Can You Refuse a Buyer's Repair Request After Inspection in California?
Can a seller refuse a buyer's repair request after inspection in California?
Yes. The California Residential Purchase Agreement sells your home as-is in its present condition, so you are not required to make the repairs a buyer requests after their inspection. You are not even required to respond to the request. State law requires only three safety items before close of escrow: water heater seismic strapping, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. If you decline, the buyer's remedy is to cancel within their inspection contingency, not to force the repairs.
By Ben Larson | September 9, 2026
You accepted the offer, opened escrow, and thought the negotiating was over. Then, somewhere around day 10 to 14, your agent forwards a Request for Repairs asking for a new roof section, a repipe quote, and a laundry list of smaller items. This is the moment more South Bay sellers call me in a panic than any other point in the transaction.
Here's the good news: you have more power here than you think. And the sellers who handle this moment well usually give up far less than the request asks for.
What a Request for Repairs Actually Is
In California, the buyer's inspection happens inside their inspection contingency, which runs 17 days by default under the C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement unless your contract says otherwise. After the inspection, the buyer's agent typically sends over a Request for Repairs, known as the RR form.
The single most important thing to understand: the RR form is a request to amend a contract you have already signed. It is not a counteroffer, and it does not reopen the deal. If you say no, the original contract still stands at the original price. The buyer then has a choice to make, not you.
You have three ways to respond:
- Agree to everything exactly as written
- Agree to some items, or offer a credit instead of doing the work
- Decline, or simply not respond
That last one surprises people. You are under no obligation to grant the request or even reply to it. Silence is a legal response. Whether it's a smart response depends on your leverage, which we'll get to.
One warning before anything else: this flexibility exists only before you sign. Once you agree to repairs in writing, completing them becomes a contractual obligation, and refusing to finish agreed-upon repairs is a material breach that can let the buyer cancel and put your deposit protections at risk. Negotiate hard before you sign the RR form, not after.
What You Actually Have to Fix
California law is unusually seller-friendly on this point. Before close of escrow, state law requires exactly three things:
- Water heater seismic strapping
- Smoke detectors in the required locations
- Carbon monoxide detectors near sleeping areas in homes with an attached garage or fuel-burning appliance
Older homes also need to satisfy California's water-conserving plumbing fixture rules. Beyond that, and beyond your city's pre-sale report requirements, nothing on the inspection report is legally mandatory. A cracked heat exchanger, a 40-year-old roof, original galvanized pipes: all negotiable.
What you cannot negotiate away is disclosure. California requires you to disclose known material defects on the Transfer Disclosure Statement and Seller Property Questionnaire, and that duty is separate from any duty to repair. There is none of the second, all of the first. And here's the part sellers miss: once the buyer's inspection surfaces a defect, you now know about it. If this escrow falls apart, that item goes on your disclosures for every future buyer. Refusing a repair does not make the issue disappear. It just changes who you're negotiating with about it.
Refuse, Repair, or Credit: How to Decide
So you can refuse. Should you? That depends on three things: your leverage, the nature of the items, and the math of losing this buyer.
Read your leverage honestly. If your Redondo Beach townhome drew multiple offers and you have a backup in hand, you can decline nuisance items with confidence. If your home sat for six weeks before this offer came in, the calculation changes. Homes that fall out of escrow and return to the market tend to sit longer the second time and often sell for around 5 percent less than the original contract price, and you'll be disclosing the failed escrow to every new buyer who asks. Blowing up a solid deal over a $3,000 item is how sellers lose $60,000 on a $2 million sale.
Sort the request into two piles. Pile one is big-ticket function and safety: roof, sewer lateral, electrical panel, active leaks, termite damage. Pile two is everything else: the sticking window, the aging water heater that still works, cosmetic wish-list items. In the South Bay this matters more than most markets, because so much of the housing stock in Torrance, Lomita, and the Redondo avenues was built in the 1950s and 60s. Original galvanized supply lines, older panels, and decades of deferred termite work are what actually show up on repair requests here, and a full repipe can run $12,000 to $20,000. Pile one deserves a real response. Pile two is where you politely decline.
Prefer credits over repairs in most cases. When you do give something, a credit toward the buyer's closing costs is usually smarter than doing the work yourself. It keeps escrow on schedule, spares you contractor scheduling in the last three weeks of the deal, and removes the risk of the buyer disputing the quality of a rushed repair at the final walkthrough. Buyers usually prefer it too, since they control the work in their own home.
Know the exceptions. Some items are not really optional in practice, whatever the contract says. Certain loan types require specific health and safety items to be completed before the transaction can close, and the buyer's lender, not the buyer, drives that list. A licensed lender can tell you what applies to your buyer's financing. Similarly, Section 1 termite clearance is not assigned to either party by law, but Southern California custom runs heavily toward the seller paying for it, and some financing effectively requires the clearance. If the item stands between the buyer and their ability to close at all, refusing it usually just kills the deal in slow motion.
One more thing, because I see it eat at sellers: a repair request is not an insult, and most of the time it is not a retrade attempt either. It's a buyer processing a 60-page inspection report on the biggest purchase of their life. Respond to the request on the merits, keep your emotions out of the reply, and you'll usually land somewhere reasonable. This is exactly the conversation I have with my listing clients before we ever open escrow, and it's a big part of why a pre-listing inspection pays for itself: you find the pile-one items before the buyer's inspector does, on your timeline instead of theirs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What fixes are mandatory after a home inspection in California?
None of the items on the inspection report are mandatory by law. California requires only water heater seismic strapping, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors before close of escrow, plus water-conserving plumbing fixtures in older homes. Everything else is a negotiation, though items tied to the buyer's financing or your city's point-of-sale requirements can be required in practice.
Can the buyer back out if I refuse their repair request?
Yes, as long as their inspection contingency is still in place. The default contingency period under the C.A.R. purchase agreement is 17 days, and within it the buyer can cancel for inspection-related reasons and recover their deposit. Once contingencies are removed in writing, backing out puts the buyer's deposit at risk.
Do I have to respond to a Request for Repairs at all?
No. The Request for Repairs is a proposed amendment to the signed contract, and you can accept it, counter it, decline it, or ignore it. Not responding functions as a refusal. The original contract remains in force at the original price either way.
Should I offer a credit instead of making repairs?
Usually, yes. A closing cost credit keeps escrow on schedule, avoids contractor scheduling in the final weeks, and eliminates walkthrough disputes over repair quality. Repairs make more sense when the item affects safety, insurability, or the buyer's loan requirements and must be completed before closing.
Who pays for Section 1 termite work in a South Bay home sale?
No California law assigns it to either side, so it is negotiated in the purchase agreement. Southern California custom leans toward the seller paying for Section 1 items, which cover active infestation and damage, and some loan types effectively require the clearance before closing. Whatever you and the buyer agree to should be written into the contract, not assumed.
The Bottom Line
You can refuse a buyer's repair request in California, and sometimes you should. The sellers who come out ahead are the ones who know which items are legally required, which are practically required, and which are safe to decline, then respond with a clear head instead of a bruised ego.
If you're thinking about selling a South Bay home and want to know what a buyer's inspector is likely to flag before you ever list, start with an honest number and an honest conversation. Request a free home valuation at larsonrealty.group/evaluation and I'll walk you through both.
About Ben Larson
Ben Larson leads Larson Realty Group, powered by Real Broker, serving the South Bay of Los Angeles. Licensed since 2006 with more than $100 million in closed sales, he specializes in listings across the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the beach cities, and works extensively with probate, trust, and inherited property sales. Reach him at larsonrealty.group. DRE #01746853.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Repair obligations depend on your contract and your situation. Talk to your agent about your specific transaction, a licensed lender about financing-related requirements, and a real estate attorney about legal questions.
Categories
Recent Posts
