Disclosures, Contracts, Fair Housing, Condos & Rentals

Miscellaneous gathers the other Pennsylvania laws a salesperson uses every day: the Seller Disclosure Law, required contract terms, the Human Relations Act, condominium and time-share rules, and the Landlord and Tenant Act.

Property disclosures

The Seller Disclosure Law covers transfers of Pennsylvania property with one to four residential units, by sale, exchange, installment contract, lease with option or condominium/cooperative unit. A seller must disclose known material defects on a property disclosure statement and deliver a signed, dated copy to the buyer before the agreement of sale is signed.

• Exempt transfers include court-ordered transfers, foreclosures, transfers between co-owners, to a spouse or lineal relative, under a divorce decree, of property to be demolished or converted to non-residential use, of unimproved land, by a fiduciary administering an estate or trust, and qualifying new construction (one-year warranty, code inspection, certificate of occupancy).
• A material defect significantly lowers value or poses an unreasonable risk to people. A system at or past its normal useful life is not, by itself, a material defect.
• The seller need not investigate, may answer on the best information available, and must notify the buyer if information becomes inaccurate before settlement. A condominium seller discloses only about the unit; the resale certificate covers common elements.
• A willful or negligent violation makes a person liable for the buyer's actual damages, but the sale is not invalidated solely because of the violation. Suit must be brought within two years after final settlement. An agent is liable only with actual knowledge of an undisclosed defect or misrepresentation.

Licensee duties: the seller's licensee advises the seller of the duty, provides the form, and delivers the completed statement (or one marked "refused") before the agreement is signed; the buyer's licensee makes sure it was delivered. Either must disclose to the buyer in writing any material defect it actually knows of, but neither must verify the seller's answers. A home inspection contingency calls for a full member of a national home inspection association or a licensed engineer or architect, or an inspector supervised by a full member who signs the report.

Documents, contracts and forms

An agreement of sale must contain the date, the parties, a property description, the price, payment and conveyance dates, the broker's capacity and any services to another party, the escrow provision, the Recovery Fund notice, and a statement that road access may require a highway occupancy permit. It must state the zoning classification unless the property is zoned solely or primarily for single-family dwellings; omitting it makes the agreement voidable by the buyer, with deposits returned without court action.

• A mortgage contingency states the loan type, principal, maximum interest rate, minimum term, deadline, and the broker's assistance.
• A clause relieving the seller of responsibility for defects, or letting a builder change specifications, must be in bold.
• Before the agreement is signed, the brokers give each party a written estimate of costs (commission, financing, taxes, settlement expenses).
• Every signer gets a copy at execution. A comparative market analysis carries the prescribed statement that it is not an appraisal.

Pennsylvania Human Relations Act

The Act protects buyers and tenants of housing and commercial property on the basis of race, color, familial status, age (40 and older), religious creed, ancestry, sex, national origin, handicap or disability, and the use of guide or support animals, including by handlers and trainers. Familial status protection extends to anyone pregnant or securing custody of a minor, and evicting someone before the lease ends because of pregnancy or a birth is unlawful.

• Unlawful acts include refusing to sell, lease or finance; discriminatory terms or ads; discriminatory application questions; refusing reasonable accommodations; and refusing reasonable modifications at the person's expense (a landlord may require restoration of the interior).
• Blockbusting, inducing listings for profit by referring to who lives or may move into a neighborhood, is unlawful.
• Housing for older persons may limit residents by age if, among other things, at least 80% of units have an occupant 55 or older.
• A personal residence offered for rent by its owner is not a "housing accommodation."
• Complaints must be filed within 180 days after the alleged act, unless the Fair Housing Act requires otherwise.

Time-shares, planned communities and condominiums

• Condo resale: before the contract, the unit owner furnishes the declaration, bylaws, rules and a resale certificate, which the association must supply within ten days of a request. The buyer may void the contract until the certificate arrives and for five days after (or until conveyance). The buyer owes no unpaid assessments beyond those the certificate shows. The planned community law works the same way.
• New units from a declarant: a buyer who received the public offering statement late may cancel before conveyance within 15 days after receiving it, or within 7 days for a time-share estate.
• Time shares under the licensing law: the buyer may cancel until midnight of the fifth day after signing. Notice by certified mail or a receipted delivery is effective when postmarked or deposited; payments are refunded within ten business days and promotional gifts stay with the buyer. The right cannot be waived.

Rentals, leasing and property management

• Security deposits (residential): no more than two months' rent in the first year and one month's after that. After five years of tenancy, a rent increase cannot trigger a larger deposit.
• Deposits over $100 go into a regulated escrow account, and the tenant is told where, unless the landlord posts a guarantee bond instead. After the second anniversary, interest goes to the tenant annually except 1% a year the landlord keeps for administration.
• Within 30 days after the lease ends or the premises are surrendered, the landlord sends an itemized list of damages with the balance. Missing it forfeits the right to withhold any of the deposit; wrongful withholding costs double the excess. A tenant who gives no forwarding address in writing loses these protections.
• A lease for more than three years must be written and signed, or it is only a lease at will, unless the tenancy has run more than a year with both sides recognizing it, which makes it year to year. A notice to quit for nonpayment gives 10 days (mobile home park spaces differ). If a sole tenant dies, the estate may end the lease on 14 days' written notice.

Where this shows up on the exam

Miscellaneous is 6 of the 40 scored State items (Pearson VUE outline effective March 16, 2026). Expect one or two items each on disclosure timing, contract contents, fair housing classes, condo resale periods and security deposit limits.

Sources

North Carolina law as published by the General Assembly and the Office of Administrative Hearings, checked 2026-11-05:

• 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 7102–7103
• 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 7302–7313 (Seller Disclosure Law, as in effect before Act 74 of 2026)
• 68 Pa.C.S. § 7506
• 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3406–3407
• 68 Pa.C.S. § 5407
• 63 P.S. §§ 455.604(a)(9), 455.608.2–455.608.3, 455.609
• 49 Pa. Code §§ 35.284a, 35.333–35.334
• 43 P.S. §§ 954, 955, 955.3, 959 (Human Relations Act)
• 68 P.S. §§ 250.202, 250.501, 250.511a–250.512, 250.514 (Landlord and Tenant Act)
• Pearson VUE PA Real Estate Content Outlines #093901 (03/2026)