San Anselmo Dropped Its Resale Report. The Sewer Lateral Test Didn't Go With It.

A San Anselmo home sale no longer needs a town resale report. The Town Council repealed that requirement in its entirety this spring. The sewer lateral test from the Ross Valley Sanitary District is still required, and the town's vote had no power over it. Since the repeal, the only point-of-sale rule left on a typical San Anselmo house is the one that can fail and leave a repair to be paid for.

What the town actually took off the table

Ordinance 2026-1199 repeals Title 9, Chapter 23 of the San Anselmo Municipal Code, titled "Sales of Residential Property: Reports of Residential Building Records." The council introduced it on March 10, 2026, and adopted it on March 24 by a 5–0 vote. Councilmembers Kullaway, Burke, Schlesinger and Walker and Mayor Burdo all voted yes. The ordinance took effect 30 days after adoption. The town fee schedule effective July 1, 2026 lists resale reports at $0.

The program had been in place since 1969. According to a staff report covered by the Marin Independent Journal in February, the town processed about 140 reports a year, and the fee had recently gone from $400 to more than $1,000. Town staff called it the most comprehensive program in Marin because it compared town records with conditions at the site and also reviewed planning and public works files.

Council members did not all agree on the program. Mayor Burdo, Vice Mayor Chantel Walker and Councilmember Eileen Burke suggested that staff come back later with options for inspections offered on a fee-for-service basis. We found no record of that option being adopted as of early October 2026.

"I want to protect buyers," Burke said. "They spend a lot of money on what we know are very expensive homes."

So the repeal removed a records reconciliation and a site visit. It did not touch the pipe that runs from the house to the street.

The requirement that stayed

The Ross Valley Sanitary District serves Larkspur, Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax and the unincorporated communities of Kentfield, Greenbrae and Sleepy Hollow. It requires a Certificate of Compliance when a property is bought or sold. That rule comes from the district's Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance, Ordinance 100, which was adopted June 20, 2018 and took effect July 1, 2018. A town council has no way to repeal it.

The ordinance says this about a sale:

1. The seller starts it. "Upon proposed sale of property, the seller shall coordinate a Lateral Test upon listing the home for sale."
2. The test is a leakage test. Proof that it passed is a completed district permit for the test work.
3. A failed test means repairs. The owner has to repair the lateral, add a conforming cleanout and a backwater prevention device, pull district permits and pass a final inspection.
4. Buyer and seller decide who pays. The ordinance says responsibility for repairing a failed lateral "shall be mutually agreed upon by the property buyer and seller."
5. The repairs can finish after closing. For a sale, repairs and final inspection must be done within 90 days of close of escrow.
6. A pass lasts 20 years. A Certificate of Compliance is valid for 20 years from issue, and a property with a current certificate does not need the test.

The fourth and fifth points matter most at the negotiating table. The district sets a deadline but does not say who pays. That is left to the purchase contract, which means a failed test turns into a credit, a price adjustment or a seller-completed repair, depending on what the two sides negotiate. Under the 90-day window, a buyer can close and still be holding an open repair obligation.

Owners are responsible for the private lateral from the building to the connection with the public sewer, including the part under the sidewalk and the street. On a hillside lot or a deep lot set back from the street, that can be a long run of pipe.

A sale is not the only trigger. RVSD also requires a lateral test before a building permit is issued for a remodel valued at $75,000 or more, or for any remodel that adds a bathroom. A seller who did a major kitchen remodel or added a bath in the past two decades may already hold a certificate. Look for it before you list.

Where an RVSD loan meets a sale

On April 22, 2026, the RVSD Board voted 5–0 to adopt Ordinance 76. It replaces Ordinance 75, raises the limit on the district's lateral replacement and septic-to-sewer loans to as much as $60,000, and raises the lateral grant to $3,000. General Manager Moore told the board the budgeted amount had not been fully used in recent years and that higher limits should bring more owners into the program. Staff recommended that applications submitted on or after May 1, 2026 qualify for the new amounts.

The loan terms are what matter in a sale. Ordinance 76 keeps a maximum 10-year term, sets interest at the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate at the time of application plus 0.5%, and collects payments on the property tax roll. The balance must be paid in full when ownership transfers.

That cuts two ways. An owner who plans to stay can use the larger loan to replace a failing lateral and spread the cost over years. An owner who plans to sell soon will see the remaining balance come due at closing. For a seller, the grant is the part of the program that stays behind.

Cross a district line and the rules change

San Anselmo is now the simplest town in the Ross Valley for town paperwork. A buyer comparing towns across Marin will find a different combination of rules in nearly every one, because two separate systems overlap. The first is the town resale report. The second is the sanitary district's lateral rule.

According to the town staff report, physical inspection programs in Marin cost $250 to $1,260 and can take up to four weeks. File-only reviews cost $130 to $600 and take one day to two weeks. In Tiburon, the Residential Building Resale Report costs $250 for a single-family home, townhouse or condo and is required before close of escrow. Mandatory life-safety items are due within 30 days of transfer. If the sale closes with items still open, the buyer becomes legally responsible for the work, permits and fees.

The district rules vary just as much. Sanitary District No. 5 requires a contractor to make a CCTV video and submit it to the district. It exempts laterals installed or replaced within the previous 20 years, or inspected and repaired within the previous three. The district adopted an amended sewer-use ordinance, Ordinance 2026-02, at its February 19, 2026 meeting. Tiburon and Belvedere sellers should confirm the current procedure with the district before listing. In Mill Valley, the city can issue a Notice to Repair with a deadline of up to 180 days. The Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District requires a lateral inspection at sale.

San Rafael is split between two districts. The San Rafael Sanitation District does not currently require a lateral inspection before a sale and tells owners to confirm which district serves their property. The Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District does require one. It charges $250 for a standard review, with a stated 10 business days, or $500 for an expedited review in five. Under Las Gallinas Valley's code, a sale inspection does not by itself require the lateral to be replaced, but illegal connections and inflow sources must be removed within 90 days. Two homes in the same city can carry different closing obligations because of which sewer district serves them.

What a San Anselmo buyer now has to get on their own

The town's report gave buyers a list of what the town would require, assembled by town staff from the town's files. Without it, buyers rely on the seller's disclosures, their own inspections and whatever permit history they request. At the March meeting, Mayor Burdo asked why a buyer would pay for a file-only report when a public records request is free. Town Attorney Megan Acevedo said records requests could take longer and might leave out documents containing private information unless the seller agreed to share them.

That affects timing. In San Anselmo in 2026, these are the steps that tend to set the escrow timeline:

• The lateral test result. Sellers can have it in hand when they list. A buyer can then price a failed lateral into the offer instead of finding it partway through escrow.
• The permit history request. Buyers should file it early, since it may arrive slower and with less in it than the old town report.
• Repair language for the lateral. The contract should say who completes the work, who pays, and how the 90-day post-closing deadline will be met.
• Any RVSD loan balance. It comes due at transfer and should show up in the seller's net sheet.

None of this is legal advice. Each item comes from the text of an ordinance that is currently in force or on record.

FAQ

Does a San Anselmo condo need the RVSD lateral test? The sale-triggered test in Section 10 of Ordinance 100 does not apply to common interest developments. Those properties are covered by a separate section of the ordinance. Check with the district for a specific property.

Can San Anselmo buyers still order a town inspection? Three council members asked staff to come back with an optional fee-for-service inspection. We found no record that one has been adopted as of October 2026.

If the lateral passed ten years ago, do we test again? Under RVSD rules, a current Certificate of Compliance exempts the property from the test, and certificates are valid for 20 years from issue.

If you're getting ready to list in San Anselmo, Fairfax, Ross or Kentfield, start with the lateral: find out whether a certificate is on file, schedule the test and settle the repair terms before the first offer arrives. Rob Sullivan can help you set that up, and he can walk buyers through these rules for any address they're considering. Let's Connect.