Since January 1, landlords have been required to give notice to prospective residential tenants about whether landlords are aware that the rental dwelling is in a 100-year floodplain or has flooded during the past five years. This requirement applies to temporary leases used in sales transactions, and the notice must be given before or at the time of signing the temporary lease.
TREC has promulgated a new flood disclosure notice form for use with the temporary leases. You may provide the TREC form or the Addendum Regarding Rental Flood Disclosure (TXR 2015) to clients to satisfy this disclosure requirement.
If the Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease (TXR 1910) is used, the sellers will be occupying the property as a tenant after closing, and the buyers will be the landlords. If the parties sign the temporary lease at the same time as the sales contract or at any later time during the sales transaction, the buyers must disclose whether they are aware of the information asked in TXR 2015. The buyers’ knowledge may be based on the seller’s disclosure or any information learned through inspections. If the buyers have not received a seller’s disclosure or have otherwise not been made aware, the buyers should state they are unaware of the information asked.
If the Buyer’s Temporary Residential Lease (TXR 1911) is used, the buyers will be occupying the property before the closing as tenants. The sellers, as landlords, should provide the Addendum Regarding Rental Flood Disclosure (TXR 2015) when the temporary lease is signed. This is in addition to other seller’s disclosure requirements.