Beginning September 1st, real estate brokers and salespersons must use the updated forms for the Consumer Protection Notice and the Seller’s Disclosure Notice. So what has changed?

Consumer Protection Notice
The form no longer references the real estate inspection recovery fund, which was repealed in the last session of the Texas congress. This will affect real estate brokers and sales agents, inspectors, and easement or right-of-way agents. The form must be posted online as well as the place of business. The new form can be found on the TREC website. You can download a copy here: https://www.trec.texas.gov/forms/consumer-protection-notice If you currently have the form linked to your website then you’re good to go since the url link to the form has not changed.

Seller’s Disclosure Notice

Sellers must now disclose the type of piping used for gas supply lines. This includes black iron pipe, copper, or corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST). If the seller does not know the information being requested, the seller can state “unknown” on the form. Since 2022, inspectors have been required to note the type of fuel gas piping on their inspection reports. So going forward, this information will be more readily available to sellers. You can download a copy of the new seller’s disclosure notice here: https://www.trec.texas.gov/forms/sellers-disclosure-notice-0 The form should be used for contracts that are executed on or after September 1, 2023.

Stay Informed

As always, brokers and sales agents should stay informed regarding changes to forms and new rules implemented by TREC. Check in with TREC on their website frequently as upcoming changes are posted to the site in a timely manner. Saying “I didn’t know about that” is not going to be an appropriate response if you get caught using an old form. And it puts your client at risk. So let’s all stay up to date on all of the changes that affect the real estate profession.