"There are few places to purchase a home in the U.S. that have a greater risk of flooding than on the coast of Florida. But sellers needn’t lose sleep over that. That’s because the Sunshine State doesn’t mandate disclosure of whether a property has previously flooded.

Some 21 states have no rules requiring owners to reveal a property’s flood history, according to a newly updated rating by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based non-profit advocacy group. That’s down only one from 2018, when NRDC did its first disclosure report.

“Too often policy changes only occur after a major disasters and that is not going to be good enough going forward,” said Joel Scata, a water and climate attorney with NRDC. “We need pre-emptive action on flood risk because climate change is increasing risk and the nation can’t afford to keep people in the dark.”

For would-be home buyers, no disclosure means there is often no way to gauge the true risk they are taking on."

Leslie Kaufman reports for Bloomberg Green March 1, 2021. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"To Fight Flooding, This City Plans to Renovate—and Retreat" (Bloomberg Green) [3]

"Most Americans Don’t Have Enough Flood Insurance for Climate Change" (Bloomberg Green) [4]