A buyer considering a Georgia condominium unit asks the listing broker whether any previous occupant had a serious communicable disease. The broker has no actual knowledge on the topic. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-1-16, what is the broker's disclosure obligation regarding disease-related occupancy history?

Correct Answer

D) Georgia generally does not impose a duty to volunteer that a prior occupant had a disease unlikely to be transmitted through ordinary occupancy of the property.

O.C.G.A. § 44-1-16 provides a safe harbor shielding owners, agents, and brokers from liability for failing to disclose that a property was occupied by a person who had a disease that is unlikely to be transmitted through ordinary occupancy. The policy rationale is that such information does not affect the physical condition or habitability of the property and could lead to irrational discrimination. The statute recognizes that disease-related stigma is fundamentally different from material physical defects and therefore does not require affirmative disclosure.