Contracts, Financing, and Transaction Disclosures
Contract essentials and disclosures
Maryland's statute of frauds requires land contracts to be written and signed. For one-to-four unit residential resales, the seller delivers the Maryland Residential Property Disclosure and Disclaimer Statement covering water and sewer service, hazardous conditions, structural and system defects and similar items. A disclaimer is available only in narrow circumstances, such as a seller who never occupied the property and makes no representations.
Transaction disclosures
- Lead-based paint pamphlet and disclosure for pre-1978 housing.
- Condominium and homeowner association resale packages, which carry a short statutory rescission window if delivered late.
- Agency disclosure at first contact, plus the brokerage agreement itself.
- TRID financing disclosures: Loan Estimate within three business days of application, Closing Disclosure at least three business days before consummation.
Financing basics
Lenders measure loan-to-value, charge points on the loan amount, and often require mortgage insurance above 80 percent LTV. Maryland foreclosures proceed judicially through the circuit court.
Worked example
A seller delivers the disclosure statement six days after ratification instead of before signing. The buyer may rescind within the statutory window; the seller cannot cure by arguing the buyer had an inspection. Inspection duty and disclosure duty are separate obligations.
Traps that cost marks
Treating as-is as a license to conceal latent defects; missing the three-business-day Closing Disclosure rule; confusing prequalification with preapproval; forgetting the condominium rescission right.