Carbon Monoxide Detectors

New carbon monoxide detector law:

To summarize the law, carbon monoxide detectors must be installed within 10 feet of every “sleeping room” in a single-family home as of August 1, 2008. Although the word “installed” makes it sound as if the detector must be hard-wired, that is not the case; it can also be a plug-in unit or a battery operated unit attached to a wall.

Some readers understood the MNAR email to state that sellers are required to install these detectors prior to every sale, and that buyer are entitled to receive them as part of any transaction. Unfortunately, that is misleading. While every owner of property is required to install the appropriate number of units, the units are not necessarily part of the transaction. Think about it this way: if a carbon monoxide detector is hard-wired, it is a fixture that will be sold with the real estate. If it is not hard-wired, it is personal property and comes with the sale only if it is specifically negotiated into the purchase agreement.

So it’s not true that a buyer is entitled to a carbon monoxide unit in every sale. But we expect that there may be some confusion about this in the weeks to come. If you run into a dispute about this in one of your transactions, we encourage you to keep some perspective: it’s probably not worth jeopardizing a deal over an item that costs about $30.