The Natural Hazard Disclosure Law

The Natural Hazard Disclosure Law (NHDL) is not specific on all areas of concern for disclosure purposes. Many areas of the country and local regions have other areas of concern that may require special reporting. GeoAssurance will advise the Seller and the Seller’s broker if additional reporting is available or necessary to provide to the Buyer.

Examples may be the presence of methane, proximity to airports, landfills, etc., which may be found in databases that may not be routinely searched to see whether the property in question is affected by the physical characteristics. GeoAssurance can advise whether a separate environmental report would be advisable.

GeoAssurance generally provides information on between six and sixteen areas of concern. The local governments may have additional information concerning local issues of concern, such as local current or historical landslides, toxic spills, noise problems from general aviation airports, etc.

A Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD) report from GeoAssurance gives the Seller and the Seller’s broker peace of mind, and they can rest assured that their legal disclosure requirements have been met. The products made available by GeoAssurance do not constitute insurance. They are informational only. GeoAssurance produces reports that are compiled from public databases. This information is subject to change and updating of such databases by others, typically governmental agencies.

The information provided by GeoAssurance represents the most recent data. As an example, if GeoAssurance searches for flood inundation, but the local maps and databases have not been updated by the time of the GeoAssurance search, the report will reflect the non-updated status.

The Seller and the Seller’s broker have an affirmative obligation to advise GeoAssurance if they know or should have known of an error or inaccuracy in the GeoAssurance report. For example, if the local governmental agency has announced in a local news release that flood inundation maps are being changed, the Seller and/or the Seller’s broker must advise GeoAssurance so that a corrected report may be issued. Very often, the local information is announced before relevant databases are updated for access. All other natural hazards not referred to in the GeoAssurance report must be disclosed to the Buyer, in writing.

Again, the purpose of the Natural Hazard Disclosure Law is to inform the Buyer of any potential hazards and to let the Buyer make an informed decision to buy, and mitigate such hazards.

  California Civil Code SECTION 1103-1103.14 of TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY