Disclosing Unpermitted Work to a Buyer

In California, a seller who knows about unpermitted work on a house generally has to tell the buyer, in writing, before the sale closes. The statutory Transfer Disclosure Statement under Civil Code section 1102.6 asks whether you are aware of room additions, structural modifications or other alterations made without necessary permits, and that duty does not go away because the buyer pays cash or agrees to buy as-is. A clear disclosure describes what was built, roughly when, by whom if you know, and what you do not know, so the buyer prices the space with open eyes instead of finding it in escrow.

This article covers what the law asks, what a useful disclosure of a converted garage or enclosed patio looks like, and how disclosure changes the price. It belongs to our unpermitted additions and converted garages hub. Disclosure duties turn on facts, so for your own sale, a real estate attorney is the right person to ask.

Do you have to disclose unpermitted work when selling a house in California?

For most sales of a house, yes. Civil Code section 1102 applies the disclosure article to sales of single-family residential property, and it says any waiver of those requirements is void as against public policy. The form itself, set out in section 1102.6, walks the seller through the property's features and known conditions, including whether there were additions or alterations made without necessary permits.

Two more sections widen the duty beyond the form. Section 1102.8 says the listed items do not limit any other disclosure obligation, including the duty to avoid fraud, misrepresentation or deceit. And Civil Code section 1710 counts the suppression of a fact by someone bound to disclose it as a form of deceit. A converted garage that the buyer cannot see in the public record is exactly the kind of fact those sections are about.

What does the form ask, and what do you actually know?

The Transfer Disclosure Statement is answered from the seller's knowledge. It asks whether you are aware of a condition, not whether the condition exists. That cuts two ways:

• If you built it or had it built without a permit, you know. Say so.
• If a previous owner built it, you may not know whether a permit was pulled. Do not assume one was. If the assessor's record still shows a garage where there is now a bedroom, or the building department has no permit on file, that is something you know, and it belongs in the disclosure.
• If you are unsure, say what you know and what you do not: "converted before we bought the house in the 1990s; we have no permit records; the county record still shows a two-car garage."

Section 1102.4 protects a seller from liability for an error that was not within the seller's personal knowledge and came from a public agency or a licensed expert, when ordinary care was used. It does not protect a seller who knew and stayed quiet.

A disclosure that actually helps

The legal form is a checkbox and a few lines. A buyer, a buyer's lender and a buyer's appraiser need more. For a converted garage, an enclosed patio or a back house, a useful disclosure covers:

1. What the space is now: bedroom, family room, unit with a kitchen, workshop.
2. What it was: garage, patio, carport, storage shed.
3. When the work was done, as closely as you know, because a conversion built before January 1, 2020 is treated differently if the buyer later tries to legalize it as an ADU.
4. Who did it: you, a contractor, a previous owner, unknown.
5. What is in it: bathroom, kitchen, laundry, how it is powered and heated.
6. Permit status: none found, partial, or a permit pulled but never finaled.
7. Whether anyone lives in it, and on what terms.
8. Any notice from the city or county about the space.

In the post-war tracts south of Holt Avenue in Pomona, that usually describes a garage bedroom. In older central Chino it is often an enclosed patio that became a den and never made it into the assessor's square footage. Near Claremont Village it can be an enclosed back porch on a bungalow. Our city notes for Pomona, Chino and Claremont describe those housing eras.

A house you bought recently

Since July 1, 2024, Civil Code section 1102.6h adds a rule for a seller who accepts an offer within 18 months of taking title. That seller must also disclose room additions, structural modifications, other alterations or repairs made since taking title by a contractor the seller hired, with the contractor's name where the contract was large enough to require a license, and must give the buyer a copy of any permit the seller obtained. If you bought, converted and are now selling, that section applies to you.

When does the disclosure have to be delivered?

Under Civil Code section 1102.3, the seller delivers the statement as soon as practicable before title transfers. If it, or a material change to it, arrives after the buyer's offer is accepted, the buyer gets a short statutory window to terminate: three days after delivery in person, or five days after delivery by mail or by electronic record where the parties agreed to work electronically. A late surprise about a garage conversion gives the buyer an exit. Early disclosure removes it.

Are some sellers exempt?

Some transfers are exempt from the form, and fewer than people assume. Section 1102.2 exempts sales under court order, including sales ordered by a probate court in administering an estate, foreclosure sales, and sales by a fiduciary administering a trust, guardianship, conservatorship or estate. The fiduciary exemption does not cover a trustee of a revocable trust who is a natural person and a former owner or recent occupant of the property. An exemption from the form is not permission to stay silent: section 1102.8 keeps the general duty to avoid fraud and deceit. If you are selling as an administrator or trustee, read our pages on probate sales and trust sales, and ask the estate's attorney what applies.

Does disclosing cost you money?

Disclosure does not create the price difference. The unpermitted space does. What disclosure changes is when the buyer learns about it. Disclosed up front, the space is priced into the offer, and a financed buyer's appraisal is less likely to blindside the escrow. Hidden, it tends to come out anyway, through the assessor's record, the buyer's inspection, or the lender's appraiser, who has to comment on an addition without a required permit. We explain that in why appraisers cannot count unpermitted living area. And section 1102.13 makes a seller who willfully or negligently fails to disclose liable for the buyer's actual damages.

A disclosed listing can still be the best path. When the house is strong at its legal square footage, demand on your blocks is deep, and the buyer pool includes cash and large-down-payment buyers, an honest listing often nets more than a cash sale. When the work is straightforward to permit, legalizing the conversion as an ADU first may net more again.

Disclosure on a cash sale

A cash buyer still receives the disclosure. The difference is that the cash purchase offer already prices the space as it exists, so there is no appraisal to fail. On the offer sheet, the unpermitted area, how it was treated in the comparable sales and the deduction taken for it are written as their own lines. Next to it, the open-market read, a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal, shows what a disclosed listing would likely net. Our guide to what unpermitted additions cost and how to decide lays the three paths side by side.

Will disclosing bring code enforcement?

Disclosure goes to the buyer as part of a private sale. Code enforcement is a separate matter between the owner and the city or county. If you are worried about a notice, or already have one, talk to the building department or an attorney before you list. If a notice exists, it belongs in the disclosure too.

Next step

If you are writing a disclosure for a converted garage or back house and want to see what the space is costing you, see how we handle selling with unpermitted additions or call (909) 498-3977. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.

Sources

• California Civil Code section 1102 (scope; waiver void), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.2 (exempt transfers), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.3 (delivery and the buyer's termination right), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.4 (errors outside the seller's knowledge), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.6 (Transfer Disclosure Statement), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.6h (sales within 18 months of acquiring title), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.8 (other disclosure obligations), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1102.13 (liability for actual damages), accessed October 31, 2026
• California Civil Code section 1710 (deceit), accessed October 31, 2026
• Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-05, Improvements Section of the Appraisal Report, accessed October 31, 2026

Mr. Cali Offers is not a law firm and does not give legal or permitting advice. Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.