Seller disclosure in New York: the property condition disclosure statement in 2026

This guide is for anyone selling a one- to four-family home in New York. It covers the state's property condition disclosure form: which sales need it, what changed in 2025, how to fill it in and what to gather before you do. You leave with a link to the state's form itself and a free two-page prep sheet that gets your paper ready for it.

I help New York sellers complete the property condition disclosure statement before they list.

The form is required on most sales

New York's Property Condition Disclosure Act requires the seller of a one- to four-family home to deliver the completed statement to the buyer or the buyer's agent before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale (Real Property Law 462). Since March 20, 2024 the form cannot be replaced by a credit: the option of giving the buyer a $500 credit at closing instead of the form was repealed, and seven flood questions were added, taking the form from 49 to 56 questions (New York State Bar Association, February 28, 2024).

The current form is the February 2025 revision

The Department of State's current form is DOS-1614-f (Rev. 02/25), required since July 1, 2025 (Department of State, the form in effect from July 1, 2025). You can download the real form from the Department of State (PDF, seven pages) and keep it open beside this guide. The change is a paragraph under question 36, the sewage question, that points buyers to the Department of Health's information on septic system operation and maintenance; the amendment was signed on September 27, 2024 (New York State Association of REALTORS legal update, as published by HGAR, 2025). A copy printed before July 2025 is out of date, so check the revision line at the foot of each page before anyone signs it.

A bill pending in 2026

A Senate bill introduced on May 15, 2026 would add a question 27-a, asking whether any testing or cleanup has been done when the property is within, or in the same zip code as, a federal Superfund site or a brownfield site (Senate bill S10426). It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee the same day and was still there when we checked on October 29, 2026. It is not law, and the current form does not ask it.

What the 56 questions cover

The form groups its questions in four sections, counted from the form text in Real Property Law 462(2):

• General information, questions 1 to 9: how long the seller has owned and lived in the house, the age of the structures, leases and easements, shared walls or driveways, utility surcharges and certificates of occupancy.
• Environmental, questions 10 to 27: eight flood questions (flood zones, the federal flood insurance requirement, federal disaster assistance, current flood insurance, elevation certificates and flood claims), then wetlands, agricultural districts, landfills, fuel tanks, asbestos, lead plumbing, radon, spills and testing for mold.
• Structural, questions 28 to 33: rot and water damage, fire and smoke damage, pests, the roof's type and age, and defects in footings, beams and columns.
• Mechanical systems and services, questions 34 to 56: water source and testing, sewage and septic, electric service, drainage and flood damage, the defect checklist from plumbing to the hot water heater, and the school district.

Answer from what you actually know

Each answer is Yes, No, Unkn (unknown) or NA (not applicable), and the form's instructions say to answer from the seller's actual knowledge and to complete the form yourself (DOS-1614-f, Rev. 02/25). The law defines knowledge as the seller's actual knowledge (Real Property Law 461), and the form states that it is not a warranty and not a substitute for inspections. Unkn is a fair answer when you do not know; a guess that proves wrong is not. The form also encourages buyers to get their own inspections and check public records; our home inspection checklist shows what an inspector will look at.

What happens if an answer is false

A seller is liable only for a willful failure to meet the act's requirements, and for that failure owes the buyer's actual damages, on top of any other remedy the law gives the buyer (Real Property Law 465). A signed form is also evidence: if it says "no known water problems" and the seller knew otherwise, a misrepresentation claim is easier to prove.

Who is exempt

The act covers one- to four-family homes. By its definition it does not cover condominium units, co-op apartments, property in a homeowners' association that the seller does not own in fee simple, or land where a home is still to be built (Real Property Law 461). Section 463 lists 14 kinds of transfer that need no statement, among them (Real Property Law 463):

• transfers under a court order, after a foreclosure sale or by a sheriff, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure;
• transfers by a fiduciary administering an estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust;
• transfers between co-owners, to a spouse or lineal descendants, and between spouses under a divorce decree;
• transfers to or from a government entity, and transfers under a partition action;
• newly built homes that have never been lived in.

Your attorney confirms whether your sale is covered.

Selling as is does not cover a known hidden defect

In general an as-is clause means the home is sold without a warranty as to its condition, so the seller will not make or pay for repairs. It does not protect a seller who conceals a known, significant, hidden defect: in Simone v Homecheck Real Estate Services (Appellate Division, Second Department, 2007) the house was sold as is and the buyer's fraud claim still went forward, because a false answer on the disclosure statement can be proof of active concealment. An invented example: the fieldstone basement floods every spring, the seller paints over the water lines in a dry autumn and answers No on question 39, the flood damage question. That is concealment, and an as-is clause will not help when the basement floods the next April. Talk to your attorney about how to describe any known problem accurately.

Two other disclosures

Lead paint in homes built before 1978

Federal rules require sellers of most pre-1978 homes to give the buyer the pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home", disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, hand over any reports, include the Lead Warning Statement in the contract, and give the buyer 10 days to arrange a lead inspection or risk assessment, a period the parties can change in writing or the buyer can waive. Sellers keep signed copies of the disclosures for three years after the sale (EPA, page updated May 27, 2026).

Deaths, crimes and illness on the property

New York law says it is not a material defect that a property was, or is suspected to have been, the site of a homicide, suicide or other death, or of a felony, or that an owner or occupant had HIV or another disease highly unlikely to spread through occupancy. A buyer may ask about these in writing, and the seller may choose whether to respond (Real Property Law 443-a). Decide with your attorney before listing how to handle the question, and never answer it untruthfully.

The disclosure plan

1. Talk to your attorney before you list. See why you need a real estate attorney in New York.
2. Walk your own house and list every known issue, past repair and improvement. An invented example: the roof leak two winters ago, the carpenter ant treatment, the sump pump that runs every spring.
3. Gather the paper the form asks about, and the permits for any work done: certificates of occupancy (question 9), flood insurance and elevation certificates (questions 15 and 16), radon, water and mold test reports (questions 24, 35 and 27), septic age and pump-out dates (question 36), warranties, repair invoices and your own purchase inspection report.
4. Fill in the current Rev. 02/25 form yourself, as its instructions say, review it with your attorney, and deliver it before the buyer signs the contract.

Free file: the disclosure prep sheet, two pages to keep beside the real form, DOS-1614-f (Rev. 02/25). Page 1 maps each document to the question number that asks for it; page 2 takes ten questions that need a date, a paper or an honest Unkn, and says where each answer comes from. Fill in the state's form itself; the sheet only gets the paper ready. Download the prep sheet (PDF).

Disclosure fits the wider selling sequence in our timeline for selling a house in New York.

Who this fits

This applies to sellers of one- to four-family homes in New York, from a single house to a four-unit building. Sellers of a condominium unit or a co-op apartment are outside the act, and their attorney advises on what their contract of sale requires.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. I am a licensed real estate salesperson, not an attorney; consult a New York real estate attorney about your own obligations.

Frequently asked questions

Is the property condition disclosure statement required in New York?

For most one- to four-family homes, yes. The seller delivers the completed statement before the buyer signs the contract, and the $500 credit alternative was repealed on March 20, 2024.

Which version of the form should a seller use?

DOS-1614-f, Rev. 02/25, required since July 1, 2025. It adds a septic information paragraph under question 36.

Do I have to disclose a death in a house in New York?

No. A death, homicide, suicide or felony on the property is not a material defect under Real Property Law 443-a. A buyer may ask in writing, and the seller may choose whether to respond.

Do condo and co-op sellers have to fill out the PCDS?

No. The act's definition of residential real property excludes condominium units, cooperative apartments and homeowners' association property the seller does not own in fee simple.

Is New York a buyer beware state?

Less than it was. Sellers must now complete the statement from actual knowledge and are liable for a willful failure to meet the law's requirements (Real Property Law 465), and an as-is clause does not protect active concealment (Simone v Homecheck, 2007). Buyers should still inspect.

Next step

If you are getting ready to sell, call me at (914) 875-2424, or book a consultation on realtylt.com, and I will go through the current form with you before you list.

Levan Tsiklauri, licensed New York real estate salesperson, Poughkeepsie.

Sources

• New York Real Property Law, Article 14: section 461 (definitions), 462 (the form), 463 (exemptions) and 465 (remedies; last revised March 29, 2024); and section 443-a (stigmatized property). Read October 29, 2026.
• Appellate Division, Second Department, Simone v Homecheck Real Estate Services, Inc., 42 AD3d 518 (2007), 2007 NY Slip Op 06224 (a false answer on the disclosure statement may be proof of active concealment; the as-is clause barred only the contract claim). Read October 30, 2026.
• NYS Department of State, Property Condition Disclosure Statement, DOS-1614-f (Rev. 02/25), required from July 1, 2025. Read October 29, 2026.
• New York State Association of REALTORS, legal update "Amended PCDS must be used beginning July 1, 2025", as published by HGAR, 2025. Read October 29, 2026.
• New York State Bar Association, Karl Holtzschue, "Property Condition Disclosure Act Amended", February 28, 2024. Read October 29, 2026.
• New York State Senate, bill S10426, introduced May 15, 2026, in the Judiciary Committee. Read October 29, 2026.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, real estate disclosures about potential lead hazards, updated May 27, 2026. Read October 29, 2026.

Sources checked October 29, 2026.

Written with an AI assistant and checked by Levan.