What Florida's Flood Disclosure Form Asks Sellers

Answer From Your Own Records Before You Check a Box

Florida's flood disclosure form is fixed by law, so your job is the answers. Section 689.302 says the flood disclosure must be made in a set form, and then it prints the form. It opens with a flood insurance note. Homeowners' insurance policies don't include coverage for damage resulting from floods. The buyer is encouraged to discuss separate flood insurance coverage with the buyer's insurance agent. Then come three items, each answered with a check box.

1. Whether you have knowledge of any flooding that has damaged the property during your ownership of it.

2. Whether you have filed a claim with an insurance provider relating to flood damage on the property, including, but not limited to, a claim with the National Flood Insurance Program.

3. Whether you have received assistance for flood damage to the property, including, but not limited to, assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The form defines flooding as a general or temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of the property. It names three causes. Inland or tidal waters overflow. Runoff or surface water from an established water source, such as a river, stream or drainage ditch, piles up unusually fast. Rainfall leaves standing water for a sustained period.

The questions ask about your house. A flood map won't answer them. FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program says 29% of its flood insurance claims from 2014 to 2024 came from areas outside current high-risk flood areas. A house outside those areas can still have flooded.

The Legislature has changed the form once. The version that took effect October 1, 2024 asked only about claims and federal assistance. Chapter 2025-166 took effect October 1, 2025. It added item 1 and dropped the word federal from item 3. Check each answer against your records. Your insurer's claim history is one place to start. Assistance letters and repair invoices are others.

Get It to the Buyer by the Contract, Not Closing

Florida's flood disclosure is due at the sales contract, not at closing. Section 689.302 says the seller must provide it "at or before the time the sales contract is executed." Hand it over before you sign the contract, so it can't be late. You fill it out yourself. A Florida Realtors associate general counsel wrote in September 2025 that a real estate licensee can point a seller in the right direction, but the disclosure of information should always be the client's or customer's responsibility. On September 30, 2025, Florida Realtors announced an updated form, FD-2, with the new statutory language and a new checkbox for the seller.

The section lists no penalty and no remedy for the buyer. Don't read that as room to shade an answer. The same counsel noted that a seller was already required to make known most of the facts the form references, under Johnson v. Davis. In that 1985 case the Florida Supreme Court held that where a seller of a home "knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer." The sellers there also told the buyers the roof had no problems. The court held that statement a fraudulent misrepresentation and said the buyers were entitled to their deposit back.

The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract has a sentence on the same ground. Paragraph 10(j), titled Seller Disclosure, reads: "Seller knows of no facts materially affecting the value of the Real Property which are not readily observable and which have not been disclosed to Buyer." Answer the flood form and the contract the same way.

Choose Your Route Knowing What the Buyer Can Do

Florida's flood disclosure form tells the buyer what you know. The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract has its own flood paragraph, and it can give the buyer a way out.

Paragraph 10(d) advises the buyer to verify the flood zone by elevation certificate and to find out whether the buyer's lender requires flood insurance. It also lets the buyer cancel when two things are true. One, the property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area or an area designated or otherwise protected under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. Two, its lowest floor elevation, for the building or for flood insurance rating purposes, is below the minimum flood elevation, or it is ineligible for flood insurance coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program or private flood insurance as defined in federal law. The buyer then has the number of days filled in, or 20 if the blank is left empty, counted from the day the last of you and the buyer signed or initialed and delivered the offer or final counter-offer. A buyer who cancels in writing inside that window gets the deposit back. A buyer who misses the window accepts the existing elevation and flood zone designation.

Our view: buyers walk when the price doesn't fit the condition they see in person. And if a price has to move, we'd rather it move on as-is sold comps shown to you up front than on a surprise at inspection. Your flood answers reach the buyer at or before the contract is executed, so set your price knowing what they say.

Two offers for your house, Fast Cash or Premium Cash, and you choose. Our terms, in order:

1. Fast Cash Offer: our as-is number. Cash Flow Deals buys the house as-is and closes. No listing. One walk-through by our team, and no listing commission to us.

2. Premium Cash Offer: more money. A pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have buys directly from you. The buyer comes from the pre-approved FHA or conventional buyers we already have, ready to go. During the 15 business days of inspection, the home may be listed through Silver Door Realty. A licensed agent brings each buyer. Showings are scheduled ahead and take 10 to 15 minutes. Cash Flow Deals is paid as a separate line item on the closing statement. If a Premium buyer's financing falls through, you can still take our Fast Cash Offer.

3. Inspection: 15 business days of inspection, on either offer.

4. Closing: 45 days or less; the seller helps pick the date.

5. Nothing is binding until a written contract is signed by both sides; you can take it to an attorney first.

Our view: putting your house in front of real FHA and conventional buyers is where a higher number comes from.