Sellers are asked about the condition of their homes in a property disclosure statement. Most of the questions start: “Are you aware of...?”

According to the B.C. Court of Appeal, “awareness is inherently subjective.”

“A vendor is only obligated to disclose his or her current actual knowledge, not to warrant that knowledge is correct,” states a Tuesday (May 3) ruling written by Justice Anne MacKenzie.

Her decision was issued on the appeal brought by Ian Callaway, who purchased a Vancouver townhouse from Helga Hamilton in 2004.

In the property-disclosure statement, Hamilton answered no when asked if she was aware of any problems with the plumbing system.

The trial judge determined that there were no systemic or structural issues, although there were some previous problems due to the settling of the buildings.

The judge found that Hamilton was honest with her answer. Callaway appealed, relying on another court ruling, which provided that a vendor’s answers in a property-disclosure statement should be accurate.

The appeal court rejected this argument, noting that the case cited by Callaway involved a seller who knowingly lied.

According to the ruling, a vendor is “not required to warrant a certain state of affairs but only to put prospective purchasers on notice of any current known problems”.