© 2024 90.7 WMFE. All Rights Reserved.
Public Media News for Central Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bill would require sellers to disclose a property's flood history

Water on the only road in and out of this central Florida neighborhood on Lake Harney left residents stranded after Hurricane Ian. Photo by Amy Green
Amy Green
/
WMFE
Water on the only road in and out of this central Florida neighborhood on Lake Harney left residents stranded after Hurricane Ian.

Sellers would be required to disclose a history of flooding at residential and commercial properties under a bill filed in the Florida Legislature.

The measure would require sellers to disclose “water or moisture-related damage caused by a natural flood event within the last 10 years," according to the bill's language.

Jane West of 1000 Friends of Florida, an environmental group, says the bill is a good one but lacks teeth.

“You don’t even have an enforcement mechanism from the prospective purchaser against the seller, which would be the most basic of them all.”

The measure also would require sellers to disclose that there is a flood insurance policy on the property and that the property is located in a FEMA-designated flood zone.

Amy Green covered the environment for WMFE until 2023. Her work included the 2020 podcast DRAINED.
Related Content