Washington Enacts Broad Disclosure Law For Commercial Transactions

The state of Washington enacted a sweeping revision to the state disclosure law that will require sellers of commercial property to provide broad disclosures about environmental conditions at the property being conveyed.

• The law is modeled on the disclosure used for residential properties. Under form 17, the owner will have to provide the following information about contamination:
• Are there any substances, materials, or products in or on the property that may be environmental concerns, such as asbestos, formaldehyde, radon gas, lead-based paint, fuel or chemical storage tanks, or contaminated soil or water?
• Is there any soil or groundwater contamination?
• Has the property been used as a legal or illegal dumping site?
• The answers are to be based on the actual knowledge of the seller. For any “yes” answers, the seller will have to provide additional information. The disclosure does not define “contamination”
• The law contains seven exemptions from disclosure requirements, such as foreclosures, family gifts, and other less typical transactions that track prior exemptions from residential disclosure requirements