Indiana Seller Disclosure Requirements: What You Must Put on State Form 46234

Indiana seller disclosure requirements apply to nearly every house sold in the state, and they do not go away because the house is being sold as is. If you own residential real estate with four or fewer dwelling units, Indiana Code 32-21-5 requires you to complete a written sales disclosure form and put it in your buyer's hands before an offer is accepted (IC 32-21-5-1; IC 32-21-5-10).

Most sellers get into trouble in one of two ways. They assume an as-is listing replaces the form, or they treat the form as a formality and check boxes without thinking about what they actually know. Indiana's Supreme Court closed off the first assumption in 2013, and the second is what turns a $4,000 repair into a lawsuit with attorney fees attached.

This guide covers what the statute requires, every category on State Form 46234, the exact timing rule, all nine exemptions, the separate federal lead paint duty on older housing, and the liability standard that separates an honest error from a concealed defect. It also covers something sellers rarely think about, which is how differently a disclosed defect lands depending on who is buying.

What Indiana's seller disclosure law actually requires

Indiana requires the owner of residential real estate containing not more than four dwelling units to complete and sign a written sales disclosure form and submit it to a prospective buyer before an offer is accepted (IC 32-21-5-1(a); IC 32-21-5-10(a)). The chapter is titled Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure, and it is the entire legal source of the obligation. There is no separate common-law checklist layered on top of it.

The covered transactions are broader than a normal sale. The chapter reaches a sale, an exchange, an installment sales contract, and a lease with an option to buy (IC 32-21-5-1(a)). A land contract on a single-family house in Indiana is inside the statute, which surprises a lot of owners who think of a land contract as a rental arrangement.

The four-unit ceiling is the outer boundary. A single-family house, a duplex, a triplex, and a fourplex are all covered. A five-unit apartment building, raw land with no dwelling, and commercial property are outside the chapter entirely.

What counts as a defect under Indiana law

Indiana defines a defect as a condition that would have a significant adverse effect on the value of the property, that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants, or that if not repaired, removed, or replaced would significantly shorten or adversely affect the expected normal life of the premises (IC 32-21-5-4). That definition is printed on the face of State Form 46234 itself.

Read the three prongs separately, because they catch different things. A cracked foundation hits the value prong and the normal-life prong. A radon problem or a former methamphetamine lab hits the health and safety prong even where the house looks fine. A cosmetic issue that a buyer would notice on a walkthrough usually hits none of them.

You disclose what you know, not what an inspector would find

Indiana's standard is the seller's current actual knowledge, and the form says so at the top of every page. Indiana does not require an owner to hire an inspector, open a wall, or investigate a suspicion before completing the form. The state's instructions to sellers do require you to report all known conditions affecting the property regardless of how or when you learned about them, and to notify a potential buyer in writing if you learn a fact before closing that changes an answer (State Form 46234, R9 / 2-26).

What the Indiana seller disclosure form asks about

The Indiana seller disclosure form is State Form 46234, the Seller's Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure, adopted by the Indiana Real Estate Commission under IC 32-21-5-7 and published free by the state at forms.in.gov. The current revision is marked R9 / 2-26. It runs four pages and is organized into eight numbered parts, and the table below is what each part actually asks.

The four answer choices, and the one that gets misused

For the equipment sections the form gives four choices: Not Applicable or Rented, Defective, Not Defective, and Unknown. The state's own instruction is that Unknown is for when you truthfully do not know the answer, and Not Applicable or Rented is for an item you do not have or do not own (State Form 46234, R9 / 2-26).

Unknown is a legitimate answer and sellers underuse it out of nervousness, then overuse it in exactly the wrong place. If you have never operated the sauna the prior owner installed, Unknown is honest. If you have been putting a bucket under the same basement leak for two winters, Unknown is not an answer, it is a false one. Indiana's liability rule turns on your actual knowledge, so an Unknown that contradicts what you plainly know is the single most dangerous mark on the page.

The form is a disclosure, not a warranty

Indiana law is explicit that the disclosure form is not a warranty by the owner or the owner's agent, and that it may not be used as a substitute for any inspections or warranties the buyer or owner may later obtain (IC 32-21-5-9). You are not promising the furnace has ten years left. You are reporting what you currently know about it. The form also carries a required notice telling the buyer to consider getting professional advice or inspections (IC 32-21-5-7).

When the disclosure form has to reach the buyer

The owner must complete, sign, and submit the disclosure form to a prospective buyer before an offer for the sale of the residential real estate is accepted (IC 32-21-5-10(a)). That is earlier than most sellers assume. The deadline is tied to acceptance of the offer, not to the inspection period and not to the closing table.

Indiana backs that up with an enforceability rule. Before closing, an accepted offer is not enforceable against the buyer until the owner and the prospective buyer have signed the disclosure form (IC 32-21-5-10(c)). After closing, an owner's failure to deliver the form does not by itself invalidate the transaction, and a buyer cannot invalidate a sale because the buyer failed to sign a form the buyer actually received.

If the form arrives late and reveals a problem, the buyer gets a walk-away right. Where a prospective buyer receives a disclosure form or an amended disclosure form after an offer has been accepted and it discloses a defect, the buyer may nullify the contract within two business days by delivering a written rescission, and the buyer is entitled to a return of any deposits (IC 32-21-5-13). Two business days is short, and it is the buyer's clock rather than the seller's.

Your duty does not stop when you hand over the form

Indiana handles the conditions that change mid-deal in a specific way. An owner does not violate the chapter by later discovering the form has become inaccurate because of something that happened after delivery, but at or before settlement the owner must either disclose any material change in the physical condition of the property or certify to the purchaser that the condition is substantially the same as when the form was provided (IC 32-21-5-12(a)). State Form 46234 contains that closing certification line with signature blocks.

If the furnace dies in week three of a 45-day escrow, that is the provision that governs. Say so in writing before settlement. Signing the closing certification while knowing it is false is a much harder problem than disclosing a broken furnace.

Do you have to disclose defects when selling a house as is in Indiana?

Yes. Selling a house as is in Indiana does not remove the seller disclosure requirement, because the statute's exemption list at IC 32-21-5-1(b) is specific and closed, and an as-is sale is not on it. There are nine exempt categories, covering things like court-ordered transfers and fiduciary sales, and none of them turn on how the property is marketed or on what the purchase agreement says about condition.

That is the statutory half of the answer. The case-law half is stronger. In Johnson v. Wysocki, 990 N.E.2d 456 (Ind. 2013), the Indiana Supreme Court held that the legislature's adoption of the disclosure statutes abrogated the common law doctrine of caveat emptor for transactions inside their scope, and that a seller may be liable for fraudulent misrepresentations made on the disclosure form where the seller had actual knowledge the representation was false at the time the form was completed.

The court also framed why the statute exists in a way that matters here. The disclosure law relieves the buyer of having to initiate a specific inquiry to get an honest answer, and puts an affirmative duty of disclosure on the seller instead (Johnson v. Wysocki, Ind. 2013). A contract term that says the buyer takes the house as is does not undo a duty the legislature placed on the seller by statute.

What an as-is clause actually does

An as-is clause allocates the risk of defects nobody knows about. Signed by an informed buyer, it means the buyer accepts the condition of the house as it stands and will not come back for repairs or credits over problems that surface later. It is a real and useful term, and cash sales in Indiana routinely use one.

What an as-is clause does not do is convert a known defect into an unknown one. Indiana practitioners describe the seller's affirmative duty to disclose known material latent defects as surviving even where the buyer waives inspection or signs an as-is addendum (Barrett McNagny LLP). The two documents do different jobs, and a seller in Indiana needs both to be accurate.

Who is exempt from the Indiana seller disclosure requirement

Indiana exempts nine specific categories of transfer from the disclosure chapter, listed at IC 32-21-5-1(b) and reprinted on the first page of State Form 46234. Every one of them turns on who is transferring the property or why, never on the condition of the house or the terms of the deal.

Exempt from the form is not exempt from telling the truth

An exemption removes the paperwork obligation, and that is all it removes. Indiana's fraud and misrepresentation law still applies to an exempt seller who affirmatively lies about the condition of a house, and the federal lead-based paint rule covered below has its own separate exemption list that does not line up with the state one. If you are selling under an exemption, the safe posture is to answer condition questions honestly in writing anyway, because a voluntary accurate disclosure costs nothing and an inaccurate statement is actionable whether or not a form was required.

Federal lead paint disclosure on Indiana houses built before 1978

Federal law requires the seller of any residential dwelling built before 1978 to disclose known lead-based paint and known lead-based paint hazards, provide any available records and reports, give the buyer the EPA pamphlet, include a Lead Warning Statement in the contract, and allow the buyer a 10-day period to conduct a risk assessment or inspection unless the parties agree in writing to a different period (42 U.S.C. 4852d(a); 24 CFR Part 35 subpart H; 40 CFR Part 745 subpart F). This obligation is federal and runs independently of Indiana Code 32-21-5.

It reaches a large share of Indiana's housing. The Indiana Department of Health reports that houses built before 1980, which make up 57% of Indiana's housing, probably contain lead-based paint (Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Lead Free). In the older core neighborhoods of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Evansville, the pre-1978 share runs higher still.

The federal exemptions are not the Indiana exemptions

The two rules exempt different things, and that trips sellers up. The federal rule does not apply to housing built after 1977, zero-bedroom units, short-term leases of 100 days or less with no renewal, housing certified lead-free by a certified inspector, and foreclosure sales (EPA, Real Estate Notification and Disclosure Rule). Indiana's list at IC 32-21-5-1(b) is different, which means a fiduciary selling a 1955 house out of an estate can be exempt from State Form 46234 and still owe the full federal lead disclosure.

Federal penalties are the sharper set

A person who knowingly violates the federal disclosure section is jointly and severally liable to the purchaser for an amount equal to three times the damages incurred, and a court may award court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and expert witness fees to a prevailing plaintiff (42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3)). Civil penalties are also available to the government, adjusted annually for inflation (40 CFR Part 19). The compliance cost is a signed form and a pamphlet, so this is one of the cheapest legal risks in the whole transaction to eliminate.

What happens if you fail to disclose a known defect

An Indiana seller who gives a false answer about a defect the seller actually knew about can be sued for fraudulent misrepresentation, and the disclosure form is the evidence (Johnson v. Wysocki, 990 N.E.2d 456 (Ind. 2013)). An Indiana seller who gives a wrong answer about something outside their actual knowledge is generally protected by the statute. Indiana drew that line deliberately, and it is worth understanding precisely rather than by reputation.

The statutory safe harbor reads narrowly and applies in two steps. An owner is not liable for an error, inaccuracy, or omission if the error was not within the owner's actual knowledge, or was based on information from a public agency or from another person with a professional license or special knowledge who gave a written or oral report the owner reasonably believed to be correct, and the owner was not negligent in obtaining that information from the third party and transmitting it (IC 32-21-5-11). Both conditions have to hold.

How long a buyer has to come after you

Indiana's general limitation period for actions for relief against frauds is six years after the cause of action accrues (IC 34-11-2-7). Practitioners note that the applicable window can vary with the legal theory a buyer chooses, and that a claim may run anywhere from roughly two to six years from closing depending on how it is pleaded (Fritch Law Office, May 2025). The point for a seller is that the risk period is measured in years, not in days, and it long outlasts the closing.

Damages in a successful case can include the cost to repair the concealed condition, and Indiana firms report that a seller may also face the buyer's attorney fees in a fraud action (Barrett McNagny LLP). That is why the arithmetic almost always favors disclosure. Writing "roof leaks at the northeast corner" on the form costs you a price adjustment. Hiding it can cost you the repair, the litigation, and the other side's lawyer.

What Indiana sellers are not required to disclose

Indiana law expressly states that an owner or agent is not required to disclose knowledge of a psychologically affected property (IC 32-21-6-5). Indiana defines that to include real estate where an individual died, where an occupant had HIV, or that was the site of a felony, criminal gang activity, a firearm discharge involving a police officer, or illegal manufacture of a controlled substance (IC 32-21-6-3).

The protection has a hard limit. An owner or agent is not liable for refusing to disclose that a property is psychologically affected or for refusing to give details about it, but an owner or agent may not intentionally misrepresent a fact concerning a psychologically affected property in response to a direct inquiry from the buyer (IC 32-21-6-6). Silence is protected. A direct lie is not.

Note the overlap with the disclosure form. Methamphetamine manufacture on the property is separately and expressly a required disclosure under IC 32-21-5-7 and appears in part 6 of State Form 46234, so the psychologically-affected-property rule does not shelter it. Neither does it shelter physical damage or contamination left behind by an event, because that is a condition of the house rather than its history.

How a cash buyer reacts to a disclosed defect

A cash buyer who already expects defects prices a disclosed problem into the offer, while a financed retail buyer usually reopens the negotiation or leaves. That difference is about what happens after you disclose, and it does not change the disclosure duty itself in any way. You complete State Form 46234 either way.

In a financed sale, a disclosed defect travels a predictable path. The buyer's agent asks for a price reduction or a repair credit at a retail contractor's estimate, the inspector confirms the item on the report, and if the condition is structural or environmental the lender's underwriter or appraiser can require the repair before the loan will fund. Any one of those steps can end the deal, which is why sellers with a known problem often feel pressure to leave it off the form. That pressure is exactly what the statute is built to resist.

A cash purchase removes the lender from the chain. There is no appraisal condition, no underwriting review of the roof, and no loan to fall through in week five. A buyer purchasing with its own funds can read the disclosure, treat the disclosed items as line items in its own numbers, and proceed. The disclosed defect becomes an input to the price rather than a reason to walk.

Where Propcash fits

Propcash is a direct cash homebuyer. We buy houses across Indiana with our own funds, in any condition, and cash transactions can close in as few as 7 days. There are no agent commissions, no closing costs charged to you, and no fees, so Propcash is 100% free for sellers, with no repairs, no cleaning, and no cleanout required. Our offers are based on local market data and we will show you how we got to our number.

We are not a substitute for compliance, and we will not pretend otherwise. If you sell to Propcash you still complete State Form 46234 and deliver it before we accept, unless your transfer falls into one of the nine exemptions above. What changes is the reaction. Telling us the foundation has a horizontal crack or that the septic field failed in 2023 is information we use to price the house, not a reason to renegotiate later.

Propcash will also tell you when a cash sale is not your best move. If the house shows well, the systems are sound, and you have months of runway, listing with a local agent may net you more, and we will say so and point you to someone local. Indiana's statewide median sale price through June 2026 was $275,000 on 38,971 closed sales, up 5% year over year (Indiana Association of Realtors, July 2026), so a clean, updated house in a strong county has real options. A house with a disclosed structural or environmental problem usually does not. For statewide detail see our Indiana cash home buyer page, for the metro see Indianapolis cash buyer options, and for a side-by-side of the routes see our guide to the best way to sell a house for cash in Indiana.

Or call or text (615) 552-4296 to speak with the decision-maker. Our offer stands, so you can take it to an Indiana attorney before you decide anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Indiana's seller disclosure requirements?

Indiana requires the owner of residential real estate containing no more than four dwelling units to complete and sign a written sales disclosure form and submit it to a prospective buyer before an offer is accepted (IC 32-21-5-1; IC 32-21-5-10). The form covers the known condition of the foundation, mechanical systems, roof, structure, and water and sewer systems, plus controlled-substance contamination, airport proximity, military installation proximity, FEMA flood plain location, historic district designation, and conservation easements (IC 32-21-5-7). Answers are based on the seller's current actual knowledge, not on an inspection the seller is required to order.

Do I have to fill out a seller disclosure form if I sell my Indiana house as is?

Yes. Indiana's exemption list at IC 32-21-5-1(b) is specific and an as-is sale is not on it, so marketing a house as is does not remove the disclosure duty. The Indiana Supreme Court held in Johnson v. Wysocki, 990 N.E.2d 456 (Ind. 2013), that the disclosure statutes abrogate caveat emptor within their scope and that a seller may be liable for fraudulent misrepresentation on the form where the seller had actual knowledge the answer was false. An as-is clause allocates the risk of defects the seller does not know about. It does not license a false answer about a defect the seller does know about.

What is the Indiana seller disclosure form?

The Indiana seller disclosure form is State Form 46234, the Seller's Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure, adopted by the Indiana Real Estate Commission under IC 32-21-5-7. The current version is marked R9 / 2-26 and is published free on the state forms site at forms.in.gov. It is four pages, organized into appliances, electrical, water and sewer, heating and cooling, roof, hazardous conditions, and a long other-disclosures section, with Defective, Not Defective, Unknown, and Not Applicable or Rented as the answer choices for equipment items.

Who is exempt from the Indiana seller disclosure requirement?

IC 32-21-5-1(b) exempts nine categories of transfer: court-ordered transfers including estate administration, foreclosure sales, bankruptcy trustee sales, eminent domain, specific performance decrees, divorce decrees and property settlement agreements; transfers by a mortgagee that took title at a foreclosure sale or by deed in lieu; transfers by a fiduciary administering a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust; co-owner to co-owner transfers; transfers to a spouse or a lineal relative; tax-related transfers; transfers to or from a governmental entity; the first sale of a dwelling that has never been inhabited; and transfers to a living trust. Being exempt from the form does not authorize a seller to lie about the property.

When does the Indiana seller disclosure form have to be given to the buyer?

The owner must complete, sign, and submit the disclosure form to a prospective buyer before an offer for the sale is accepted (IC 32-21-5-10(a)). Before closing, an accepted offer is not enforceable against the buyer until both the owner and the prospective buyer have signed the form (IC 32-21-5-10(c)). If a buyer receives a disclosure form or an amended form after the offer was already accepted and it discloses a defect, the buyer has two business days to nullify the contract in writing and is entitled to a return of deposits (IC 32-21-5-13).

What happens if an Indiana seller does not disclose a known defect?

A seller who answers falsely about a defect the seller actually knew about can be sued for fraudulent misrepresentation under Johnson v. Wysocki, 990 N.E.2d 456 (Ind. 2013). Indiana's statute protects the honest mistake instead: an owner is not liable for an error, inaccuracy, or omission that was outside the owner's actual knowledge, or that came from a public agency or a licensed professional whose report the owner reasonably believed, so long as the owner was not negligent in obtaining and passing along that information (IC 32-21-5-11). The practical dividing line is actual knowledge, and Indiana's limitation period for relief from fraud runs six years (IC 34-11-2-7).

Do I have to disclose a death in the house in Indiana?

No. Indiana law states that an owner or agent is not required to disclose knowledge of a psychologically affected property, which includes real estate where an individual died, where an occupant had HIV, or that was the site of a felony or certain criminal activity (IC 32-21-6-5; IC 32-21-6-3). An owner is also not liable for refusing to disclose it (IC 32-21-6-6). The limit is that an owner or agent may not intentionally misrepresent a fact about a psychologically affected property in response to a direct inquiry from the buyer.