Are adverse rights that are obvious on inspection required to be disclosed?

• A. Yes
• B. Only if requested
• C. No
• D. They must always be disclosed

Answer: (C)

Adverse rights that are obvious on inspection do not have to be disclosed. The duty to disclose in conveyancing mainly covers latent or non-obvious matters that a reasonable purchaser wouldn’t discover by a straightforward inspection. If the rights or encumbrances are plainly visible when someone looks around the property, the purchaser can notice them themselves, so there’s no obligation on the seller (or their conveyancer) to volunteer that information. This is why the best answer is that they need not be disclosed. The other options would apply only in different circumstances—for example, where a matter isn’t obvious or where there is a specific duty to disclose known non-obvious issues.