NJ flood disclosure law: what sellers and landlords must tell buyers and tenants

The NJ flood disclosure law in plain English

New Jersey's flood disclosure law is P.L. 2023, c.93, approved July 3, 2023. It does two separate things. Section 1 rewrote N.J.S.A. 46:8-50, the landlord notice statute, so landlords must tell tenants about flood risk before a lease is signed or renewed. Section 2 created N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.2, which makes a seller of real property in New Jersey disclose flood risk on the property condition disclosure statement before the buyer is bound.

The law itself took effect immediately, but each duty started 90 days after the state published its form. The Department of Community Affairs (DCA) published the landlord's model Flood Risk Notice and the Division of Consumer Affairs published the revised seller's disclosure statement in December 2023. The state's joint announcement of December 21, 2023 says sellers and landlords must use the new forms beginning March 20, 2024.

What sellers must disclose

Under N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.2, a seller of real property located in New Jersey discloses on the property condition disclosure statement whether the property is in a FEMA Special or Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area, plus anything the seller actually knows about the property's flood risk. It has to reach the buyer before the buyer becomes obligated under any contract to buy. Section 2 does not limit itself to homes or to sales that involve a licensee.

The current Consumer Affairs form puts this in a Flood Risk section, items 109 to 117:

1. Is any or all of the property in the Special Flood Hazard Area (the "100-year floodplain") on FEMA's current flood insurance rate maps?
2. Is any or all of it in a Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area (the "500-year floodplain")?
3. Is the property subject to any federal requirement to obtain and maintain flood insurance?
4. Have you, or to your knowledge any previous owner, received FEMA, Small Business Administration or other federal disaster assistance for flood damage to the property?
5. Is there flood insurance on the property?
6. Is a FEMA elevation certificate available? If so, the form says it must be shared with the buyer.
7. Have you ever filed a flood damage claim with any insurer, including the National Flood Insurance Program? If approved, the form asks for the amount received.
8. Has the property had flood damage, water seepage or pooled water from a natural flood event, such as heavy rain, coastal storm surge, tidal inundation or river overflow? If so, how many times?
9. Explain any "yes" answers in this section. The statute requires an explanation for every yes.

The form also carries the state's warning that flood risks in New Jersey are growing because of climate change, and it sends buyers to flooddisclosure.nj.gov to check a specific property. Its notes explain why some of the questions matter: properties in the Special Flood Hazard Area with mortgages from federally regulated or insured lenders must carry flood insurance, and once a property has received federal disaster assistance, the requirement to obtain flood insurance passes down to all future owners.

What landlords must give tenants

N.J.S.A. 46:8-50 says every landlord shall notify each tenant prior to lease signing or renewal whether the property is in the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area or the Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area, and whether the landlord actually knows of past flooding. A new tenant gets the notice in writing before the lease is signed. The notice may be included in the written lease or renewal lease, but for a residential lease only as a separate rider (more on that below).

DCA's model Flood Risk Notice has three questions:

1. Is any or all of the property in the Special Flood Hazard Area (100-year, or 1% annual chance, floodplain)? The choices are Yes (effective map), Yes (preliminary map) or No.
2. Is any or all of it in the Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area (500-year, or 0.2% annual chance, floodplain)? Same three choices.
3. Have the rental premises or parking areas ever had flood damage, water seepage or pooled water from a natural flood event? Yes, No or Unknown. If yes, how many times, with a description and date of each event.

The statute bars an "unknown" answer on the two zone questions. Only the past-flooding question allows it. For a residential lease, the notice must be a separate rider, individually signed or otherwise acknowledged by the tenant, in type no smaller than 12 point. Every residential lease must also tell tenants that flood insurance may be available to renters through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, and that a standard renter's insurance policy does not typically cover flood damage. The DCA form has signature and date lines for both tenant and landlord.

Which rentals are exempt

The landlord duty reaches anyone who rents commercial space or residential units for a term of at least one month. The 12-point rider and the renter's insurance language are written for residential leases, but the notice duty itself also covers commercial space. The law's definition of landlord leaves out:

• Units in a building with no more than two units, whether or not the owner lives there.
• Units in an owner-occupied building with no more than three units.
• Hotels, motels and other guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests, meaning stays of less than 120 days. Section 1 also says seasonal rentals of less than 120 days are exempt.

What happens if a landlord or seller skips it

The law spells out the tenant's remedies in subsection e of N.J.S.A. 46:8-50:

• Termination. If the landlord fails to disclose that the property is in a FEMA Special or Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area and the tenant later finds out, the tenant may end the lease by written notice to the landlord. Termination takes effect when the tenant surrenders possession.
• Refund. Within 30 days after the termination, the landlord must refund all rent or other amounts paid in advance for any period after that date.
• Damages. If the landlord violates the section and flooding then damages the tenant's personal property, affects habitability or affects the tenant's access to the premises, the tenant may pursue all legal remedies to recover damages.

Notice what the landlord section does not say. It sets no fine, and it does not create a rent abatement. The termination right is tied to the zone disclosure specifically; the damages route needs a violation followed by an actual flood. On the seller side, section 2 states no remedy of its own. It does not mention rescission, damages, penalties or an "unlawful practice." But do not read that as "no consequences." The act says it supplements the Consumer Fraud Act (P.L.1960, c.39), which is why the seller rule is codified at N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.2, and the Consumer Fraud Act itself, at N.J.S.A. 56:8-2, already makes it unlawful to knowingly conceal or omit a material fact, with intent that others rely on it, in connection with the sale of real estate. Whether a particular flood nondisclosure fits that rule is a question for a court, not something the 2023 law answers. We are not your lawyers, and a buyer or tenant in that spot should get legal advice.

Illustration: Jordan signs a one-year apartment lease in January with no flood notice. In May a neighbor mentions the building is in the 100-year floodplain, and the state lookup tool confirms it. Jordan sends the landlord a written termination notice and moves out on June 15. The termination is effective June 15, and the landlord has 30 days from then to refund any rent Jordan prepaid for the period after June 15.

Mapped flood zones vs known flooding

The forms ask two different kinds of questions, and mixing them up is the most common mistake. The zone questions are about FEMA's flood maps: is any part of the property inside a mapped Special or Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area? The history questions are about what actually happened: flood damage, seepage or pooled water from a natural flood event. A property can be outside every mapped zone and still have a basement that took on water in a storm, and that still has to be disclosed if the seller or landlord knows about it.

The law also tied the zone answer to a state tool. It says the duty to disclose zone status beyond actual knowledge takes effect once a user-friendly lookup tool searchable by mailing address is in place. DEP launched that Flood Risk Notification Tool with the December 2023 announcement, and flooddisclosure.nj.gov is the address both forms point to. In practice, a seller or landlord should look the property up rather than answer the zone questions from memory.

Elena is selling a house that is not in any mapped zone. Twice in ten years a heavy rain left water pooled in the basement. On the disclosure statement she answers no to the two zone questions and yes to the natural flood event question, writes "2" for how many times, and explains both events in item 117. That is the law working as intended: the map says one thing, the history says another, and the buyer sees both.

Where you fit as a licensee

The 2023 law speaks to sellers and landlords. It does not mention licensees. Your own duty comes from Commission rule N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.4: you must disclose information material to a property's physical condition that you know or that a reasonable effort to find out would have revealed, and that effort includes asking the seller or seller's agent about physical conditions and visually inspecting the property for readily observable conditions. Water stains, a sump pump and fresh drywall low on basement walls are exactly the things that should prompt a follow-up question.

The disclosure statement itself reflects this. The seller's broker or salesperson signs an acknowledgment that they visually inspected the property with reasonable diligence to check the accuracy of the seller's answers before giving the buyer a copy. If a seller's flood answers do not match what you can see, raise it before the buyer signs. For the full set of New Jersey disclosure duties, see the NJ disclosures study guide, and for the national rules behind them, property disclosures.

How this shows up on the PSI exam

PSI's outline never uses the word flood. The national portion's Property Disclosures section covers the seller's property condition disclosure, environmental issues requiring disclosure and federal, state or local disclosure requirements, and the Property Management section covers landlord and tenant rights and obligations. The New Jersey portion has an item on disclosure requirements. A flood question is most likely a scenario: which form, who gives it, to whom, and when. The general national rule is that sellers and their agents disclose known material defects; New Jersey adds a specific flood section with a hard deadline.

Quick checklist for test day, drawn from the law: before the buyer is bound; before the lease is signed or renewed; separate rider in at least 12-point type for residential leases; no "unknown" on the landlord's zone questions; two-unit and owner-occupied three-unit buildings exempt; seasonal stays under 120 days exempt; tenant may terminate by written notice, effective on surrender, refund within 30 days. This topic also appears in our change log of recent NJ rule changes. Then test yourself with a full practice exam.