures.

Sources

• RCW 64.06.005, which properties are covered, Washington State Legislature
• RCW 64.06.010, exempt transfers and waivers, Washington State Legislature

What it asks#

Nine sections: title; water; sewer or on-site septic; structural; systems and fixtures; homeowners' association and common interests; environmental; manufactured and mobile homes; and a last section for anything else the seller knows. Every question is answered yes, no or don't know. Questions marked with an asterisk need an explanation when the answer is yes, with documents attached where they exist.

The form's own instructions tell the seller not to leave anything blank, and to write NA only where a question clearly does not apply. Blanks, and a wall of don't-knows, are both worth a question from the buyer's side.

On a Seattle house, a few answers deserve a slower read: flooding, standing water or drainage problems, fuel or chemical storage tanks, which is where a buried heating oil tank shows up, and anything in the sewer section. If a tank or the side sewer is in play, the guides on buying a house with an oil tank and Seattle side sewers go further.

Sources

• RCW 64.06.020, the disclosure statement, Washington State Legislature

The timeline, and the three-day right#

Unless the buyer has waived it, the seller delivers Form 17 no later than five business days after mutual acceptance, or on whatever schedule the contract sets. The buyer then has three business days from receipt, again unless the contract sets something else, to approve it or rescind the agreement.

Rescission has to be in writing. If the buyer rescinds, all deposits come back immediately, less any disbursements the parties had already agreed to. If no written notice arrives in time, the statement is treated as approved and accepted.

Most Seattle listings make the disclosure available before offers are written, so a careful buyer reads it before offering rather than after.

Sources

• RCW 64.06.030, delivery and the buyer's right to rescind, Washington State Legislature

When something changes before closing#

If the seller learns something before closing that makes an answer wrong, the seller has to amend the statement, and the buyer gets three business days to rescind over the change.

Two exceptions matter. The duty to amend arises only when the seller learns of the problem from somewhere other than the buyer's side, such as an inspection the buyer paid for. And if the seller fixes the problem at least three business days before closing, there is no amendment and no new right to rescind.

Sources

• RCW 64.06.040, amendments, Washington State Legislature

What it is not#

The statute is plain that Form 17 is for disclosure only. It is not part of the purchase agreement, and it is not a warranty of any kind, from the seller or from either broker.

A seller is also not liable for an error, inaccuracy or omission they had no actual knowledge of, or for information that came from a public agency or from a licensed professional such as an inspector, surveyor or contractor working within their field.

For a buyer, that settles whether to inspect. Form 17 tells you what the seller knows. Only an inspection tells you what nobody knows yet.

For a seller, it settles something too. Once you know about a problem, including from your own pre-listing inspection, it belongs on the form. When in doubt, disclose. It is cheaper than the argument.

Sources

• RCW 64.06.050, seller liability, Washington State Legislature

Waiving it#

A buyer can expressly waive the right to receive Form 17, and some sellers ask for that, estates and investors especially. There is one limit: if any answer in the environmental section would be yes, the buyer cannot waive receiving that section.

So a seller who asks for a waiver still owes the environmental section if anything in it applies. As a buyer, I would rarely waive the rest without a good reason. It costs the seller nothing to fill in, and it gives you three business days you would not otherwise have.

When the seller hands you their own inspection#

Many Seattle listings come with a pre-listing inspection alongside Form 17. Read it, and treat it as part of the disclosure rather than a substitute for your own. The seller paid for it, the inspector was working for the seller, and it carries no warranty.

It is useful all the same. It tells you what the seller now knows, and anything in that report that is missing from Form 17 is worth asking about before you write an offer.

Common questions#