Fair Home Cash Do I have to disclose problems if I sell as-is?

As-is controls what you fix. Disclosure controls what you say.

These are two separate legal ideas, and mixing them up is where sellers get hurt. The as-is clause in a contract governs condition: the buyer accepts the property in its current state, and you repair nothing, credit nothing, and touch nothing. Disclosure law governs honesty: what you must tell the buyer about problems you actually know exist. Illinois has a Residential Real Property Disclosure Act (765 ILCS 77) that requires most sellers of homes with one to four units to complete a written disclosure report about material defects they know of — flooding in the basement, a foundation problem, an unsafe condition in the wiring — and selling as-is does not switch that duty off.

The standard is worth understanding precisely, because it is friendlier than sellers fear: the Act asks what you actually know. You are not required to hire inspectors, investigate, or guess. If you genuinely have no knowledge of a roof problem, checking that box is honest even if a leak turns up later. Disclose honestly, sell as-is, and both halves of the law are satisfied. Our plain-English guide to what an as-is sale actually is covers the condition half in full.

Federal lead paint, Illinois radon, and the narrow exemptions

Two more layers sit on top of the state form. Federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure for most homes built before 1978 (the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, 42 U.S.C. 4852d) — that one applies in every state and in most sales, as-is or not (foreclosure sales are exempt). Illinois adds a radon layer through the Illinois Radon Awareness Act (420 ILCS 46), which requires sellers to deliver the state radon pamphlet and disclose known radon hazards or prior test results.

There are exemptions, but they are narrow and specific: certain court-ordered transfers, some transfers by estates and fiduciaries, and similar special cases are treated differently under the Act. If you think your sale qualifies — you are an executor selling for an estate, for example — confirm it with a real estate attorney rather than assuming. Guessing wrong about an exemption is expensive; asking costs one phone call.

The as-is clause will not protect a false disclosure

Here is the part that should settle any temptation to shade the form: courts treat as-is clauses and dishonest disclosures very differently. The Illinois Act gives buyers remedies when a seller knowingly discloses false information or omits a known material defect — including actual damages and, in some cases, attorney fees — and common-law fraud claims can survive both the as-is clause and the closing itself. The disclosure you sign follows the sale. A seller who wrote “no known flooding” over a basement they pumped out every spring has handed the buyer the lawsuit and the evidence in the same envelope.

In an as-is sale, disclosure costs you almost nothing

This is the irony sellers miss: the honest answer hurts most in a traditional retail sale, where a scary disclosure can spook financed buyers and their lenders. In an as-is sale to an investor, the buyer is already pricing problems as a matter of business. Telling a cash buyer the basement takes water does not blow up the deal — water in the basement is precisely the kind of house they buy. The disclosure form takes minutes when you are simply telling the truth, and the truth is already reflected in the offer math. Professional as-is buyers price condition rather than punish disclosure, and they should attach the numbers to the offer in writing — the walkthrough of that math lives in how buyers calculate offers, and our guide to selling a house as-is in Chicago shows what it looks like on the ground.

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