A working checklist for a septic property changing hands: get a dedicated septic inspection (not just the general home inspection), pull the county permit or as-built record, confirm your state or county's transfer-inspection requirements (if any) and your specific lender's requirements, review the seller disclosure against what the inspection and record actually show, and get any required repair, and who pays for it, resolved in writing before closing.
• Inspection: Schedule a dedicated septic inspection separate from the general home inspection.
• Record: Pull the county permit or as-built before, not after, your inspection so the inspector has something to compare against.
• Legal requirement: Check whether your state or county has a real transfer-inspection mandate, and don't assume one exists just because a neighboring state has one.
• Lender: Confirm what your specific loan program (FHA/VA/USDA/conventional) requires; ask early, not after underwriting flags it.
• Disclosure: Compare the seller's written disclosure against what the inspection and permit record actually say.
• Repairs: If anything needs fixing, get who does it and who pays for it in writing before closing, with a clear deadline.
• After closing: Keep the permit record; locate the tank; set your own maintenance schedule.
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Schedule the dedicated septic inspection and start pulling the county permit record in parallel, rather than sequentially, so both are done well before your contingency deadline.
The steps are the same everywhere; what varies is whether a specific step (like a mandatory transfer inspection) is legally required where you're transacting. Check the relevant state and county pages.
Confirm it's still within any applicable timing rule (Massachusetts's Title 5 law, for example, generally requires an inspection within 2 years of transfer) and consider whether conditions may have changed since it was done.
Reviewed 2026-08-31 against the official sources linked above (where a source is cited) or, where none is cited, left deliberately general. Laws, lender overlays and local ordinances change; confirm current requirements with the county or state agency, your lender, and a licensed inspector before you rely on this for a closing.