Energy-efficiency info needs to be given to buyers

We all know that many types of disclosures can be provided between parties during the course of a real estate transaction. However, it's important to know which ones are required – and when they're required – so that the seller and buyer are in compliance with both the law and the contracts.

Many Florida Realtors contracts contain a section regarding disclosures. Some of these disclosures are generic in nature, meaning that the required disclosure is contained within the body of the contract itself. For example, the radon disclosure contained in the contracts (residential and commercial) is based on statutorily proscribed language that must be given either before or within the contract. However, other disclosures may require additional attachments or information to be given.

One example is the building energy-efficiency information.

Pursuant to Florida Statutes 553.996, "a prospective purchaser of real property with a building for occupancy located thereon shall be provided information at the time of or before the purchaser's execution of the contract for sale and purchase which notifies the purchaser of the option for an energy-efficiency rating on the building."

This means that if you're representing a seller or buyer in a transaction where a building for occupancy exists (commercial or residential), this energy-efficiency information must be given to the buyer.

Building energy-efficiency rating system providers must have completed the necessary training established by the applicable rating system in preparing the information to make available to the buyer. As a result, there isn't one specific form that must be used to provide the required information.

In the Florida Realtors commercial and residential contracts, it states that, in signing the contract, the buyer acknowledges receipt of the energy-efficiency information brochure. You can find a compliant brochure in Form Simplicity that contains the required information, titled "Energy Efficiency Brochure."

As always, make sure you're reviewing contracts in your transactions carefully. Have the proper disclosures been given? Are the correct riders or addenda attached to correspond with the checked boxes in the contract? Remember, not all transactions are alike, and what you may have with one, you may not have in another.

But if you're involved in a transaction containing a building for occupancy, be it a house or an office building, this information must be given to the purchaser.

Meredith Caruso is Manager of Member Legal Communications for Florida Realtors

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