
Bank REOs And Property Disclosure
For many years, Oregon has had a seller property disclosure law. It requires owners of 1 to 4 family dwellings to disclose to buyers certain important information about the property being sold. It does not require sellers to disclose what they don’t know – just what they do know. This seems only fair. However, Oregon’s property disclosure law expressly excludes banks. When the law was first created years ago, the exclusion made sense. But today, with bank REOs comprising one of the largest segments of all sales transactions, consumers need a minimal level of protection. If sellers of 1 to 4 family homes cannot hide behind “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) why should banks?