03/28/2024
There have been recent changes to the Connecticut requirements to the affidavit for smoke/carbon monoxide detectors for sellers in CT. The recent change
eliminates the ability of those selling and transferring residential properties in Connecticut to give the new owners a $250 credit rather than providing a signed affidavit attesting to the presence of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Many sellers have chosen to provide the $250 credit in the past because the affidavit required the party transferring the property to certify that the smoke and carbon monoxide detection system complied with the Fire Safety Code, the State Fire Prevention Code, and the State Building Code.
Paying the $250 credit rather than signing the affidavit served to reduce potential exposure to liability. Providing the $250.00 credit is no longer an option.
However, while providing a signed affidavit is now mandatory, the revised statute removes the requirement for those transferring property to provide certification of compliance with state fire safety, fire prevention, and building codes.
At the time of closing on a transaction the seller must provide an affidavit to the buyer stating that the building or unit is equipped with
• Smoke detector/ carbon monoxide detectors to be installed in or in the immediate vicinity of each bedroom.
• Produce an audible alarm when the equipment’s test button is depressed.
• Interconnected in such a manner that activation of the alarm on any such equipment activates the alarm on all such equipment in the building or unit (provided that, for any residential building or unit constructed prior to January 1, 1990, the transferor can specify that the conditions requiring that the equipment be interconnected are not applicable to the building or unit)
There are exemptions to the requirements for providing an affidavit, which were expanded in the updated statute such as a transfer to immediate family or a transfer from a trustee/executor.
Attorney Michelle Begley is happy to assist with your CT deals.
