Another panel will focus on the impact of the state lead-disclosure law, enacted last year, which requires that sellers and brokers disclose the presence of any lead in an apartment.

Real estate law requires sellers to disclose material facts - things like leaky roofs and toxic waste.

Legal Niceties No Requirements On Disclosure There is no requirement in any state that sellers - or their representatives - disclose if the current residents smoked inside a home.

She cited a recent Maine case in which a seller had disclosed on the form that the basement regularly flooded.

They generally require sellers and their agents to disclose to potential buyers conditions that are not readily apparent but are still likely to hurt a home's value.

Ideally, the seller should disclose all potential problems before the sale, but, unfortunately, many do not, so buyers must make a careful inspection of the house before they buy.

Neither buyer nor seller would disclose the purchase price.

"The purchaser must agree to abide by them and must also sign a lead paint form in which the seller discloses whether they have knowledge of the presence of lead."

Transphyseal bridges and periosteal elevation - which manipulates the tendons - are among the procedures that the new code of ethics would have sellers disclose before sales.

California's requires sellers to disclose a murder, but only within three years of the crime.