Inherited Rambler, Late Disclosure, Capped Well

The buyer's disclosure-based rescission window runs three business days from receipt of the statement, not from signing and not from the inspection deadline.

• Delivered Monday, March 6 at 10:00 a.m. Start counting the next day: Tuesday the 7th (day 1), Wednesday the 8th (day 2), Thursday the 9th (day 3). Weekends and holidays are excluded from this count.
• The buyer must deliver written notice of rescission to the seller or the seller's agent by the end of Thursday, March 9. Oral notice, a text to a friend, or a phone call to the listing agent is not enough.
• If delivered on time, the buyer is entitled to the return of earnest money; the disclosure statute supplies the remedy independently of any inspection contingency.
• If the buyer waits past March 9, that specific right is gone - the buyer keeps the ordinary remedies for fraud or misrepresentation, and the inspection contingency, but cannot simply rescind on the disclosure statute.
• The inspection deadline of March 15 is a separate clock and does not extend the disclosure window. Advise the buyer to send the notice now and negotiate later if they want to keep the deal alive.

Several failures, some of which are the agent's regardless of what the seller knew.

• A 'no/unknown' blanket is not a disclosure. A seller must disclose what she actually knows or has reason to know. Inheriting the home gives her access to her mother's records, insurance claims, and repair receipts; 'unknown' is defensible only after a reasonable inquiry, and the agent should document that inquiry.
• Well Disclosure Certificate. Minnesota requires the seller to give a well disclosure certificate to the buyer before the buyer signs the purchase agreement, and the certificate is recorded with the deed. It was not done, and the buyer has a statutory right to cancel the purchase agreement on that basis. A capped, unused well still must be disclosed.
• Individual sewage treatment system. The seller must disclose the system's status. If it is failing or not compliant, a notice must be filed with the county, and the buyer's assumption of responsibility requires proper written notice. Advertising 'city sewer' when a septic system exists is a material misrepresentation.
• The agent's independent duty. A licensee must disclose material facts she knows or should know. If the agent learned of the flooding, the well, or the system from the neighbor, the county, or the seller, she cannot stay silent while the listing says 'city water and sewer.'

Correct path: obtain the well certificate and county records, amend the disclosure and the listing, and let the buyer decide with accurate information.

The two rights are not interchangeable, and the buyer is trading a clean exit for a negotiated one.

• The inspection contingency typically lets the buyer terminate or renegotiate only within the stated deadline (March 15 here) and may require a written request and a seller response period. It can be waived, expire, or be answered with a 'take it or leave it' counter.
• The disclosure rescission right is narrower in time (through March 9) but does not depend on the seller's agreement or on the inspection results.
• Reasonable advice: send the written rescission notice before the deadline to preserve the option, while simultaneously telling the seller the buyer is willing to discuss a price reduction or repair credit. If terms are reached, the parties can sign a new or amended agreement. Preserving the right costs nothing; losing it is irreversible.
• The buyer's agent should also advise a professional inspection of the basement, the well, and the septic system regardless, and should confirm in writing whether the seller obtained any estimates - the neighbor's account is a lead, not a conclusion.