REAL ESTATE: Requires property disclosures for vacant residential property
Summary
HB 1166 expands Louisiana’s residential property disclosure law to expressly cover “vacant residential property” in addition to occupied residential real property. The bill defines vacant residential property as land intended or authorized for residential use, even if it has no improvements or only uninhabitable or partial improvements such as slabs, utility connections, driveways, wells, septic systems, sheds, or similar structures. It also clarifies that the disclosure document must identify known defects in either residential real property or vacant residential property, and it updates related definitions and applicability provisions throughout the chapter.
The bill requires sellers of vacant residential property, like sellers of residential homes, to complete the commission-prescribed disclosure form and provide required notices about homeowners’ association membership and restrictive covenants or building restrictions. It also extends the chapter’s applicability and exemptions to vacant residential property, including foreclosure-related transfers, transfers to relatives, and transfers intended for conversion to nonresidential use. In addition, it updates the duties of real estate licensees so they must inform buyers and sellers of the disclosure requirements for vacant residential property, and it ties noncompliance to disciplinary authority under the Louisiana Real Estate Commission statutes.
Impact
HB 1166 amends Louisiana Civil Code-related disclosure provisions and the Real Estate License Law to bring vacant residential lots and similar residentially intended parcels under the state’s seller-disclosure regime. It also broadens the scope of the Louisiana Real Estate Commission’s enforcement authority by making failure to provide or explain the required disclosure form a potential licensing violation. The act takes effect January 1, 2027, and it also makes conforming changes to the commission’s membership statute without altering current commissioners’ terms.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House 98-0 and the Senate 38-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The lack of recorded committee discussion in the provided materials suggests little visible opposition or debate, and the final enactment as Act 708 reflects a consensus that disclosure rules should be extended to vacant residential property.
Contention
No major points of contention are reflected in the available record. The main policy choice is the expansion of disclosure obligations from existing residential structures to vacant residential property, which could impose additional compliance duties on sellers and real estate licensees. The bill also preserves several exemptions—such as foreclosure transfers, intra-family transfers, and transfers for nonresidential conversion—which may have been intended to limit the burden and avoid overreach, but no opposition is shown in the vote history or transcripts.
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