Committee hears walkthrough of H.106 on seller flood-disclosure, instructs Legislative Counsel to draft amendment

The House General and Housing Committee heard a detailed walkthrough of H.106, “an act related to selling real property within a FEMA-mapped flood hazard area,” on March 14, 2025. Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel explained that the bill would remove the statutory requirement that sellers disclose whether a property lies in a FEMA-mapped special or moderate flood hazard area and would retroactively bar certain claims for damages and attorney’s fees arising from past noncompliance.

Wood warned of legal risk from making the change retroactive: “I think that this is defensible if you so choose to do this. However, I need you to also be aware that I can't guarantee that a court will not strike that section and allow a claim to move forward,” said Cameron Wood, Office of Legislative Counsel, while describing potential challenges under constitutional contract- and retroactivity-related…