Real Estate Professionals E&O Insurance in Virginia

Virginia at a glance

Primary regulator

Virginia Real Estate Board

Part of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

Disclosure statute

Residential Property Disclosure Act, Va. Code §55.1-700 et seq.

Most sellers may disclose no representations and direct buyers to independent due diligence.

Disclosure timing rule

Brokerage relationship disclosure required by first substantive assistance

18VAC135-20-220 requires written consent before dual or designated representation.

Market factor

Northern Virginia's compressed contract-to-closing timelines

Increases risk of missed inspection, appraisal, or financing deadlines.

The buyer-beware disclosure model

Unlike states that require sellers to answer detailed yes-or-no questions about specific defects, Virginia Code §55.1-703 lets most sellers disclose that they make no representations or warranties and direct the purchaser toward due diligence such as a home inspection, mold assessment, or energy analysis. This structure puts more weight on a buyer's agent's advice to actually pursue those inspections, since a Virginia seller's minimal disclosure gives a buyer far less written information to rely on than in a state with a detailed disclosure form.

Brokerage relationship disclosure timing under 18VAC135-20-220

Virginia requires a licensee who is not representing a party to disclose whom they represent at the earliest practical time, no later than when specific real estate assistance is first provided, and requires written consent from all parties before a licensee acts as a dual or designated agent or representative. A licensee who begins showing a property or discussing financing before making this disclosure, especially in a fast-moving Northern Virginia market, creates the same undisclosed-representation exposure that other mid-Atlantic states police through a signed disclosure form at first contact.

Adjacent-parcel and lot-line disclaimers

Virginia's statutory disclosure form also disclaims any representation about adjacent parcels, zoning of neighboring land, or exact lot lines, meaning a buyer relying on an agent's casual description of a property's boundaries or neighborhood zoning takes on real risk if that description proves inaccurate. Agents who volunteer specific boundary or zoning assurances beyond the statutory disclaimer, rather than directing buyers to a survey or the locality, effectively take on liability the statute was designed to place elsewhere.

Northern Virginia transaction pace and appraisal timing

The Northern Virginia market's fast contract-to-closing timelines and competitive-offer practices compress the window in which agents coordinate inspection contingencies, appraisal deadlines, and financing approvals, and a missed date in that compressed schedule is a frequent source of claims. Firms operating across both the Northern Virginia corridor and slower-paced regions of the state benefit from separate contract-timeline checklists rather than a single statewide default.

Who we write this for in Virginia

Real estate E&O FAQs for Virginia