Home sellers and their real estate agents can be found guilty of a misdemeanor if they show or sell a house without a valid Truth-In-Housing report in place. It may also not be possible to close on a home if a Truth-In-Housing report can not be produced at closing. These reports are required, whether or not a real estate agent is involved, and, even if the home is being sold to a relative.

Truth-In-Housing reports usually take less than two hours to complete and are from two to six pages long, depending on the city. Evaluators must be licensed or certified by each city in which they work. Private Eye has certified inspectors available in all cities where a Truth-In-Housing evaluation is required.

Minneapolis

The City of Minneapolis was the first to require a Truth-In-Housing report. Minneapolis requires a Truth-In-Housing report on all single family, duplex, and townhouse units being sold.

In 1999 Minneapolis made a major change in their program and began requiring that certain conditions be corrected. Hazards, such as exposed wiring connections, defective plumbing, and missing smoke detectors, now require repairs. See Common Required Repairs (PDF file) for a list of some of the frequently required repairs.

Once a Truth-In-Housing report has been completed and filed with the city by the evaluator the home can be placed on the market for sale. All required repairs must be completed either by the seller prior to closing, or by the buyer within 90 days of closing. In the event the home does not sell and is removed from the market no repairs will no longer be required. Many repairs will require a building permit and some may need to be done by licensed contractors. Once the repairs are completed the original inspector must return to re-inspect the repairs. All repairs requiring a building permit will need to be re-inspected by the City building inspector. Once all required repairs have been re-inspected and approved the City will issue a "Certificate of Approval". This Certificate will be needed in order to close on the sale.

If the seller and buyer agree, the buyer can assume responsibility for the repairs by signing a Buyers' Responsibility Agreement. The buyer will then be given 90 days from the date of closing to complete all required repairs. Once all required repairs have been made and re-inspected the City will issue a "Certificate of Approval" Once a house has been sold under a Buyers' Responsibility Agreement the house can not be put back on the market or sold again until all required repairs from the original sale have been completed, reinspected and a Certificate of Approval has been issued. Should sellers want to know what their required repairs will be before completing an official Truth-In-Housing evaluation they can request a pre-inspection. During pre-inspection the evaluator makes a list of all required repairs and gives it to the seller. This pre-inspection will not be seen by the city Truth-In-Housing office. When the seller is ready to place the home on the market, they will need to have the inspector back for a second visit and to complete the actual Truth-In-Housing report. Any repairs which were listed on the pre-inspection, and which have been properly repaired, will not be included in the Truth-In-Housing report. It is up to the seller to make certain that proper permits were taken out for the work and that professional contractors were used to make the required repairs where required. See New Sequence to Closing (Word document) for more information.

St. Paul

St. Paul requires a Truth-In-Housing report on all single family, duplex, townhouse and condo units being sold. The only required repair is that, if no hard wired smoke detector is present near one of the sleeping areas, one must be installed.

Hopkins, Bloomington and St. Louis Park all have certain required repairs. South St. Paul and Maplewood have no required repairs.

ONLINE TRUTH-IN-HOUSING INSPECTION ORDER FORM

E-MAIL Office@PrivateEyeMN.com