Does Georgia require sellers to disclose flood history?

As of this brief’s publish date, Georgia has no dedicated flood-history disclosure statute for residential sales. House Bill 618 (2025–2026) would have required sellers of 1–4 family homes to disclose known flood damage, NFIP or private flood claims, and repetitive-loss notices, but it was tabled in the Senate on March 31, 2026 and died for the session. Buyers still rely on the voluntary Georgia Association of Realtors seller disclosure form, known-material-defect common law, and independent diligence.

Why do outer-ring Atlanta ZIPs show high flood percentiles inland?

FEMA’s National Risk Index scores county-level expected annual loss and social factors — not just coastal surge. Douglas, Gwinnett, and DeKalb sit well above the national median for riverine and rainfall-driven flood exposure, and tornado/hurricane percentiles compound storm-related buyer risk even when a parcel maps as Zone X.

Are these ZIP mid premiums official NFIP quotes?

No. Mid figures use the same buildLocalFloodMarketEstimate engine as our flood insurance cost hubs and ZIP pages — blending county NRI flood percentile with directional zone-tier benchmarks. Confirm the parcel FEMA zone, then get a carrier quote before removing contingencies.

Research brief

Atlanta’s Outer-Ring Flood Blindspot: Risk Scores Across Douglas and Gwinnett ZIPs After HB 618 Died

Name: Atlanta outer-ring ZIP flood and storm risk table (2026)
Published: 2026-10-02
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Across six Atlanta outer-ring ZIPs in Douglas, Gwinnett, and DeKalb counties, FEMA NRI county flood percentiles still run 70th–97th (average 83th), with directional NFIP mids near $1,992–$2,184 — while Georgia exited the 2026 session without a dedicated flood-history seller disclosure statute after HB 618 died.

Open Data Collective Editorial · Published 2026-10-02 · Updated 2026-10-02 · 10 min read

Suburban Atlanta ZIPs such as 30122, 30134, and 30093 already earn strong organic impressions for climate and hazard queries — yet buyers still treat inland suburbs as “outside flood country.” County NRI scores disagree: Douglas, Gwinnett, and DeKalb sit far above the national flood median, and tornado/hurricane percentiles amplify storm exposure even when the listing sits in Zone X.

The diligence gap widened in 2026. Georgia does not currently impose a dedicated flood-history disclosure mandate. HB 618 would have required sellers to disclose known flood damage and flood-insurance claims, but it died after a Senate table on March 31, 2026. Until a future session revisits the issue, buyers must pull FEMA maps, price optional NFIP coverage, and write contingencies themselves — using the same models behind our ZIP reports and flood-zone contingency template.

One-sentence finding

Six outer-ring ZIP risk table

County NRI percentiles drive flood and storm columns; NFIP mid is directional from the same engine as our flood hubs.

ZIP	Flood	Hurricane	Tornado	NFIP mid	Zone X band	Disclosure
30122 Lithia Springs · Douglas County ZIP report Flood hub	70th	53th	85th	$1,992	$400–$800	No dedicated statute
30134 Douglasville · Douglas County ZIP report Flood hub	70th	53th	85th	$1,992	$400–$800	No dedicated statute
30135 Douglasville (south) · Douglas County ZIP report Flood hub	70th	53th	85th	$1,992	$400–$800	No dedicated statute
30093 Norcross · Gwinnett County ZIP report Flood hub	97th	71th	97th	$2,184	$400–$800	No dedicated statute
30044 Lawrenceville · Gwinnett County ZIP report Flood hub	97th	71th	97th	$2,184	$400–$800	No dedicated statute
30087 Stone Mountain · DeKalb County ZIP report Flood hub	96th	73th	96th	$2,176	$400–$800	No dedicated statute

Average flood percentile: 83th · Average NFIP mid: $2,087 · Counties at/above 70th flood percentile: 3.

Method

Reproducible inputs — no black-box index.

ZIPs: 30122 and 30134/30135 (Douglas), 30093 and 30044 (Gwinnett), 30087 (DeKalb) — high-impression outer-ring engines from the Sep 2026 research plan.
Hazard percentiles: FEMA National Risk Index county fields from nri-counties.json keyed by county FIPS (13097, 13135, 13089).
NFIP mid: buildLocalFloodMarketEstimate with county flood percentile — same path as Atlanta flood cost hub.
Zone X band: educational Preferred Risk range from NFIP_ZONE_PREMIUM_TIERS.x_unshaded.
Disclosure status: HB 618 legislative timeline from Georgia General Assembly / BillTrack50 reporting (House pass 2025; Senate table 2026-03-31; session dead). Not legal advice.

County flood / hurricane / tornado percentiles are FEMA National Risk Index values from nri-counties.json. Directional NFIP mid premiums use buildLocalFloodMarketEstimate from the county flood percentile — not carrier quotes. Georgia HB 618 (flood-history seller disclosure) passed the House in 2025 but was tabled in the Senate on 2026-03-31 and died for the 2025–2026 session; status is legislative reporting, not legal advice.

Site launch reference 2026-06-13. Methodology overview: /methodology.

What buyers should do in Georgia’s disclosure gap

Treat Zone X as optional coverage — not optional diligence.

Open the ZIP risk report for the listing (start with 30122) and note flood + tornado percentiles together.
Confirm the parcel FEMA zone; if Zone X, still price a Preferred Risk Policy using the Zone X band above.
Ask the seller in writing for flood history, drainage issues, and any flood claims — even when the form allows “unknown.”
Attach a flood-zone contingency before removing due-diligence protections.

Download flood contingency Open GA 30122 risk report

Atlanta’s Outer-Ring Flood Blindspot: Risk Scores Across Douglas and Gwinnett ZIPs After HB 618 Died

Six outer-ring ZIP risk table

Method

What buyers should do in Georgia’s disclosure gap

FAQ