The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) has abruptly canceled a two-year project that would have added flood risk data on active home listings on the HAR.com platform.
The Houston Chronicle reports the decision to shut down the flood risk data project came after a test link went online and many HAR members complained their properties were rated as being high risk despite having no recent flooding history.
“We serve that membership, and that membership overwhelmingly was not prepared to have that information out there,” said Bill Baldwin, a HAR spokesperson.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s official flood maps to assess risk in Texas’ Harris County have not been updated since 2007. Texas law requires home sellers to disclose whether a home is in a floodplain or has flooded before. However, sellers who have only owned their property briefly are not required to include flooding incidents that occurred before their ownership, nor are they mandated to share details provided by previous sellers.
