Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73
§1703 Requirements respecting sale or lease of lots
Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 42— - INTERSTATE LAND SALES › § 1703
Summary
Developers and their agents must not use the mail or interstate communication to sell or lease lots that are not exempt unless they follow certain rules. They must have an official record for the lot in effect and give the buyer a printed property report before the buyer signs. They cannot put false facts or leave out important facts in the record or report, or use ads that contradict the report. They must not use tricks to defraud buyers or get money by lying or hiding important information. They also cannot promise roads, sewers, water, gas, electric service, or recreational amenities unless the sales contract clearly says those things will be provided or finished. Buyers can cancel a sale or lease until midnight of the seventh day after signing (or longer if state law requires), and the contract must say this. If a required property report was not given before signing, the buyer can cancel within two years, and the contract must say that. Contracts must give a clear, recordable description of the lot, must require the seller to give written notice of a buyer’s default and allow the buyer 20 days to fix it, and must follow a refund rule if the buyer loses the lot after paying more than 15 percent of the purchase price (excluding interest): the seller keeps either 15 percent of the price or the seller’s damages, whichever is greater, and returns the rest. If a buyer cancels, returns the title, and the lot is in basically the same condition, the buyer gets back all money paid.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §1703
Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)It shall be unlawful for any developer or agent, directly or indirectly, to make use of any means or instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce, or of the mails—
(1)with respect to the sale or lease of any lot not exempt under section 1702 of this title—
(A)to sell or lease any lot unless a statement of record with respect to such lot is in effect in accordance with section 1706 of this title;
(B)to sell or lease any lot unless a printed property report, meeting the requirements of section 1707 of this title, has been furnished to the purchaser or lessee in advance of the signing of any contract or agreement by such purchaser or lessee;
(D)to display or deliver to prospective purchasers or lessees advertising and promotional material which is inconsistent with information required to be disclosed in the property report; or
(2)with respect to the sale or lease, or offer to sell or lease, any lot not exempt under section 1702(a) of this title—
(A)to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;
(B)to obtain money or property by means of any untrue statement of a material fact, or any omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made (in light of the circumstances in which they were made and within the context of the overall offer and sale or lease) not misleading, with respect to any information pertinent to the lot or subdivision;
(C)to engage in any transaction, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon a purchaser; or
(D)to represent that roads, sewers, water, gas, or electric service, or recreational amenities will be provided or completed by the developer without stipulating in the contract of sale or lease that such services or amenities will be provided or completed.
(b)Any contract or agreement for the sale or lease of a lot not exempt under section 1702 of this title may be revoked at the option of the purchaser or lessee until midnight of the seventh day following the signing of such contract or agreement or until such later time as may be required pursuant to applicable State laws, and such contract or agreement shall clearly provide this right.
(c)In the case of any contract or agreement for the sale or lease of a lot for which a property report is required by this chapter and the property report has not been given to the purchaser or lessee in advance of his or her signing such contract or agreement, such contract or agreement may be revoked at the option of the purchaser or lessee within two years from the date of such signing, and such contract or agreement shall clearly provide this right.
(d)Any contract or agreement which is for the sale or lease of a lot not exempt under section 1702 of this title and which does not provide—
(1)a description of the lot which makes such lot clearly identifiable and which is in a form acceptable for recording by the appropriate public official responsible for maintaining land records in the jurisdiction in which the lot is located;
(2)that, in the event of a default or breach of the contract or agreement by the purchaser or lessee, the seller or lessor (or successor thereof) will provide the purchaser or lessee with written notice of such default or breach and of the opportunity, which shall be given such purchaser or lessee, to remedy such default or breach within twenty days after the date of the receipt of such notice; and
(3)that, if the purchaser or lessee loses rights and interest in the lot as a result of a default or breach of the contract or agreement which occurs after the purchaser or lessee has paid 15 per centum of the purchase price of the lot, excluding any interest owed under the contract or agreement, the seller or lessor (or successor thereof) shall refund to such purchaser or lessee any amount which remains after subtracting (A) 15 per centum of the purchase price of the lot, excluding any interest owed under the contract or agreement, or the amount of damages incurred by the seller or lessor (or successor thereof) as a result of such breach, whichever is greater, from (B) the amount paid by the purchaser or lessee with respect to the purchase price of the lot, excluding any interest paid under the contract or agreement,
(e)If a contract or agreement is revoked pursuant to subsection (b), (c), or (d), if the purchaser or lessee tenders to the seller or lessor (or successor thereof) an instrument conveying his or her rights and interests in the lot, and if the rights and interests and the lot are in a condition which is substantially similar to the condition in which they were conveyed or purported to be conveyed to the purchaser or lessee, such purchaser or lessee shall be entitled to all money paid by him or her under such contract or agreement.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1979—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 96–153 substituted provisions setting forth criteria in par. (1) with respect to the sale or lease of any lot not exempt under section 1702 of this title, for provisions relating to the sale or lease of any lot in any subdivision with accompanying required statement of record and printed property report, and in par. (2) with respect to the sale or lease, or offer to sell or lease, any lot not exempt under section 1702(a) of this title, for provisions relating to the sale or lease, or offer to sell or lease, any lot in a subdivision through the use of specified prohibited activities. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–153 substituted provisions relating to revocation of contracts or agreements for the sale or lease of a lot not exempt under section 1702 of this title, for provisions relating to voidability of contracts or agreements for the purchase or lease of lots in subdivisions covered by this chapter. Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 96–153 added subsecs. (c) to (e). 1974—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 383 substituted “until midnight of the third business day following the consummation of the transaction” for “within forty-eight hours” and struck out provisions relating to exceptions of contracts or agreements stipulating to the nonapplicability of the revocation authority to certain purchasers.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–153 effective on
Effective Date
of
Regulations
implementing such amendment, but in no case later than six months following Dec. 21, 1979, see section 410 of Pub. L. 96–153, set out as a note under section 1701 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1974 Amendment Pub. L. 93–383, title VIII, § 812(c)(2), Aug. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 737, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall be effective sixty days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 22, 1974].”
Effective Date
Section effective upon the expiration of two hundred and seventy days after Aug. 1, 1968, see section 1423 of Pub. L. 90–448, set out as a note under section 1701 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 1703
Title 15 — Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73