Flood risk disclosure coming for New York landlords

New York renters as of next month will have another factor at their fingertips to decide on leasing a property.

Beginning June 21, landlords across the state will be required to disclose information about flood risks prior to signing leases, The City reported. The measure’s largest impact will likely be in New York City, where developers still build in floodplains and two-thirds of households are renters.

Landlords will be required under the rule to disclose if rentals are in floodplains or if flooding previously damaged the property. That requirement counts for any type of flooding, but the floodplains location tenet only applies to coastal flooding risk due to outdated maps.

Additionally, landlords will need to tell tenants of their rights to buy rental flood insurance — which can cost as little as $100 a year — through FEMA, not required of tenants the same way it is of homeowners in high flood zones. Flood damages aren’t typically covered by traditional renters insurance.

Leases will indicate the risk of rental properties in the face of a 1-in-100-year or 1-in-500-year flood event. FEMA’s flood insurance rate maps are the basis of the calculations, though they haven’t been updated since 2007 and maps proposed in 2015 were disputed by the city. New maps aren’t expected until 2027.

New York is following the lead of other states, including New Jersey, Texas and California, in requiring flood disclosures to renters.

Flooding concerns linked to climate change have the potential to upend rental and housing markets across the nation. The Nature Climate Change journal earlier this year published a report indicating that homes in certain areas vulnerable to floods are overvalued between $120 billion and $237 billion.

Another report by New Jersey nonprofit Climate Central claimed sea level rise could fully or partially flood approximately $34 billion worth of real estate on the coasts over the life of a 30-year mortgage.

Homebuyers are responding to the increasing amount of flood risk disclosures taking place in listings.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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