Wildfire — Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) & AB-38

Selling a home in a High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone brings AB-38's point-of-sale duties: documentation of defensible-space compliance where a local ordinance requires it or an agency or qualified nonprofit offers the inspection — or, if the seller hasn't obtained it, a signed agreement that the buyer will (as the ordinance says, or within one year after close where only an inspection program applies) (Civ. Code §1102.19), and, for homes built before 2010, a home-hardening disclosure listing the state's low-cost retrofits, which were done, and any known features that raise the home's wildfire risk (Civ. Code §1102.6f). Separately, the owner's year-round 100-foot clearance duty applies in the State Responsibility Area (PRC §4291) and in Very High zones outside it (Gov. Code §51182) — an ongoing obligation, not a sale form. Moderate zones do not trigger the AB-38 point-of-sale duties.

LetterScript checks each property against CAL FIRE's zone maps — the 2025 statewide recommended Local Responsibility Area maps (dated March 24, 2025) paired with the State Responsibility Area layer used for real-estate inspections — not a coarse city-wide flag. A city or county may have adopted a different zone than the recommended map shows, and the zone maps on file with the county are what the disclosure turns on, so confirm the zone locally.