More States Requiring Landlords to Disclose Flood Risk, but Laws Vary Nationwide

In recent years, the number of states with laws requiring landlords to disclose flood risk to renters has nearly tripled, from just four states in 2017 to eleven by the end of 2025. Other states, such as Massachusetts, are actively considering renter flood disclosure bills, suggesting more renters may soon gain access to flood risk information before signing a lease. Recent estimates indicate approximately two-thirds of US states require property sellers to disclose flood risk to buyers, suggesting landlords continue to face fewer flood disclosure requirements than property sellers.

Flooding is the most common and costliest disaster in the US. An estimated 2.4 million occupied rental units are located in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Special Flood Hazard Areas, suggesting many renter households face significant flood risks. As climate change leads to more frequent and severe flood events, and new units continue to be built in existing floodplains, the number of homes and families impacted by flood damage is projected to increase. Federal law requires residential landlords to disclose certain hazards (e.g., lead-based paint) to prospective renters, but no such federal law applies to flooding.

Renters are particularly vulnerable to negative impacts from floods, with comparatively fewer financial resources to support recovery than property owners and more acute susceptibility to housing instability and displacement after storms. Despite these vulnerabilities, renters are often overlooked in the flood disclosure context; for example, renters are excluded from FEMA’s State Flood Risk Disclosure Best Practices recommendations. While evidence suggests flood disclosure requirements are associated with a “flood zone discount” among homebuyers, evidence of the effects of disclosure requirements on renter households’ experiences is relatively limited but growing.

North Carolina is one example of a state that has implemented a flood risk disclosure law for homebuyers but not renters. The law went into effect in 2024 and added terms regarding flood risk or knowledge of previous flood damage to the required North Carolina Real Estate Commission residential property disclosure form. Despite renters comprising a third of the state’s population, and the fact that tens of thousands of renter households were displaced by Hurricane Helene in 2024, landlords across the state are still not required to disclose their properties’ flood risks to prospective tenants.

Some states have passed flood disclosure laws in direct response to major flood events, such as the 2017 San Jose floods in California that forced the evacuation of 14,000 residents. Further, some of the country’s most populous states (e.g., Florida, Illinois, New York, Texas) are among those that have passed renter flood disclosure laws in recent years, such that nearly half the US population now lives in a state with a renter flood disclosure law.

Similar to flood disclosure laws for property sellers, there is considerable variation in the scope and stringency of renter flood disclosure laws among the eleven states that have them (Figure 1). First, states use different criteria to represent a rental unit’s flood risk. Eight states require landlords to disclose a rental unit’s floodplain status relative to official flood maps (e.g., FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map or applicable state map), while seven states require a rental unit’s flood history to be disclosed. In some states, such as Illinois, both floodplain status and flood damage history must be disclosed.

Figure 1: Renter Flood Disclosure Requirements by State

Second, seven state renter flood disclosure laws do not specify consequences for landlord violations. In New Jersey, a landlord’s failure to disclose flood risk to a tenant is grounds for lease termination, and the tenant may pursue all legal remedies to recover flood-induced losses from the landlord. However, in states without clearly defined consequences for landlord violations, it is unclear whether such ambiguity influences landlord behavior or renter experiences. Additionally, in certain cases landlords are only required to disclose their knowledge of past flood damage, implying potential for plausible deniability and incomplete information.

Third, six states require landlords to share information with prospective tenants about flood insurance. Since standard renters insurance policies typically do not cover flood damage, a renter seeking flood coverage would need to purchase a separate flood insurance policy. Prior research suggests renters in the US do not purchase much flood insurance, though it is possible disclosure laws may have some effect on insurance uptake.

While flood disclosure laws can help prospective tenants make more informed decisions before moving into a new home, these laws are only one lever in the suite of policy options that may address renter flood vulnerabilities. Indeed, research suggests many homebuyers do not consult disclosure forms when closing on a property, implying the same may be true for renters at lease signing, when most renter flood disclosures occur. Additionally, with the number of cost-burdened renter households at a record high, a disclosure law may have limited effect if a flood-prone unit is the best or only option a renter household can afford. In New York City, new subgrade accessory dwelling units have been prohibited in flood-prone areas, highlighting the need to maintain habitability standards and consider future environmental conditions when expanding the housing supply.

Investments in physical flood risk reduction have the potential to reduce dwelling units’ flood risks, though financial resources for these measures have been impacted by recent policy changes at the federal level, including actions by FEMA to end pre-disaster mitigation programs such as the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. Additionally, access to more consistent and robust flood risk mapping can reduce knowledge gaps for prospective renters and buyers, regardless of disclosure law status. FEMA currently provides free flood risk information at the property level, while a growing number of private firms have also begun to produce flood risk estimates accessible to consumers. Given differences across flood model outputs and flood risk indicators, consulting multiple credible sources can provide prospective residents a more comprehensive portrait of a home’s flood risk.

As renter cost burdens remain elevated and global average temperatures continue to rise, it is likely flood disclosure laws and similar renter-focused policy interventions to address environmental hazards will continue to evolve. As more evidence accumulates in the wake of new state renter flood disclosure laws, evaluation of the impacts of these policies can inform future housing policy design to address physical vulnerabilities in the rental housing stock.