Gov. Maura Healey consoles a North Attleborough resident named Kristine, whose house was condemned the morning after it was flooded with 6 feet of water on Sept. 11, 2023. Photo by Colin Young | State House News Service
Zillow has removed climate risk scores from its listings nationwide, but Massachusetts homebuyers could get at least one major safeguard from a bill before the state Legislature.
The listings portal told the New York Times it was in part responding to to complaints from local Realtors. The Times reported that the California Regional Multiple Listing Service complained about the information, provided by insurance consultancy the First Street Foundation, was reducing sale prices and could be inaccurate at the parcel level.
Zillow listings now only link to First Street’s climate risk analysis website, where prospective buyers can still find information about a property’s risks.
Home sellers in Massachusetts aren’t required to disclose information about past flooding, said Massachusetts Association of Realtors CEO Theresa Hatton, adding that buyers shouldn’t rely on Zillow as their only source of information about climate risks.
“Some Realtors have access to a risk-assessment tool, which is also available to the public, however it’s not 100 percent accurate all the time,” she said. “Properties could be included in updated FEMA maps appearing as though they’re in a flood zone, but when someone goes out to conduct an in-person survey, it’s not.”
A sweeping environmental bill proposed by Gov. Maura Healey earlier this year is trying to change that.
As a part of her Mass Ready Act, disclosures of flood risk and past damages during home sales and apartment lease signings would become mandatory. The bill also includes a voluntary buyout program for homes at severe risk from flooding.
Katherine Antos, the undersecretary for decarbonization and resilience at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, framed the measure as a consumer-protection issue.
“Oftentimes it’s the renters who are most harmed when flooding occurs, and that’s for several reasons,” she said. “They might be renting an area that’s in a basement apartment or because they don’t own the building, they might not be thinking to purchase flood insurance, or it’s more likely that they don’t have access to the information that a building owner would have. When we think about this in terms of consumer protection and how do we protect our residents who are most at risk”
Inland flooding is becoming more common in Massachusetts just as sea level rise also threatens coastal homes, said Ali Hiple, senior policy analyst at the Boston-based advocacy group Conservation Law Foundation.
“Flood insurance is not included in typical homeowners insurance, so I think flooding, especially, is a key climate risk that people don’t necessarily think about,” she said. “Maybe you consider it if you’re looking at somewhere right on the coast but we’re increasingly seeing inland flooding across Massachusetts as well. When people aren’t necessarily right on the ocean or something like that, it might not be as top of mind.”
First Street’s founder argued that the company’s data isn’t inaccurate.
“When buyers lack access to clear climate-risk information, they make the biggest financial decision of their lives while flying blind,” Matthew Eby, founder and CEO of First Street, said in a statement. “The risk doesn’t go away; it just moves from a pre-purchase decision into a post-purchase liability. Families discover after a flood that they should have purchased flood insurance, or discover after the sale that wildfire insurance is unaffordable or unavailable in their area. Access to accurate risk information before a purchase isn’t just helpful; It’s essential to protecting consumers and preventing lifelong financial consequences.”
