Selling a house in West Virginia: the paperwork

Every document a West Virginia sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows you which part that usually is.

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10 documents · 8 questions · about a 11 minute read · free, and we don't ask for your email

2documents are usually the seller's

out of 10 in a West Virginia sale

Tell us about your sale

Answer what you know. Skip what you don't. Every answer takes something off your list or explains why it stays on.

The home

Was the home built before 1978?

Older homes carry a federal lead paint disclosure. It's the same in every state.

Is the home in an HOA, condo, or co-op?

The association has to produce a package, and they can take weeks. Worth knowing early.

Is there a well or septic system?

Private water and sewer get their own questions, and sometimes their own inspection.

You and the title

Are you married?

Some states need a spouse's signature even when they're not on the title. Many don't.

Is the home owned by a trust, LLC, or company?

An entity needs paperwork showing who's allowed to sign for it.

Do you file U.S. taxes as a citizen or resident?

If you don't, the buyer has to hold back part of the price and send it to the IRS.

Will you be at the closing yourself?

Signing from a distance takes a power of attorney, and it has to be arranged early.

Its history

Are the mineral, oil, or gas rights separate from the land?

In some states these are sold off separately, and the deed has to say so.

Usually the seller's to produce

In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.

(Voluntary) WVAR seller disclosure statementAPPEARS: Pre-listing / seller's disclosure packet
Lead-based paint disclosure (pre-1978)APPEARS: Attached to the purchase agreementOn your list because was the home built before 1978

Usually drafted for you to sign

These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.

Declaration of consideration/value (§ 11-22-6)APPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing
Form NRSR / NRAE (non-resident)APPEARS: Filed with a government agency post-closingOn your list because do you file u.s. taxes as a citizen or resident
WV UCIOA resale certificate (if applicable)APPEARS: In the HOA resale packageOn your list because is the home in an hoa, condo, or co-op

Usually somebody else's to prepare

Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.

Deed (general/special warranty)APPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing
Excise (transfer) tax stampsAPPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing
Payoff statement & releaseAPPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing
1099-SAPPEARS: Filed with a government agency post-closing
FIRPTA withholding (foreign seller)APPEARS: Filed with a government agency post-closingOn your list because do you file u.s. taxes as a citizen or resident

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What catches West Virginia sellers out

The things people find out late here. None of this is a ruling on your sale, and every one of them ends with somebody who can actually answer it for you.

There is no West Virginia seller disclosure act, whatever you have read

A supposed West Virginia disclosure statute is repeated confidently across a lot of real estate content, and the section it names does not do what those pages say. That does not mean nothing is owed: general duties around known defects and fraud still apply. It does mean sellers are sometimes hunting for a form that does not exist.

The rule behind it: No statutory residential disclosure form; common law duties apply
Who can answer it: A West Virginia attorney about what your own situation requires.

Severed minerals and mine subsidence are both common here

In much of West Virginia the coal, oil, or gas beneath a property was sold off generations ago, and Marcellus and Utica activity has made that live again. Mine subsidence insurance is offered statewide and required to be offered in some counties. Buyers in these counties ask, and a title search is where the answer is.

The rule behind it: W. Va. Code § 33-30 (mine subsidence); severed mineral estates
Who can answer it: A West Virginia title attorney familiar with your county.

How West Virginia generally runs a sale

The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.

No statutory seller condition disclosureWest Virginia has no mandatory statutory seller property condition disclosure form. Caveat emptor governs, subject to fraud and active-concealment exceptions (*Teter v.

Closing model — attorney functions, lay agents under supervisionW. Va. Code § 51-1-4a recognizes the Supreme Court of Appeals' authority over the practice of law. West Virginia State Bar UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-01 and *McMahon v.

Property regimeCommon-law (not community property). Tenancy by the entirety and joint-tenancy survivorship do not arise by default — § 36-1-19 makes co-tenants tenants in common on death unless survivorshi...

Deeds and covenantsDeed form in § 36-3-5; covenants in Chapter 36, Article 4 — § 36-4-1 (effect of covenant), § 36-4-2 (general warranty, "with general warranty"), § 36-4-3 (special warranty, "with special war...

Transfer/excise taxExcise Tax on Privilege of Transferring Real Property, § 11-22-1 et seq.: state $1.10/$500 of value (§ 11-22-2) plus a county excise of $0.55/$500, which counties may raise up to $1.65/$500...

Non-resident withholding§ 11-21-71b: 2.5% of the total payment (or, by alternative, based on gain) withheld by the real-estate reporting person;

RONWest Virginia adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts; remote notarization provisions appear at W. Va. Code §§ 39-4-37 and 39-4-38 (RULONA effective 2020).

Recording act & officeRace-notice (§ 40-1-9): a deed is void as to creditors and subsequent purchasers for value without notice until recorded; companion priority rules at §§ 40-1-13/14/15.

Severed minerals — the dominant riskCoal, oil, gas, and other minerals are frequently severed from the surface, especially in northern (Marcellus/Utica) and southern (coalfield) counties.

Mine subsidence insurance§ 33-30-1 et seq.: coverage must be offered (with insured waiver) on policies statewide, except that in Berkeley, Cabell, Calhoun, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Pendl...

Other things West Virginia asks about

These come up in West Virginia and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.

21. In a coal-mining / mine-subsidence county? → § 33-30-6 subsidence coverage offer/waiver.
25. In a common-interest community? → WV UCIOA, § 36B-1-101 et seq.
26. Kanawha Valley industrial corridor / known brownfield proximity? → federal Superfund/DEP overlays.

Before you rely on any of this

This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.

Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.

Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.

The full West Virginia reference

The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.

ALWAYS-required documents

Deed (general or special warranty)

Citation: form § 36-3-5; covenants § 36-4-1 / § 36-4-2 / § 36-4-3.
Tags: [ATTORNEY] drafts; [SELLER] signs; [NOTARY]. APPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing.
Contents: "With general warranty" invokes a covenant to "forever warrant and defend" against all claims (§ 36-4-2); "with special warranty" warrants only against claims by/through/under the grantor (§ 36-4-3). The granting/reservation clauses must reflect exactly what is conveyed — critical where minerals, timber, or coal are severed.
Consequence of non-recording: void as to a BFP without notice under § 40-1-9.
Recorded with: Clerk of the County Commission.
Official source: https://code.wvlegislature.gov/36-3-5/

Declaration of consideration or value

Citation: W. Va. Code § 11-22-6.
Tags: [SELLER]/[ATTORNEY]. APPEARS: Recorded with the county after closing (appended to the deed).
Contents: Signed by the grantor, grantee, or a responsible party familiar with the transaction, declaring the consideration or the value of the property conveyed. A sales-listing form is also filed for the Tax Commissioner.
Official source: https://code.wvlegislature.gov/11-22-6/

Excise (transfer) tax

Citation: § 11-22-2.
Tags: [COUNTY/MUNICIPAL] receives; [SELLER] typically pays.
Contents: State $1.10/$500 plus county $0.55/$500 (up to $1.65/$500 where the county has raised it); paid by the grantor unless the grantee accepts the deed without payment. The clerk verifies stamps before recording.
Official source: https://code.wvlegislature.gov/11-22-2/

There is NO always-required seller condition-disclosure form. Absence of duty is information: caveat emptor governs, subject to fraud/active-concealment liability under Teter v. Old Colony Co., 190 W. Va. 711, 441 S.E.2d 728 (1994). Any West Virginia Association of Realtors form used is voluntary; a FSBO seller has no statutory disclosure form to complete.

SOMETIMES-required documents (triggered)

Trigger — non-resident seller

Form NRSR (withholding return) / Form NRAE (exemption application).
Citation: § 11-21-71b.
Tags: [SELLER]/[GOV/TAX]. APPEARS: Filed with a government agency post-closing.
Contents: 2.5% of total payment (or gain-based alternative) withheld and remitted within 30 days; NRAE due at least 21 days before closing; residency or principal-residence certification in the deed recitals/acknowledgment avoids withholding (§ 11-21-71b(d)). See Tax Division TSD 389.

Trigger — property in a mine-subsidence county

Mine subsidence insurance offer/waiver.
Citation: § 33-30-6.
Tags: [BUYER]/insurer.
Contents: Mandatory offer with insured waiver statewide except the fifteen request-only counties listed in § 2 (Berkeley, Cabell, Calhoun, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Pendleton, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, Wood).

Trigger — common-interest community

WV UCIOA resale certificate.
Citation: § 36B-1-101 et seq.
Tags: [HOA/MGMT CO]; [SELLER] requests/pays. APPEARS: In the HOA resale package.

Trigger — severed/reserved minerals or timber

No statutory disclosure form, but the deed's granting/reservation clauses and warranty scope must be drafted to reflect exactly what is conveyed. A title search is the operative safeguard.

Prescribed-language items (substance-over-form)

West Virginia has few prescribed-language mandates for residential resale.

Declaration of value (§ 11-22-6): the statute supplies model language "declaring the consideration paid for or the value of the property thereby conveyed," signed by the grantor/grantee/responsible party.
Non-resident residency/principal-residence certification (§ 11-21-71b(d)): may be placed "in the recitals or the acknowledgment of the deed or other instrument," certifying under penalty of perjury that the transferor is a resident/resident entity or that the property is the transferor's principal residence — which relieves the reporting person of withholding.

There is no prescribed seller condition-disclosure language. FSBOs face no member-only-form barrier because no statutory disclosure form exists.

Local / municipal overlays

Not exhaustive — notable examples include:

County excise-tax add-ons up to $1.65/$500 (§ 11-22-2), which vary by county — verify with the Clerk of the County Commission before quoting.
Charleston, Morgantown, Huntington — municipal/administrative recording practices differ.
County health department on-site sewage (well/septic) rules differ county to county.
Brownfield / Superfund overlays in the Kanawha Valley industrial corridor.

Post-closing obligations

Recording with the Clerk of the County Commission (race-notice; § 40-1-9).
Excise tax and declaration of value at recording; sales-listing form for the Tax Commissioner.
Form NRSR non-resident withholding remitted within 30 days.
1099-S; federal capital gains; deed-of-trust release.

Federal overlays (cross-reference)

See 01-methodology-v2.md § 8 for the full federal overlay set: Title X lead-based paint (pre-1978); FIRPTA (26 U.S.C. § 1445); 1099-S (26 U.S.C. § 6045(e)); wire-fraud advisory; Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3601); RESPA/TRID.

FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule (31 CFR 1031.320) — currently suspended. The Rule was effective March 1, 2026, but the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated it nationwide on March 19, 2026 in Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent. FinCEN filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit on May 11, 2026. A conflicting Middle District of Florida decision, Fidelity National Financial, Inc. v. Bessent, No. 3:25-cv-554-WWB-SJH (M.D. Fla.) (Feb. 19–20, 2026), upheld the Rule. Net effect for West Virginia closing agents: no filing obligation pending the Fifth Circuit appeal. Recheck currency before quoting.

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