CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In North Carolina, people trying to sell their homes do not have to legally disclose whether it has flooded in the past.

Recently, the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill petitioned the North Carolina Real Estate Commission to make it a requirement for flood history to be made known to a potential buyer.

What You Need To Know

  • Flood history of a home does not have to legally be disclosed in North Carolina
  • Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill has petitioned for change
  • The N.C. Real Estate Commission will grant or deny the petition

Kristy Kulberg is the director of operations at Craven County Disaster Recovery Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping homeowners who have lost everything due to weather disasters, particularly flooding.

"It really baffles me that if I purchase a home, I have to be notified about bugs, termites that may have done damage into the home. But it's not a forced disclosure to tell me that the home has flooded three times in the last 10 years, that 4 feet of water has been in it two plus times," Kulberg said.

Kulberg and her husband were hit hard during Hurricane Florence.

"We lost everything except the clothes we took with us. And two cars. We lost two cars as well," Kulberg explained.

It turns out, the home she and her husband bought had flooded three times prior.

She says their real estate agent told her it had never flooded.

“I was like, surely there's got to be something we can do now. Like, they did not disclose that we were in imminent danger of losing everything and our attorney said the same thing, that they did not have to disclose that," Kulberg added. 

She says they never would have bought the house had they known its flooding history.

Samaritan’s Purse stepped in to help her family recover. Moved by the experience, she started volunteering with the group.

“I know I'm not the one that writes my path, so I just, I just take it as the Lord gives it to me. And that's where that's where my faith and future lies," Kulberg said.

Going forward, the N.C. Real Estate Commission will either grant or deny the petition. The group's next meeting is Dec. 14.

If approved, it will then move into what’s called the rule-making process to determine next steps.