Maryland Scores D grade in required disclosure of home flood damage
MARYLAND – If you live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, flooding doesn’t come as a surprise.
However, you may be surprised that no one is required to tell you if there has been flood damage to a home you’re buying. That’s according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
“In Maryland, there is no statutory or regulatory duty to disclose past flood damages or insurance requirements to a homebuyer. So if a person is looking to buy a home, they may be they may never be told that it’s repeatedly flooded, even though it has in the past,” said Joel Scate of the NRDC.
A recent report from the NRDC found an estimated $25,000 price tag per inch of flooding damage. It also found higher rates of insurance payouts for homes, making up just 10% of federal insurance, yet over 50% of paid-out claims.
Scata says that means you may not just be stuck with damage you didn’t know about if you’re in a flood-prone area; your rates for flood and home insurance could be far higher, too. However, no one has to tell you if your home is in one of those areas.
The report also found the people who these homes belong to could be the least equipped to afford these costs. “Homes that are repeatedly flooded tend to be lower value, and a lower value home is often occupied by a lower income family,” Scata said.
That’s why Scata says you need to ask the right questions when buying your home and keep a record of the answers.
“One thing a seller can’t do is outright lie to a homebuyer about the flood conditions on a property, even if it’s not required under law to disclose if a seller or a buyer asks a seller, ‘Has this property flooded before?’ and the seller purposefully lies to them, that counts as fraud,” Scata said. “That’s something that sellers can’t do,.”
The report also found that flooding is occurring more frequently, even outside the borders of those frequently flooding areas. The NRDC is calling for a change in the maps used by FEMA to make that designation, as well as federal register through FEMA of those frequently flooded homes.
