ISSUE:

The seller paid for a survey at the time of his purchase three years ago which confirmed that sixteen acres of vacant land was purchased. The seller now wants to sell the vacant land. The adjacent property owner has contacted the listing broker disputing the boundary line. If the adjacent property owner is correct, the seller will only have 15.8 acres of land to sell. Is the listing broker required to disclose this property dispute in the MLS or other advertising material?

ANSWER:

Probably not. A.A.C. R4-28-502(C) requires that “. . . all advertising contain[s] accurate claims and representations…. A salesperson or broker shall not misrepresent the facts or create misleading impressions.” The seller has paid for a professional survey that confirms the size of the land that the seller purchased. Advertising the sale of sixteen acres based on the survey is probably not misleading nor misrepresenting the property.

Note: Once a purchase contract is signed, however, the seller must disclose in the SPDS or otherwise the fact that the adjacent property owner disputes the boundary line. A seller has a duty to disclose latent material defects such as potential encroachments affecting the value of the property. Hill v. Jones, 151 Ariz. 81, 725 P.2d 1115 (App. 1986).