What the agent told you at the viewing: can you prove it later?

You look round the flat and notice a stain on the ceiling.

“Oh, that’s from when they redecorated. There’s no leak.”

The first heavy rain after you move in, water comes through the ceiling. You go back through the paperwork. There is nothing about a leak anywhere.

The explanation happens out loud while you walk round the property. Only part of it ever reaches the paperwork.

How sixteen countries define an agent’s duty to disclose

These are the countries we checked. Ireland is not included. The US, Canada and Australia regulate state by state or province by province, so we have used representative jurisdictions. From this post on we have added Germany, France and Brazil.

Every one of them puts some duty on the agent to tell you what they know. What ends up in writing is only what the forms ask for. What is said as you walk round the property is, mostly, not written down anywhere.

United States: the agent has to look

California gives agents a duty to inspect with their own eyes. A broker acting for the seller of residential property of one to four units must conduct a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection and disclose to prospective buyers all facts materially affecting the value or desirability of the property that the inspection would reveal (Civil Code section 2079). Red flags seen during the inspection have to be followed up. The seller must deliver a Transfer Disclosure Statement (section 1102), which cannot be waived in an “as is” sale, and the buyer can cancel within three days of receiving it.

England and Wales: omission is now enough

Since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Under the new rules, omitting material information is automatically an unfair commercial practice, whether or not it would have changed the buyer’s decision, and it applies online and offline. The Competition and Markets Authority can now impose penalties directly, without going to court. The National Trading Standards “material information” guidance written for the old regulations was withdrawn.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Ontario’s Trust in Real Estate Services Act came into force on 1 December 2023. If the seller has a legal duty to disclose something and the seller’s agent knows about it, the agent must tell every interested buyer. Required disclosures must be in writing, with the word DISCLOSURE in bold capitals.

New South Wales lists what must be disclosed. An agent must not induce anyone into a contract by failing to disclose a prescribed material fact the agent knows or ought reasonably to know, including flooding from a natural weather event or bush fire within the last five years and significant health or safety risks (Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2022, clause 60).

New Zealand requires agents to disclose hidden or underlying defects they know about or ought to know about, and they cannot rely entirely on the seller’s word; expert advice may be needed (Client Care Rules, rule 10.7). An agent must stop acting for a seller who tells them to keep that information back.

India

Section 10 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 forbids agents from making statements orally, in writing or by visible representation that falsely describe what is being offered. A breach can bring a penalty of ₹10,000 for every day it continues.

Outside the English-speaking world

South Korea requires licensed agents to confirm and explain the property’s condition, location and legal rights, and the state of facilities such as water, electricity, gas and drainage, walls and wallpaper, and light and noise, presenting supporting documents. The explanation is given to the parties in writing when the contract is made. Agents are liable for loss caused intentionally or negligently and must carry a guarantee. One point of detail: a past leak that has been repaired and does not affect current use has been treated as falling outside the duty. The dispute is usually about whether you were told “it’s fine now”, and whether that was true.

Japan makes a licensed specialist explain the key matters before the contract, from a written statement they sign (Real Estate Brokerage Act, article 35). Deliberately concealing facts or stating falsehoods about those matters is prohibited (article 47) and punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment or a ¥3 million fine.

Italy’s Civil Code (article 1759) requires the agent to disclose known circumstances affecting the value and safety of the deal. Germany treats passing on the information the agent has received as an ancillary duty under the brokerage contract, and requires the energy certificate to be shown at the viewing at the latest, with fines of up to €10,000. France puts agents under a duty to inform and advise under the 1970 Hoguet Act, and requires a technical diagnostic file to be annexed to the sale agreement. Spain requires advertising and information about homes to match their real features, and since 2023 the landlord pays the agency fee on a residential letting.

Argentina (Civil and Commercial Code article 1347) and Brazil (Civil Code article 723) both write the agent’s duty into the civil code: to disclose every known circumstance that could affect the deal, and to explain its safety and risks, on pain of damages. Mexico requires property information to be truthful, verifiable and clear under NOM-247-SE-2021. Chile applies its consumer protection law to agents, but has no regulator dedicated to them.

In the end, it is about what was actually said

All sixteen countries give the agent a duty to explain or disclose. When a dispute starts, it almost always turns on the same question: were you told, and what exactly were you told?

Three things help.

Save the listing and the disclosure documents. Listings come down once a property is let or sold. Screenshot the listing and keep every document you are given.

Send a message the same day. “Just confirming what you said today: the ceiling mark is from redecorating and there’s no leak.” Even with no reply, there is a record of what you were told and when.

Record the viewing you are part of, where that is lawful. In most US states and in India a participant may record a conversation; California and some other states require everyone’s consent (is it legal to record a conversation you’re in?, which states are strict). The practical problem is that you do not usually ask an agent “mind if I record this?”, and the explanation comes in short bursts as you move from room to room.

TalkSafe is an Android voice recorder that starts recording when it hears a word you set in advance. Keywords are recognised whoever says them, so you can set words likely to come up in the agent’s explanation, like “leak”, “damp” or “service charge”. It works with the screen locked, and because it saves the 30 seconds before it started, what was said just before that word is in the file too.

For rentals, what gets said at the showing and how it comes back when the deposit is returned is in what you were told at the showing is not in the lease. A spoken promise that conflicts with a signed contract is in it is not in the contract, it was agreed in the meeting.

What this comes down to

• Every one of the sixteen countries gives the agent a duty to explain or disclose.
• California makes the agent inspect with their own eyes; England treats leaving out material information as an unfair practice in itself.
• Ontario requires written disclosure to every buyer; New South Wales lists facts like recent flooding that must be disclosed.
• Japan can impose criminal penalties for deliberate concealment.
• What is said at the viewing rarely reaches the paperwork. Save the documents, confirm by message the same day, and record the viewing you are part of where that is lawful.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Speak to a lawyer about your own situation.