Committee weighs H.106 changes to seller flood-disclosure rules amid outdated FEMA maps

At a May 9 meeting of the Zenith Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee, lawmakers and stakeholders discussed H.106, a bill that would change seller disclosure requirements for real property located in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)–mapped flood hazard areas.

The bill would keep three core seller disclosure questions — whether the property is in a FEMA-designated high or moderate flood-hazard area, whether it has flooded while the seller owned it, and whether the seller maintains flood insurance — and add a statutory protection for sellers who, after trying to determine map status, notify buyers that they "cannot reasonably determine" whether the property lies within a FEMA special or moderate flood-hazard area. Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Council summarized the proposed defense as language that allows a seller to notify the buyer that "the seller cannot reasonably determine if the real property is located within a special or…