How do I advertise bedrooms in a property when no septic permit can be located?

QUESTION: I have been asked to list an older four-bedroom home that is served by a septic system, and my clients cannot locate any septic permit with the county. Can I advertise this home as a four-bedroom home? What guidance can you give me about what I should do before listing the property for sale, and what disclosures do I need to make before listing?

ANSWER: Unless you can conclusively establish that the septic system supports four bedrooms, then you should be very careful in how you advertise it. And, it sounds like you have more investigating to do before you will know what the status of this septic system is.

If you have not contacted the permitting office yourself yet, then you will want to start there and make your own request for files. Simply relying on your clients’ search is not enough. Hopefully, you will be able to obtain records that indicate the capacity of the system that was installed, and those records should be used for your listing.

If the permitting office tells you there are no records, be sure to request confirmation of that response in writing. Many times, requesting this kind of written confirmation of the search will spur the permitting office to dig a little deeper, and records may then appear.

The Commission has made clear that “in cases when the permit cannot be located, brokers should disclose what they know: namely, that the property has an on-site septic system but the system permit was not located.” See Septic Permits – A Refresher in Bulletin 2016-V47-1. The Commission has also said that if “a permit cannot be located after a reasonable search, a broker should document search efforts and obtain something in writing from the municipality stating that the permit cannot be located. The broker can then advertise the existing number of bedrooms with the disclosure that the permit records are not available and therefore capacity of the system could not be verified.” See On-site Septic System or Public Water and Sewer – Do Your Research in September 2019 eBulletin.

In addition to the above advice from the Commission, be sure not to just rely on tax records. Tax records on this topic are unreliable. They may provide some evidence of what the septic may have been permitted for, but they cannot be used, by themselves, as evidence of what was actually permitted. And, you might also consider recommending the seller try to hire a septic vendor to give a written opinion of the system. An inspection by a septic vendor may provide the best evidence of what a missing permit may have said.

Note that even if you follow all the guidance in this article, a complaint may still be filed if a misrepresentation is later discovered. The safest route when no septic permit can be located and no reliable information can be obtained about the septic’s capacity is to not make a representation at all and let the buyer do their own investigation.

If you do make a representation on the number of bedrooms without obtaining a septic permit, material facts like this should be made in the public remarks section of your MLS listing (and not in agent remarks) as well as in the RPOADS. This will ensure that ever buyer prospect, represented by an agent or not, gets the disclosure.

Release Date: 8/20/2026

---