By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
Yes. New York requires a completed Property Condition Disclosure Statement, and since the March 20, 2024 amendment the 56-question form is mandatory — the old option of giving the buyer a five hundred dollar credit instead of completing it was eliminated. The part that causes the most unnecessary anxiety is what the form actually asks. It asks what the seller knows. "Unknown" is a permitted answer, and there is no obligation to investigate, inspect, or test in order to fill it out. A seller who answers honestly from actual knowledge has done what the law requires. A seller who guesses, or who conceals something they know about, has created a problem that outlives the closing.
What the Law Requires Now
Every seller of residential property in New York must deliver a completed Property Condition Disclosure Statement to the buyer before a binding contract is signed. The form runs 56 questions covering the property's systems, structure, environmental conditions, and history.
The rule changed on March 20, 2024. Before that amendment, a seller could decline to complete the form and instead give the buyer a five hundred dollar credit at closing — an option most sellers took, because it was faster and it limited what they had to put in writing. That option no longer exists. A great deal of material still circulating online describes the credit as available, and any guidance a seller encounters that mentions it is pre-amendment and should be disregarded.
The amendment also added seven flood-related questions. These matter here more than in most of Nassau County. Homes along Manhasset Bay, throughout Port Washington's waterfront stretches, and across much of Manorhaven sit in AE or VE flood zones, and the questions ask about past flood damage, flood insurance history and claims, and whether the property lies in a designated flood area.
The completed form becomes part of the contract file. It is signed, and the signature means something.
The Part That Causes Unnecessary Panic
Sellers approach this form as though it demands total knowledge of everything that has ever happened to the house. It does not, and understanding what it actually asks removes most of the stress.
The form asks what the seller knows. It does not impose a duty to investigate. A seller is not required to open walls, order tests, hire inspectors, or research the property's history in order to answer it. The questions are directed at actual knowledge, and where a seller genuinely does not know, "Unknown" is a permitted and appropriate answer.
This matters because the failure mode runs in both directions. Sellers who over-answer — guessing at the age of a roof they never replaced, speculating about whether a stain indicates a leak, asserting there has never been water in a basement they have owned for two years — create statements that can be challenged later. A seller who owned the home for six years genuinely does not know what happened in the forty before that, and saying so is correct rather than evasive.
The obligation is honesty about what is known, not omniscience about what is not. A seller who inherited the property, who bought it recently, or who has never lived in it will legitimately answer "Unknown" to many questions, and that is what the form contemplates.
Where the line sits: a seller who knows something and answers otherwise has misrepresented. A seller who does not know and says so has complied.
Selling "As-Is" Does Not Change Any of This
This misconception costs sellers more than almost any other, and it comes up constantly.
Selling as-is is a statement about repairs. It tells a buyer the seller does not intend to fix things, will not be negotiating credits for inspection items, and is pricing accordingly. It is a perfectly legitimate way to sell, and it is common in estate sales and in properties with significant deferred maintenance.
It has no effect whatsoever on the disclosure obligation. An as-is seller completes the same 56-question form with the same honesty requirement. The two things address different questions: as-is answers what will be repaired, disclosure answers what is known. A seller who believes as-is means they can decline to answer, or answer loosely, has misunderstood the arrangement in a way that creates real exposure.
The one genuine exemption is for estates. An executor or administrator who never occupied the property is not required to complete the PCDS, which makes sense — they have no knowledge to disclose. That exemption does not extend to federal lead-based paint disclosure, covered below, and it does not apply to an heir who actually lived in the home.
What Happens If a Seller Gets It Wrong
The exposure is real and it is also narrower than most sellers fear, which is worth understanding precisely.
Under New York's Real Property Law, a seller who willfully fails to disclose a condition — meaning they knew and did not say — can be liable to the buyer for actual damages resulting from that failure. The claim survives the closing. This is the reason the form deserves genuine attention rather than a rushed pass the week of listing.
The counterweight is that New York otherwise operates largely on caveat emptor in residential transactions. A seller is not generally obligated to volunteer everything they can think of beyond what the form asks, and is not liable for conditions they did not know about. What creates liability is active concealment — painting over a known water stain, hiding evidence of a problem, or affirmatively stating something untrue.
Put together, the practical picture is manageable. Answer the questions asked, honestly, from actual knowledge. Use "Unknown" where it applies. Do not conceal. A seller who does those three things has met the obligation, and a seller who wants comfort about a specific question should raise it with their attorney before signing — which is one more reason engaging counsel before listing rather than after an offer pays for itself.
Lead Paint, Permits, and Oil Tanks
Three items sit alongside the PCDS and are frequently confused with it.
Lead-based paint is a separate federal requirement for homes built before 1978, and it is not satisfied by completing the PCDS. It requires its own disclosure form, delivery of an EPA-approved pamphlet, and a ten-day period for the buyer to conduct testing if they choose. Much of Port Washington's housing stock predates 1978, so this applies broadly here. The estate exemption from the PCDS does not extend to this requirement.
Unpermitted work and open certificates of occupancy interact with disclosure but are a distinct problem. The PCDS asks whether the seller knows of work done without required permits. Separately and independently, the buyer's attorney orders municipal searches after contracts are signed, and whatever is on file with the governing village or town comes back regardless of what anyone disclosed. A finished basement, a deck, a dormer never signed off. The disclosure question and the municipal record are two different things, and a seller can answer the form correctly and still face a permit problem. The peninsula's jurisdictional layers — several incorporated villages plus unincorporated Town of North Hempstead area, each with its own building department — are sorted out in which rules apply where.
Underground oil tanks deserve specific mention. Many older Port Washington homes converted from oil to gas, and abandoned tanks were sometimes left in place rather than removed or properly closed. Where a seller knows of a tank, that is disclosable. Where they suspect but do not know, the honest answer is "Unknown" — and it is worth raising with the attorney, because a tank that surfaces during a buyer's inspection is a considerably harder conversation than one addressed in advance.
A Worked Example
Consider a composite case — a Port Washington seller preparing to list a 1954 colonial she had owned for eight years, working through the form with her attorney.
Three questions gave her trouble. On flooding, she knew water had come into the garage during a severe storm two years earlier and had never entered the house. She disclosed exactly that, in those terms — the specific event, the specific location — rather than either denying flood history or overstating it.
On the roof, she had no idea of its age; it was original to her purchase and the prior owner's records were gone. She answered "Unknown." Her instinct had been to estimate, which would have converted a non-answer into a statement someone could later dispute.
On an oil tank, she suspected one might remain buried in the side yard based on a comment a neighbor once made, but had no confirmation. She answered "Unknown" on the form and separately asked her attorney how to handle it, who recommended a tank sweep before listing. It found nothing, and she had documentation to that effect for any buyer who asked.
None of that required expertise. It required answering the actual question, and asking her attorney where she was unsure.
Where to Start
Get the form early, well before listing, and read it through once without answering anything. Note which questions turn on facts the seller genuinely knows and which do not. Gather what records exist — permits, receipts, warranties, prior inspection reports.
Then complete it with the attorney rather than alone at a kitchen table the night before contracts. Use "Unknown" wherever it honestly applies. Where a known issue exists, describe it specifically rather than vaguely. And separately from the form, call the building department that governs the property to find out what is on file, since that record surfaces regardless of what gets disclosed.
Sellers wanting a read on where the property stands before any of this begins can start with a quiet look at current value. More Long Island market and process coverage lives in Local Insights.
The Honest Bottom Line
The disclosure form is less frightening than it looks and more consequential than it feels. It asks what the seller knows, and it accepts "Unknown" as an answer to things they do not. That alone resolves most of the worry sellers bring to it.
What it does not tolerate is knowing something and saying otherwise. That is where liability lives, it survives the closing, and no amount of as-is language or careful phrasing changes it.
The sellers who handle this well are not the ones with perfect houses. They are the ones who answered the questions in front of them honestly, said so plainly where a real issue existed, and used "Unknown" without embarrassment where they genuinely did not know. For anyone working through a specific question on the form, with no pressure attached, that conversation is available whenever the timing suits.
This is general information, not legal advice. Disclosure obligations carry real consequences and turn on specific facts. Sellers should complete the Property Condition Disclosure Statement with a licensed New York real estate attorney and raise any uncertain question with counsel before signing.
FAQs
Can a New York seller still give a $500 credit instead of the disclosure form?
No. That option was eliminated when the Property Condition Disclosure Statement was amended effective March 20, 2024. The 56-question form is now mandatory for residential sales and must be delivered to the buyer before a binding contract is signed. The amendment also added seven flood-related questions. Guidance still describing the credit as an available alternative is pre-amendment material and should be disregarded — a substantial amount of it remains online. The completed form is signed and becomes part of the contract file.
What if a seller genuinely doesn't know the answer to a disclosure question?
"Unknown" is a permitted and appropriate answer. The form asks what the seller actually knows and imposes no duty to investigate, inspect, or test in order to complete it. A seller who has owned a home for six years does not know what happened during the forty years before that, and saying so is correct rather than evasive. The more common error runs the other way — sellers who guess at a roof's age or speculate about a stain create statements that can later be disputed, where an honest "Unknown" would have carried no exposure at all.
Does selling a home as-is remove the disclosure obligation?
No, and this misconception is expensive. As-is describes what the seller will repair — it signals no repairs, no inspection credits, and pricing that reflects condition. It says nothing about what must be disclosed. An as-is seller completes the same 56-question form with the same honesty requirement. The two address different questions entirely: as-is answers what will be fixed, disclosure answers what is known. The only genuine exemption is for estates, where an executor who never occupied the property has no knowledge to disclose.
What happens if a seller fails to disclose a known problem?
Under New York's Real Property Law, a seller who willfully fails to disclose a known condition can be liable to the buyer for actual damages resulting from that failure, and the claim survives the closing. The counterweight is that New York otherwise operates largely on caveat emptor — a seller is generally not liable for conditions they did not know about and is not required to volunteer everything beyond what the form asks. What creates liability is active concealment: painting over a known water stain, hiding evidence, or affirmatively stating something untrue.
Does the disclosure form cover lead paint and unpermitted work?
Partially, and the distinctions matter. Lead-based paint is a separate federal requirement for homes built before 1978 — its own form, an EPA pamphlet, and a ten-day testing window for the buyer. It is not satisfied by the PCDS, and the estate exemption does not extend to it. On unpermitted work, the form asks whether the seller knows of any, but the buyer's attorney separately orders municipal searches after contracts are signed, and whatever the governing village or town has on file surfaces regardless of what was disclosed.
By Eric Berman, REALTOR® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
Eric Berman | Long Island & Queens Associate Broker | Compass
1468 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY 11030
(917) 225-8596 | eric@ericbermanre.com | theericbermanteam.com
