Senate panel debates weakening seller duties on FEMA flood-map disclosures

The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee on May 13 examined H.106, a bill that would change what sellers must tell buyers about flood risk and map status for Vermont real property.

Committee members and counsel reviewed Act 181 (the existing statute), concerns raised by the House amendment to H.106 and possible constitutional problems if the Legislature removed earlier disclosure requirements retroactively. Authority witnesses and real-estate representatives discussed options ranging from keeping current disclosure duties, to requiring only that sellers provide a link or copy of a FEMA flood insurance rate map, to adding a statutory “reasonable effort” defense for sellers who cannot determine a property’s map status.

Why it matters: the law currently requires sellers to disclose whether the property is in a FEMA-mapped special or moderate flood hazard area, whether the property was subject to flooding while the seller owned it, and whether the seller maintains flood insurance. Those duties create private remedies for buyers who do not receive the disclosures. Committee members said striking the location-disclosure…