Patent defect is defined as which?

• A. Not discoverable by inspection and must be disclosed
• B. Discoverable from inspection and does not need to be disclosed
• C. A defect that is intentionally hidden by seller
• D. Only concerns improvements made by seller

Answer: (B)

A patent defect is a fault that would be found by a reasonable inspection of the property; it is not hidden and does not require disclosure by the seller. The idea is that if a buyer can discover the defect through ordinary inspection, there’s no duty on the seller to volunteer disclosure about it.

This fits the statement that patent defects are discoverable from inspection and do not need to be disclosed. The other options describe defects that are hidden or concealed (which are latent defects) or restrict the concept to improvements, which isn’t accurate for patent defects.