Governor signs bill requiring home sellers to disclose insurance claims for flood damage

Another bill signed this week will increase age of infants who can be surrendered anonymously to 30 days old.

By The News Service of Florida
| 8:13 a.m. May 31, 2024

State Government

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, May 29, signed nine bills, including a measure that will require people selling residential properties to disclose past flooding to buyers.

The bill (HB 1049), which the Legislature unanimously passed in March, will require sellers to provide a “flood disclosure” form that says whether they have filed insurance claims related to flood damage or received federal assistance because of flooding.

The law will take effect Oct. 1, four months after the start of hurricane season. Another bill (HB 775) signed May 29 will increase the ages of infants who can be surrendered anonymously by parents at hospitals, fire stations and emergency medical services stations.

Under current law, parents can surrender infants up to 7 days old without facing criminal prosecution. The bill, which will take effect July 1, will increase that to 30 days old. The extension is aimed at preventing “unsafe abandonment by allowing more time for parents to decide whether to surrender a child,” according to the legislative analysis of the bill.