Energy Audits Required With Home Sales Montgomery County Maryland January 1, 2009
November 14th, 2008 categories: Movin Consumers, Movin Green Lifestyle, Movin Real Estate News
This January 1, 2009 a home energy audit will be required to be conducted in conjunction with a home inspection when selling a home in Montgomery county Maryland. Bill 31-07 was passed in April 2008 by the Montgomery County Council.
The Bill states;
“If a home inspection is completed in Connection with the sale of a single family home, the home inspection must include a home energy audit conducted by a qualified home energy performance rater”.
A home energy audit means that someone certified in the home energy field will test the home with the appropriate equipment to test the home’s efficiency and determine the steps, if any, that need to be taken to improve the home’s energy rating.
I have searched through the State of Maryland’s website and Montgomery County Website for more information. I found where they estimate that a home energy audit would run from about $350 to $700. This will include Town homes, I am not clear if condos will be included in this legislation or not.
It is also not clear to me if the purchaser is going to pay for this like a home inspection or if the seller is going to be responsible for the inspection prior to contract? The other issue that is unclear to me is if the seller will have to re-mediate the items the home energy rater finds deficient with the home?
In addition the seller will be required to provide the purchaser with the home’s energy bills for the 12 previous months – prior to signing the contract of sale – and any energy improvements that the seller has done to the property. If the seller did not occupy the property for the 12 months prior to the contract of sale, Pepco will give the average electric bill for the previous 12 months.
We are awaiting new forms and updates on how this legislation will be enforced at the beginning of the year. I will keep everyone abreast as I receive the information.
UPDATE TO THIS POST!! This was legislation that was on the books to be passed for 2009. Homeowners are not required to have home energy audits. However, the new legislation requires that home owners provide potential purchasers an list of the kilowatts or energy cosumption that is used for each month and the amount in dollars of that usage.
This is for all utilities except water consumption.
Stumble it!
What a great thing. It is about time the government got involved in forcing awareness of individual’s environmental footprints.
I wish Florida were this progressive.
Thanks Riley. I am sure it will start in a few places and move across the country. Just not sure how it will all play out as far as the real estate sale transaction goes? We will see.
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Great Post! Thanks
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Your post is very well crafted and I have learned so much about your interests and real estate in Florida. I
Hi, Excellent post, some really useful environmental information here and well worth knowing about.
Thanks
Will someone please correct this? The final version of this legislation required only the energy efficiency disclosure, not an audit, as it was found to be an undue burden on consumers to force them to pay so much in inspection fees as a part of their purchase.
What a horrible idea! Govt. forcing anything is bad business all around. What is wrong with people! Why should to Govt. tell me how to upkeep my house? What’s next – landscape patrol?
I’m trying to sell a home now and it will cost almost 400 dollars to have a regular home inspection, add in the cost and hassle of this and it’s over $1000 just to start off selling my home. Then what? If my husband is moved out of town quickly for a job and we have “energy” issues to uphold we’re in for more money and time. I say houses are sold AS IS and the buyers can be warned about what they need to do to ensure better energy, NOT the seller. This is America – does freedom ring a bell? Forcing is for places where people have no rights. You want a home – it’s sold as is. You want it more productive, you pay for it out of your own pocket when you make a “choice” to buy the home.
Also – who’s going to go around and help all the lower Middle Class people uphold this? They certainly can’t handle it and their neighborhoods will just end up falling apart more since they can not afford to move.
I see it in the town I live in now. No one wants homes in those areas because the lower classes have no money to even have nice landscaping and new siding. This will also affect people who make money off flipping houses resulting in higher home costs to make up for the rise in prices to fix them up and make them energy efficient.
Is the BIG Govt. coming in and paying for that for all these people? Adding more into the cost of selling a home is just bad news. What we need is more JOBS and less nonsense taxes so people can start taking care of their homes and families better.
When this post was written, this is what we, as agents, were preparing our sellers for. The post is updated.
It is not only and undue burden to the purchaser, just think of the cost of repairs that a seller might have to incur as well.
I think delivering the information to the consumer is good disclosure for sure, but think this would have been an unnecessary law for everyone involved.
Dan is correct, only the disclosure form is required from the seller, only if the seller has lived in the property for the last 12 months.
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