For decades, a renovated house could be sold on its looks. New paint, new floors, new kitchen — and the buyer had no easy way to know who did the work, whether they were licensed, or whether the city ever saw a permit. California closed that gap with AB 968, in effect since July 1, 2024, and most owners who renovate before selling still have not heard of it.
AB 968 — now Civil Code section 1102.6h — applies when you sell a home of one to four units within 18 months of taking title. It was written for house flippers, but the text does not care what you call yourself. Bought a fixer, renovated for a year, life changed and now you are selling? Covered. Inherited-then-renovated-then-sold inside 18 months? Talk to your agent — the window is what matters.
If you have owned your home longer than 18 months, this particular law does not apply to you — the standard Transfer Disclosure Statement still does.
Sellers the law covers must disclose, in writing:
Read that middle line again, because it is the one with teeth: the buyer now sees who did your work. A licensed contractor's name and license number sits on your disclosure as a mark of quality. A blank where the contractor's name should be — or cash work by someone unlicensed — is now visible to every buyer, their agent and their inspector.
Failing these disclosures is treated like any other material non-disclosure in California: the buyer can sue after closing — for the cost of repairs, or in serious cases to unwind the sale — and the clock generally runs from when they *discover* the problem, not from when escrow closed. Selling "as-is" does not help; California's disclosure duties cannot be waived by an as-is sale. The few hundred dollars a seller saves on paperwork is not on the same scale as the exposure.
AB 968 is part of a clear direction in California law: renovation history is becoming part of a home's paper trail, the way a car carries its service records. For sellers who renovate properly — licensed contractor, permits where required, invoices kept — the law costs nothing and reads like a warranty. It only bites the work that was never meant to be looked at closely.
This article is general information, not legal advice — for a specific sale, an hour with a California real estate attorney is money well spent.
Golden Ridge Construction is a licensed Bay Area general contractor — License #1149928 — and every project we run leaves the documentation AB 968 asks for: contract, license, invoices, and permits where the work needs them. If you are renovating a home you might sell, build the file as you build the house.
Call (408) 418-8376 or message us through the contact page.
A California law, in effect since July 1, 2024, that says: if you sell a home of one to four units within 18 months of buying it, you must tell the buyer in writing what renovations and repairs you made, name the contractors who did work over $500 with their contact information, and hand over copies of any permits. It exists so buyers of recently renovated homes can see who did the work and whether the city inspected it.
If you sell within 18 months of taking title, yes. The law does not ask why you are selling; it only looks at the calendar. An owner who bought, renovated and had a job change eight months later is covered exactly like a professional flipper. Past the 18-month mark, AB 968 no longer applies — though the standard Transfer Disclosure Statement and its duty to disclose known material facts never goes away.
The statute's disclosure of renovations targets work performed under contract, and the contractor-naming requirement applies to work over $500. But do not read that as a loophole: DIY work you know about is still a material fact under California's general disclosure rules, and anything that needed a permit needed one regardless of who held the hammer. The safe reading is to disclose what you did, whoever did it — concealment is what creates liability.
Two cases. If the work was finish work — paint, flooring, counters, tile — no permit was required, and your disclosure simply says so; that is completely clean. If the work legally required a permit and never got one, you must disclose that too, and expect it to cost you: appraisers do not count unpermitted square footage, lenders and insurers get nervous, and buyers negotiate hard against it. California's streamlined rules have made retroactively legalizing some work, especially ADU conversions, more achievable than it used to be.
Sue, the same as for any material non-disclosure — for repair costs, damages, or in egregious cases rescission of the sale. The limitations clock generally runs from discovery of the problem rather than from closing, so the exposure lasts years. Selling as-is does not remove the duty; California's residential disclosure regime cannot be waived. This is general information rather than legal advice — a real estate attorney can assess a specific situation.
Keep and hand over the paper: a written list of renovations and repairs since you took title, each contractor's name and contact information for work over $500, and copies of permits where the work required them — or directions to the building department's records if you do not have copies. If you are renovating now and even might sell within 18 months, build that file as the work happens: contract, license number, invoices, permit cards. Five minutes per project now replaces weeks of reconstruction in escrow.
