Texas doesn't have a single "septic disclosure law." What it has is Property Code §5.008, which requires a Seller's Disclosure Notice on almost every sale of a home with one dwelling unit, and a checkbox on that notice — Septic / On-Site Sewer Facility — that, if marked "Yes," is supposed to trigger a second, more detailed form. That second form is the one most agents mean when they say "the septic disclosure."
It's not a TREC form
This is worth correcting up front because the mix-up is common: the on-site sewer facility notice is not promulgated by TREC. It doesn't appear anywhere on TREC's contract forms list. It's a Texas REALTORS® (TXR) member form — TXR/TAR-1407, "Information About On-Site Sewer Facility" (current version dated 1-7-04, still in active use in 2024 listings) — and its own header states that use by anyone who isn't a Texas REALTORS® member "is not authorized." TREC's role here is indirect: TREC licensees who are also REALTORS® use it as a matter of practice because it's built into the REALTORS®-drafted Seller's Disclosure Notice (TXR-1406) that dominates the Texas market, not because TREC itself requires it.
What actually triggers it
Property Code §5.008(a)-(b) requires the seller of residential property of not more than one dwelling unit to give the buyer a written Seller's Disclosure Notice, on or before the effective date of the contract, in the form prescribed by the statute or one "substantially similar" that contains at least the same items. TXR-1406, the version almost every Texas listing uses, exceeds that statutory minimum — and one of its Section 1 line items reads: "Septic / On-Site Sewer Facility — if yes, attach Information About On-Site Sewer Facility (TAR-1407)." Mark "Yes" (or really, anything other than a clean "No") on that line, and TXR-1407 is supposed to go out with it.
Because TXR-1407 isn't itself named in the bare statutory text of §5.008, a seller using a non-REALTOR disclosure form technically isn't violating the statute by skipping it — but skipping it is a bad idea. A seller still has to disclose known septic defects under the general "known defects" items on any compliant disclosure notice, and TXR-1407 is the document that actually protects a REALTOR-repped seller from a later "you didn't tell me" claim on a system buyers can't see.
What the notice has to contain
TXR-1407 is a two-page form split into four sections:
- A. Description of the system — type of treatment system (septic tank vs. aerobic treatment, or unknown), type of distribution system, approximate location of the drain field or distribution system, installer, and approximate age.
- B. Maintenance information — whether a maintenance contract is currently in effect (required for aerobic treatment and certain "non-standard" systems), the contractor's name/phone/expiration date, approximate date tanks were last pumped, whether the seller is aware of any defect or malfunction, and whether manufacturer or warranty information is available.
- C. Planning materials, permits, and contracts — a checklist of what's actually attached (planning materials, the original installation permit, the final inspection from when the OSSF was installed, the maintenance contract, manufacturer info, warranty info), plus a note that it may be necessary for the buyer to have the operating permit transferred into their name.
- D. Governmental agency information — a TCEQ-sourced table estimating daily wastewater usage by bedroom count and dwelling type (originally pulled from TCEQ on 10/24/2002), included for context on system sizing.
The form closes with the same disclaimer language common to Texas disclosure documents: it's completed to the best of the seller's knowledge as of the signature date, it's not a substitute for an inspection, and the buyer is encouraged to have the system inspected by an inspector of their choice — sellers and their agents aren't on-site sewer facility experts.
The permit-transfer wrinkle
On-site sewage facilities (OSSFs) are separately regulated by TCEQ under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 366 and TCEQ's rules at 30 TAC Chapter 285. The operating permit for the system is generally tied to the property and the permit holder of record, and TXR-1407 itself flags that the buyer may need to get that permit transferred into their name after closing — a step that happens with the local permitting authority (usually the county), not at the title company, and is easy to lose track of. This is exactly the kind of post-closing loose end a TC should be tracking on the file, not assuming resolves itself.
Exemptions
Because TXR-1407 rides on the Seller's Disclosure Notice, it only comes into play when a Seller's Disclosure Notice is required in the first place. Property Code §5.008(e) exempts several transfer types from the disclosure requirement entirely — foreclosure and trustee sales, transfers to a mortgagee in lieu of foreclosure, transfers between co-owners or to a spouse or lineal relative, transfers to or from a governmental entity, new construction that's never been occupied, and a few others. If no disclosure notice is required, there's no septic-notice trigger either.