A new contingency is showing up in home purchase contracts: We already have attorneys’ approval, mortgage, home inspection, lead paint, mold and radon. And now, introducing, the clue report contingency!

I have a closing in process where the buyer requested that my seller furnish a clue report. I expect that this will show up as a buyer’s contingency more and more.

A clue report can be easily obtained online for $9 and it shows the last 5 years claims history of your house on homeowner’s insurance. So if your basement has flooded 15 times in the last two years and you filed claims on your homeowner’s insurance it will show up on the clue report. If you failed to disclose that flooding the buyer will probably bail out on the contract when he or she see the clue report.

The problem with clue reports is that some insurance agents report phone calls to the agent concerning coverage issues as claims. Car and umbrella policy claims are included too.