Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, FINANCIAL STABILITY—Lawmakers ask real estate firms to provide data on houses’ climate risks, (May 1, 2026)

By Nora Macaluso

A group of House Democrats says information about properties’ vulnerability should be available on websites listing homes for sale.

A group of 16 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives asked the chief executives of major real estate companies to provide potential homebuyers with information about the climate risks of individual properties listed on their websites.

“While there is still room for improvement in climate risk scoring systems, the best available data will help prospective homeowners and renters properly evaluate the long-term costs and hazards associated with a given property, strengthening their ability to make a sound investment,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), wrote to the heads of Zillow, Rocket (Redfin), Move Inc. (Realtor.com), Costar Group (Homes.com), Compass, the California Regional Multiple Listing Service, and the Council of Multiple Listing Services.

The lawmakers said they were “alarmed at reports of pressure against entities providing such information, since doing so diminishes the public’s ability to make informed choices and undermines resilience in vulnerable communities.” A lack of information about climate risks disadvantages buyers, who may face rising insurance premiums or dropped coverage as climate risks increase over the term of a mortgage, they said.

“Real estate information platforms often serve as consumers' first point of contact for real estate listings,” the lawmakers said in the letters. “These platforms play a pivotal role in ensuring that American families have upfront access to comprehensive and trustworthy information when making some of the most significant financial decisions of their lives. Cooperation across the housing listing ecosystem in providing ready access to that information is critical.”

“As climate change-driven weather events become more extreme, the need to identify, disclose, and price climate risk is no longer theoretical, it is current and urgent,” the lawmakers wrote to the CEOs. “Costly, disruptive increases in flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, sea level rise, and storm intensity are already reshaping housing markets and communities,” they wrote, citing data on rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and more damaging wildfires and floods.

“Current risk assessments show that 26% of U.S. homes, valued at around $12.7 trillion, are exposed to at least one severe or extreme climate risk, including floods, wildfires, and hurricane-strength winds,” they wrote. “Insurance markets are already under stress due to these events, which erodes affordability and availability.”

Yet “despite mounting data on climate-driven damage, many homebuyers and renters remain unaware of their immediate exposure, let alone their longer-term exposure, largely because real-estate platforms and MLS systems often do not disclose climate risk,” the lawmakers wrote.

“As climate change intensifies, it is vital to ensure transparency in real estate transactions, now and in the future,” they said.

The representatives asked the company heads whether they are committed to providing homebuyers with “the best available information on the climate-related risks affecting a prospective property,” along with the data sources they rely on to assess these risks and how the information is conveyed to homebuyers. They also asked about feedback from homebuyers in response to the information.

“We welcome the opportunity to engage further on how your company can continue to support informed decision-making and strengthen community resilience in the face of growing climate risks,” the letters concluded.

Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), and Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) joined Casten in signing the letters.

Companies:, California Regional Multiple Listing Service; Costar Group; Compass; Council of Multiple Listing Services; Move Inc.; Realtor.com; Homes.com; Rocket; Redfin; Zillow

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