Yes — you have to disclose it even if the repair was done properly, permanently, and years ago. This trips up a lot of Amarillo sellers, and for an understandable reason: the general rule in Texas is that once you've repaired something, it's no longer a defect and you don't have to disclose it. Foundation repair is one of a short list of specific exceptions to that rule. Here's how it actually works.
Texas Property Code § 5.008 requires the seller of residential real property of not more than one dwelling unit to give the buyer a Seller's Disclosure Notice, or one substantially similar. In practice that's the TREC form (OP-H) or the Texas REALTORS® version (TXR-1406), used in nearly every residential sale in the state. The notice discloses your knowledge of the property's condition as of the date you sign it. It isn't a warranty, and it doesn't replace the buyer's inspection — but it is a signed statement about what you know.
A handful of transfers are exempt from the notice requirement — foreclosures, some transfers between co-owners, transfers from an estate, and court-ordered transfers, among others. If you inherited the home or are selling from an estate, confirm your situation with your agent or attorney rather than assuming.
Because the form specifically asks. Alongside general condition questions, the disclosure notice asks about a short list of previous items that must be reported even when fully repaired:
Everything else follows the ordinary logic: fixed means no longer defective. These five don't. They're the conditions Texas decided a buyer has a right to know about regardless of how well they were addressed.
More than most sellers assume. Structural repair covers work on the load-bearing portions of the home: the foundation, load-bearing walls, and the roof structure. For an Amarillo home, pier installation, slab leveling, pier-and-beam beam or girder replacement, and similar stabilization all fall squarely inside the disclosure requirement. Cosmetic crack sealing that didn't touch anything load-bearing generally doesn't — but if you're unsure which category your work fell into, err on the side of caution and disclose.
"Yes" is the legal minimum. It's also the answer most likely to spook a buyer, because it says a problem existed and nothing about whether it was solved. Give them the full picture instead:
Then attach the paperwork: the invoice, the itemized scope of work, the warranty document, the City of Amarillo permit and inspection record, and any structural engineer's report or post-repair elevation survey. A seller who hands over a documented repair file is in a completely different negotiating position than one who checks a box. (If the work was never permitted, see our Amarillo foundation repair permit guide.)
Substantially. A transferable warranty is what turns a disclosure from a liability into an asset: documentary proof that the problem was professionally addressed and that the fix is still backed — exactly the reassurance a nervous buyer needs.
Two practical notes. First, transfer is rarely automatic: most warranties require you to notify the company and complete a transfer, often within a limited window around closing and sometimes for a modest fee. Start that process when you list, not the week of closing. Second, confirm in writing what actually transfers — some warranties cover the piers indefinitely but exclude areas that were never piered.
In competitive Texas markets, a repaired foundation with an engineer's certification and a live transferable warranty is often the most reassuring condition a buyer can find, short of no history at all.
Buying rather than selling? The same rules read differently from the other side of the table — see buying a house with foundation problems in Amarillo.
An as-is clause doesn't cure a failure to disclose a known defect. Selling as-is means the buyer accepts the property's current condition — it doesn't license the seller to conceal what they know, and Texas courts have held sellers responsible for undisclosed known conditions regardless of as-is language.
More than most sellers realize. Buyers can bring claims under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which carries a two-year limitations period, and for fraud, which carries four. Critically, both generally run from when the buyer discovered — or reasonably should have discovered — the problem, not from the closing date. A foundation issue that resurfaces three years after closing can still be actionable.
Available remedies can include actual damages and attorney's fees, and under the DTPA, up to treble damages where the conduct was knowing or intentional. Set against the cost of writing four honest lines on a form, the risk is badly lopsided.
We're not attorneys — this is general information, not legal advice. For a specific transaction, talk to your real estate agent or a Texas real estate attorney.
Less than the alternative. A documented, warrantied repair reads as a solved problem. An undisclosed repair discovered by the buyer's inspector reads as a seller hiding something — and at that point you're renegotiating from lost trust, if the deal survives at all. Given how common foundation work is on Panhandle clay, most Amarillo buyers aren't shocked by a repair history. What they react to is uncertainty.
If you had work done and can't find the paperwork, start with the original company — most keep job records and warranty files. A current inspection that documents the home's condition in writing is also useful to your agent, your buyer, and your buyer's lender. And if you're seeing new movement before listing, it's far cheaper to address it now than to renegotiate it after the buyer's inspection.
Tell us about the house, and we'll connect you with a local foundation repair pro who can document its current condition in writing. Free to use, no obligation.
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