Arizona's Affidavit of Disclosure (ARS 33-422): What Land Sellers Must Hand Over

If you are selling five or fewer parcels of land in an unincorporated part of an Arizona county, and the land is not part of a subdivision, A.R.S. 33-422 requires you to give the buyer a sworn written affidavit of disclosure at least seven days before the transfer. The buyer can cancel the sale for five days after receiving it, and you record the signed affidavit at the same time as the deed.

This is the one Arizona land document that does not exist in other states, and it is the one sellers most often learn about when the title company asks for it. Not legal advice; the statute is linked below and a title officer or attorney confirms how it applies to your parcel.

Who has to give one

The statute covers "a seller of five or fewer parcels of land, other than subdivided land, in an unincorporated area of a county," and it also covers any later seller of such a parcel. So an heir who inherited the lot and sells it is covered, and so is an investor reselling one.

Two phrases do the work. "Unincorporated area" means outside a city or town limit, so a lot inside Prescott or Casa Grande is not covered, while a lot in Seligman, Concho or Golden Valley is. "Subdivided land" is defined elsewhere in the statutes as land divided for sale into six or more lots, so a parcel that sits inside a recorded subdivision of six or more lots is generally outside this affidavit. A 40-acre parcel carved out of a larger tract, or one of a handful of lots split from a ranch, is the typical case that falls inside it.

The statute does not apply to a trustee selling at a trustee's sale or an officer selling under a court execution. The text has no exception for a sale between relatives.

We cannot give you a county count of covered parcels. Our parcel file labels places by post office, so a blank city field does not tell us whether a lot is inside a city.

What the affidavit asks, item by item

The statute prints the form, and the seller completes it. It has 24 items, which fall into six groups.

Access. Whether there is legal access to the property, as Arizona's land-division law defines it, and whether there is physical access. Whether a licensed surveyor or engineer has said the road can be driven in an ordinary two-wheel-drive car. Whether legal and physical access are the same road. Whether the road is publicly maintained, privately maintained or not maintained, and whether a recorded road maintenance agreement exists. If you are selling a lot with no recorded way in, this is where it shows, and our landlocked property guide covers what to do about it.

Hazards. Whether any part of the land is in a FEMA regulatory floodplain, and whether it is subject to fissures or expansive soils.

Water and services. Which services reach the lot: water, sewer, electric, gas, phone, cable. Whether water has to be trucked in, and if so the name of the hauler and the source. Whether the lot has a private water company, a municipal provider, a private well, a shared well, or no well, and if a shared well, whether it is a public water system. Whether the water used on the property is the subject of a claim in a general stream adjudication, which is the court case that sorts out who holds water rights. Our water rights page explains what that means for value.

Wastewater. Whether a septic system or other on-site facility exists, whether a new one will be needed, whether it has been inspected, and whether the property has ever had a percolation test. The form asks whether, not what the result was.

Land use. Whether the land meets the county's minimum zoning for its district, and whether the sale meets the state's land-division laws. If it does not, the seller has to list each deficiency, and the form warns that the owner may not be able to get a building permit. It also tells the seller that it is unlawful to dodge the subdivision rules by dividing a parcel into six or more lots through a series of owners.

Everything else. Whether the property has solar panels or battery storage, and if leased, who the leasing company is. Whether the property is in the clear zone, high-noise zone or accident-potential zone of a military airport, under military restricted airspace, in a military electronics range or in the influence area of a military installation. Whether a lis pendens, court order, or state real estate department order limits the use of the property.

Timing, recording and the five-day cancellation

The seller must give the buyer the affidavit at least seven days before the transfer, and the buyer must acknowledge receiving it. The buyer then has five days from the day it is furnished to rescind. That is why the affidavit goes in at the start of a deal, not the end: a buyer who gets it late can still cancel, and a deal timed for a seven-day closing runs straight into the seven-day rule.

The affidavit has to be in twelve-point type and sworn before a notary. At closing the seller records it with the deed. The county recorder does not check the statements, and if you record a newer affidavit later, it replaces the earlier one.

What happens if it is skipped or wrong

Two things are written into the statute. A buyer's right to rescind runs from the day the affidavit is furnished, so a seller who never furnishes one does not start that clock. And any release or waiver of the seller's liability for an omission or misstatement in the affidavit is not binding on the buyer, so "as is" language in the contract does not clean up a wrong answer. We did not find a statutory penalty in the text, and what a court would do with a missing affidavit is a question for a lawyer.

The practical rule is simple: answer from what you know, say "unknown" where the form allows it, and do not guess.

Out-of-state owners and the sworn signature

About 36 percent of Arizona's vacant parcels, 179,789 of 502,163 in our file, send their tax bill to another state, and the affidavit has to be sworn before a notary. That is handled by mail or remote notarization; the process is in selling Arizona land from out of state.

How it fits with the rest of the paperwork

The affidavit is one of several documents in a land sale. The rest, including the deed and the affidavit of property value, are in our paperwork guide. If you are selling without an agent, the delivery is your job, as covered in selling land by owner in Arizona. Title and escrow fees are in closing costs when selling Arizona land.

When we buy a parcel that qualifies, you are the seller and the affidavit is yours to sign, and the answers have to be yours. Our process uses a title company for the closing paperwork, and your closing costs stay at $0. Ask the title company at the start of the deal who will prepare and notarize the affidavit, so the seven-day clock does not catch you late.