Mandatory property disclosures to a buyer before your transaction closes are not determined by your broker, your local association, or your MLS. In Virginia, those requirements are set at the state level. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, meaning what the General Assembly decides applies everywhere, to every agent, every seller, and every transaction across the Commonwealth.

That makes what gets introduced in the General Assembly matter more here than it would in many other states.

What Was Proposed

Two mandatory disclosure bills came before the General Assembly this session. Both would have expanded what sellers are required to disclose to buyers statewide.

Research has shown that new mandatory disclosure requirements can produce an immediate loss of five to seven percent of a home’s value for affected properties. A requirement that applies statewide does not ask whether your listing is actually impacted. It applies broadly, and the market responds accordingly.

Why It Touches Every Agent

When a new disclosure requirement takes effect, the market reacts before most agents have read the legislation. Homes that fall under the new requirement lose value immediately before a single listing goes live. Sellers who bought without that obligation now face a different conversation at the listing table. Buyers who were not asking the question now are, and their agents are expected to have answers.

For agents, that means more potential liability, more uncertainty in how listings get priced, and clients on both sides of the transaction trying to make decisions in a market that shifted overnight.

What Happened

Both mandatory disclosures failed after Virginia REALTORS®’ efforts. Virginia REALTORS® reviews every bill that gets introduced every session. Disclosure requirements that seem reasonable in isolation can reshape how an entire market gets valued and traded. Stopping them in their tracks is far easier than unwinding the damage after they do. Virginia REALTORS® wins are not just about the positive bills we lobby for and support; it’s also about stopping bad and harmful legislation that would negatively effect you and your clients.