A new law came into effect on January 1, 2011 mandating that all California dwellings have working carbon monoxide detectors installed on site by or before July 1, 2011. This rule, formally presented in Senate Bill 183 and signed into law last May, further requires that sellers disclose in the TDS whether or not a carbon monoxide detector is present and it requires sellers to certify that certain safety laws have been followed. Failure to make these disclosures could leave the seller liable for civil penalties. However, the penalties are nominal and they cannot invalidate the property transfer.

The Change – Carbon Monoxide Detectors and Safety Certifications

Formerly, there was no explicit requirement about carbon monoxide detectors. Now, the seller must explicitly state whether or not a carbon monoxide detector exists on site. Also, as an added improvement to the TDS, the legislature has required that the seller certify that he or she will make sure the property is compliant with smoke detector and water heater safety laws before close of escrow. The old law only required the seller to make a disclosure about the property’s compliance with smoke detector installation laws and water heater safety laws, but it did not require a certification of this sort.

This change in law will revise the disclosure forms to provide the seller opportunity to give a direct statement indicating whether or not the property has a carbon monoxide detector. It will also have language that helps the seller certify that the property will be in compliance with the requirements for smoke detectors and water heaters at the time of transfer.

The Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010

The new bill primarily focuses on enacting the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010, which sets structured requirements for the State Fire Marshal to certify and approve carbon monoxide devices and applicable instructions. The points of the bill are directed at manufacturers and the bill prohibits the sale of certain carbon monoxide detectors. However, the bill also gives landlords and property managers’ explicit authority to enter leased or rented homes to replace and/or fix faulty carbon monoxide detectors. It might also create certain liabilities for landlords who fail to provide these detectors. However, the bill attempts to cap those liabilities.

The New Form

While not overly significant, this will slightly change the way that the standard TDS form reads. The TDS forms have slightly changed to allow for the disclosure about carbon monoxide detectors and to provide a certification that the property complies with smoke detector and water heater safety laws.

The standard TDS form documents have been updated to comply with this new rule and they are currently available. All agents should be sure to use the most updated TDS forms. At a minimum, agents are required to start advising their sellers to disclose about carbon monoxide detectors in their TDS and to certify the property’s water heater safety and smoke detector compliance. Buyers’ agents are required to assure that their fiduciaries have received these disclosures and certifications. Of course, this is easily accomplished by using updated TDS forms.