Minnesota Requires SSTS Disclosure at Every Sale

Minnesota requires two separate well disclosures on different forms at two different points in the transaction, and the exam tests them separately.

Minnesota is one of a small number of states that require two separate well disclosures, on different forms, at different transaction stages, and the Pearson VUE exam treats those as distinct topics.

The MNDOC governs real estate licensing in Minnesota. The Pearson VUE exam tests 45 state specific questions alongside 80 national questions, with a minimum passing score of 75%. The three sections below are consistently the highest-miss areas in the state portion and deserve focused study before test day.

Subsurface Sewage (SSTS)

The SSTS disclosure requirement catches candidates who conflate the seller's knowledge obligation with a licensed professional's compliance evaluation. Those are two separate things, and the Pearson VUE exam tests both. Let me break this down: the seller tells you what they know, and the licensed professional tells you what's actually true. Different forms, different people, different timing.

Minnesota sellers must disclose whether sewage goes to a permitted facility or a private system, including maps and compliance status, the exam hammers the difference between an SSTS disclosure (seller's knowledge) and a compliance inspection (licensed professional's evaluation).

The exam will test the difference between what the SSTS disclosure covers versus what a compliance inspection requires, who is responsible for each, and what the consequences are if a system is noncompliant at closing.

Well Disclosure Rules

Minnesota's well disclosure framework has two components that fire at different transaction stages, and candidates who learn only one of them will miss the questions built around the other. Why did the Minnesota seller submit two well documents? Because the state says so, and the exam expects you to know both.

Before signing a purchase agreement, sellers must disclose the location and status of every known well on the property, the separate Well Disclosure Certificate required at closing trips up students who confuse the pre-contract disclosure with the closing document.

Well disclosure requirements reflect each state's relationship with groundwater. North Dakota tests mineral rights separation alongside water rights, and Nebraska addresses well conditions through its seller property condition disclosure. Neither state's well rules match Minnesota's specific SSTS and well disclosure framework.

Expect questions that test when the pre-contract disclosure must be made, when the closing Well Disclosure Certificate is required, and which form applies to each stage of the transaction.

Minnesota's well disclosure rules carry extra weight in the state portion because the state has more private wells than most, and the MNDOC expects candidates to know both disclosure steps cold.

Dual Agency Consent

Minnesota's dual agency consent requirements extend beyond a simple written agreement. The exam also tests confidentiality limitations that most candidates, trained on national materials, don't know apply.

Minnesota requires informed written consent from both parties, and exam questions zero in on confidentiality limitations, price, terms, and motivation stay confidential unless a party authorizes disclosure in writing.

Know exactly which categories of information a Minnesota dual agent may not share without written authorization, because the exam frames questions around the confidentiality limits, not just the consent requirement itself.

Minnesota's confidentiality rules in dual agency are strict and specific. The MNDOC expects candidates to know the list of protected information, not just the concept that dual agents owe duties to both sides.