Selling a Connecticut Home in 2026? The New Flood Disclosure on the Property Condition Report

A New Set of Questions on the Property Condition Report

If you are selling a Connecticut home, the residential property condition report you fill out now asks questions it did not ask before. Public Act 25-33, effective July 1, 2026, expanded that disclosure to require sellers to state the property's FEMA flood zone, its flood damage history, whether flood insurance currently covers it, whether there is an elevation certificate, its disaster assistance history, and any past water intrusion. The same act separately requires landlords to disclose flood risk before any new lease or renewal.

This is a distinct requirement from the flood-coverage notice now appearing on homeowners and renters declarations pages — that notice, addressed separately in our guide to the new insurer-side flood notice, is aimed at the policy you already hold. This disclosure is aimed at the transaction itself, and it puts flood information in front of a buyer earlier and more explicitly than Connecticut real estate transactions have required before.

Why This Matters to Sellers

An inaccurate or incomplete flood disclosure creates real transaction risk beyond the insurance conversation — misrepresenting flood zone, damage history, or water intrusion on a legally required disclosure form is not a detail to guess at. Before listing, pull your FEMA flood zone determination directly, gather any existing elevation certificate, and be precise about past flood or water intrusion events and any insurance claims tied to them. A seller who has this documentation ready moves through the disclosure requirement cleanly; one who does not risks a delayed or contested closing.

Why This Matters to Buyers

A completed disclosure showing flood zone membership, damage history, or an active flood policy is the buyer's cue to start the flood insurance conversation immediately, not after closing. Federal flood policies generally carry a 30-day waiting period, and a buyer who waits until after closing to inquire can end up without coverage during exactly the window when a new owner is most exposed. If the disclosure shows the seller carries an active NFIP policy, that policy can potentially be assigned to the buyer by name substitution rather than requiring a new policy to be underwritten from scratch — see our piece on the NFIP's federal reauthorization deadline for how that assignment mechanism works and why it matters for timing.

A Referral Relationship Worth Building Now

This disclosure requirement puts Fairfield County listing agents and closing attorneys in a position where they need somewhere reliable to send a client asking what a flood zone designation or a past water intrusion disclosure actually means for their insurance options. A buyer who checks "yes" to current flood coverage or flood damage history on the disclosure is a buyer who needs a bound policy before closing, not after — exactly the kind of deadline-driven conversation an independent agency is positioned to help with quickly.

Review your Connecticut flood insurance options before listing or making an offer, and see our guide to Connecticut flood zones and NFIP coverage for how zone determination and limits actually work. Landlords should also confirm their own disclosure obligations before the next lease renewal. Contact New England Insurance to review flood coverage on either side of a Connecticut real estate transaction.