N.Y. Real Property Law § 466

RPL § 466: what the estate agent must tell you about the disclosure statement

Real Property Law § 466 makes a listing agent inform the seller, and an agent inform the buyer, of the disclosure article before a binding contract.

Official text N.Y. Real Property Law § 466 — New York

§ 466. Duty of an agent. An agent representing a seller of residential real property as a listing broker shall have the duty to timely inform each seller represented by that agent of the seller's obligations under this article. An agent representing a buyer of residential real property, or, if the buyer is not represented by an agent, the agent representing a seller of residential real property and dealing with a prospective buyer, shall have the duty to timely (in any event, before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale) inform such buyer of the buyer's rights and obligations under this article. If an agent performs the duties and obligations imposed upon him or her pursuant to this section, the agent shall have no further duties under this article and shall not be liable to any party for a violation of this article.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

This section allocates one duty to each side and then ends it. A listing broker representing a seller of residential real property must timely inform each seller it represents of the seller's obligations under the property condition disclosure article. An agent representing a buyer - or, where the buyer is unrepresented, the seller's agent dealing with a prospective buyer - must timely inform that buyer of the buyer's rights and obligations under the article, and the section fixes the outside date: in any event before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale.

The unrepresented buyer clause is the practical core of it. A buyer with no agent of their own does not fall through a gap: the duty to explain the article shifts to the agent on the other side, who is dealing with them.

The last sentence is a safe harbour, and it is a real one. If the agent performs the duties imposed by this section, the agent has no further duties under the article and is not liable to any party for a violation of it. Explaining the article discharges the agent's obligation under the article. That is a narrow statement about this statute, and it says nothing about the other duties an agent owes - the agency disclosure requirements, the licensing rules, and the duties an agent owes a principal all sit outside this section.

When it applies

  • A buyer with no agent of their own was never told what the disclosure statement was.
  • A seller says the listing broker never mentioned the disclosure obligation.
  • A buyer signs a contract without ever receiving the disclosure statement.
  • A buyer wants to know whether the agent, as well as the seller, can be pursued over a non-disclosure.
  • An agent is asked to explain the disclosure article to a prospective buyer at an open house.

What this section does not say

  • It does not make the agent responsible for the accuracy of the seller's answers. The duty is to inform about the article.
  • It does not cover an agent's other duties. Agency disclosure, licensing and the duties owed to a principal are governed elsewhere.
  • It does not give the buyer a remedy against the seller. That is § 465.
  • It does not apply after a binding contract is signed - the buyer-side duty must be performed before that.
  • It is not a general duty to disclose defects the agent knows about; the section addresses information about the article itself.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

A couple buy a house without an agent of their own. Nobody mentions a disclosure statement at any stage, and they first hear of it months after the closing.

How the wording applies

Where a buyer is unrepresented, the duty to inform them of their rights and obligations under the article falls on the seller's agent who is dealing with them, and it must be performed before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale. So the fact that decides it is whether anyone explained the article before signature - not whether the buyer had representation of their own.

How the parties settled it

The brokerage contributes towards the repairs and adopts a written checklist so that unrepresented buyers get the explanation at the first viewing rather than not at all.

Illustrative example

Buyers who found a defect want to pursue the agent as well as the seller, arguing the agent should have known the answers on the form were wrong.

How the wording applies

The safe harbor is real: if the agent performs the duties this section imposes, the agent has no further duties under the article and is not liable to any party for a violation of it. The duty is to inform about the article, not to stand behind the accuracy of the seller's answers. It is a narrow statement about this statute, though - agency disclosure, licensing and the duties an agent owes a principal sit outside it.

How the parties settled it

The buyers pursue the repair claim with the seller alone, and the agent produces the file notes showing when the article was explained, which both sides accept as closing that question.

Illustrative example

A seller facing a claim says her listing broker never told her she had to complete a disclosure statement at all.

How the wording applies

A listing broker representing a seller must timely inform each seller it represents of that seller's obligations under the article, and performing that duty discharges the broker under the article. What it does not do is move the seller's own obligation, which § 462 imposes on the seller directly.

How the parties settled it

The brokerage covers the seller's costs of dealing with the claim, and the seller completes and delivers a full statement for any future sale as part of the same agreement.

Related sections

N.Y. Real Property Law § 462 Deliver Before Signing | N.Y. Real Property Law § 462 N.Y. Real Property Law § 465 Liable for Willful Failure: N.Y. Real Property Law § 465 N.Y. Real Property Law § 442-d No license? No commission – N.Y. Real Property Law § 442-d

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of N.Y. Real Property Law § 466 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in New York.

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