Florida's Flood Disclosure Changed on October 1, 2025. It Now Asks What You Know, Not Only What You Filed.

Florida requires a flood disclosure at or before the signing of a residential sales contract. Since October 1, 2025, it asks what the homeowner knows about flooding, not only what was claimed.

The Form Has Three Questions and One Definition

Section 689.302 of the Florida Statutes prescribes this form. Florida has required it since October 1, 2024. It carries a notice and three questions, then it defines its own key word.

These are the details worth having before you sign anything:

• A notice that homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, and that the buyer should ask an insurance agent about separate coverage.
• Whether you have knowledge of flooding that damaged the home during your ownership.
• Whether you have made an insurance claim for flood damage, including a claim with the National Flood Insurance Program.
• Whether you have received assistance to repair flood damage, including assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The state's form uses its own label for the person selling. This post says homeowner in place of it.

The First Question Is the New One

The 2024 version of this form asked two questions. It asked about filed claims and about federal assistance. It did not ask what the homeowner knew.

Chapter 2025-166 added the knowledge question, and it took effect on October 1, 2025. The section's history now carries two acts, chapter 2024-215 and chapter 2025-166.

That is a change in standard, not a change in paperwork. A claim is a record. Knowledge is not.

The Second Change Is Easy to Miss

The 2024 form asked about federal assistance. The current form asks about assistance, with FEMA named only as an example.

Assistance from a source other than the federal government now belongs on the form. The word federal came out.

Why the Definition Matters Here

The form defines flooding in three separate ways. Two of them are what most people picture. The third is not.

The statute reaches overflow of inland or tidal waters. It reaches unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff or surface water from an established source. It also reaches sustained periods of standing water from rainfall.

Lourdes Maestres has spent 17 years selling luxury real estate in Fort Lauderdale. The third condition is the one she sees homeowners overlook, because it does not look like a flood.

The Question Covers Your Ownership, Not the Home's History

The knowledge question is scoped to flooding during your ownership of the home. It does not reach back to a previous owner's years.

That scope cuts both ways. A home with a long flooding past can pass through a short ownership with nothing to report.

What This Post Will Not Tell You

We are not going to print a penalty figure for a missing disclosure. Section 689.302 prescribes the form and its contents. Any consequence for getting it wrong sits elsewhere in Florida law, and we have not read it.

Before Your Home Goes on the Market

Lourdes has worked this market for 17 years. This form is now a real piece of preparation, not a signature at closing. The homeowners who get surprised are rarely the ones who never read the form. They are the ones who read it and assumed the 2024 version was still current.

Lourdes and the MPH Team will walk you through the disclosure before your home reaches the market. You will see the current form, and the date of the act that changed it.

MPH Team | Compass | 954.833.0933 | info@mphfortlauderdale.com