Plenty of listing checklists, contract riders and seller handouts still mention the $500 option. If yours does, it is out of date and should be retired before your home hits the market. The shortcut that let a seller skip the form and hand the buyer a credit at closing is no longer in the statute.

The change came from Chapter 484 of the Laws of 2023, bill S5400, published by the New York State Senate and signed on September 22, 2023. The law took effect on the one hundred eightieth day after signing, which is March 20, 2024. Every residential closing in Henrietta, Pittsford, Brighton, Rush, Mendon and Honeoye Falls since that date has been under the new rules.

What changed in the law on March 20, 2024?

New York struck the $500 opt out credit, repealed section 467 of the Real Property Law and expanded the disclosure form itself. A Monroe County seller of a one to four family home now completes and delivers the Property Condition Disclosure Statement, and the form now asks about flood risk. The rest of the Property Condition Disclosure Act, including the exemption list and the seller liability provision, stayed in place.

In practice, the repeal removed a decision point from the listing conversation. There is no longer a cost benefit comparison to run between filling out the form and buying your way out of it for $500.

What do the new flood questions on the form ask?

The expanded statement asks whether the property sits in a flood hazard area, whether flood insurance is or has been carried on it, and whether the property has a history of flood damage or flood related assistance. The question text is set out in section 462 of the New York Real Property Law, published by the New York State Senate, and the current form is distributed by the New York Department of State. This is the part of the pcds flood disclosure New York sellers most often get wrong, because the questions reach further than a single yes or no about the river.

The topics covered include the following.

• Whether all or part of the property is located in a FEMA designated Special Flood Hazard Area or a moderate risk flood area.
• Whether flood insurance is currently in place, whether it was required by a lender, and whether the coverage is federal or private.
• Whether the property has ever had flood damage, water seepage or standing water caused by a flood event.
• Whether the seller knows of federal flood assistance received for the property, by the current owner or a prior owner.

You can confirm how your parcel is mapped at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, before you answer. Parcels along Irondequoit Creek, Allens Creek, Honeoye Creek and the Genesee River corridor are worth checking carefully, and so is any lot where a prior owner carried a flood policy. If you have an old policy declaration page or a FEMA elevation certificate in your files, pull it out now.

Which Monroe County sales are still exempt?

Not every transfer requires a statement. Section 463 of the New York Real Property Law, published by the New York State Senate, lists the exempt transfers, and the list is narrower than most sellers assume. It covers situations such as a transfer by a court order, a transfer by an executor or other fiduciary administering an estate, a transfer from a mortgagor to a mortgagee by foreclosure or deed in lieu, a transfer between spouses or co owners, and a transfer of newly constructed residential property that has never been occupied.

Read the section itself rather than relying on a summary, including this one. Two sales that look similar across a kitchen table can land on opposite sides of that list, and the exemption is decided by the facts of the transfer, not by what is convenient. If your sale is exempt, say so in writing and keep the reason in the file.

When does the form have to reach the buyer?

Timing is the piece sellers miss most often. The statement has to be in the buyer's hands before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale, which in Monroe County means before the offer is accepted and the attorney approval clock starts, not at the closing table. Here is the sequence a prepared seller follows.

1. Download the current Property Condition Disclosure Statement from the New York Department of State and confirm you have the version with the flood questions.
2. Complete every question yourself, from your own knowledge of the property, using the unknown option where you genuinely do not know.
3. Sign and date the statement, and have it ready as part of your listing package before showings begin.
4. Deliver it to the buyer before the buyer signs the contract, and get the buyer's signed acknowledgment of receipt.
5. Attach the signed statement to the contract of sale so it travels with the file to both attorneys.
6. Deliver a revised statement if you later learn something that makes an answer materially inaccurate before title transfers.

Preparing the form before the first showing is the simplest way to protect the schedule. Offers in this market can arrive on the first weekend, and scrambling to answer sixteen questions about a furnace you inherited from the prior owner is not how you want to spend the hours after an offer lands.

What happens if a seller skips the form or guesses at an answer?

Section 465 of the New York Real Property Law, published by the New York State Senate, makes a seller who willfully fails to perform the requirements of the act liable for the actual damages the buyer suffers, in addition to other remedies available at law or in equity. Actual damages are not capped at a fixed number. A repair bill, a remediation estimate or a flood loss can all be larger than the old credit by a wide margin.

The statute also makes clear that the statement is not a warranty and does not replace an inspection. What it does is create a written record of what you knew, signed and dated. That record protects an honest seller just as much as it exposes a careless one, which is the practical argument for answering slowly and in writing rather than from memory.

What to gather before you fill out the form

Most of the answers live in paperwork you already have somewhere in the house. Collect it before you sit down with the form.

• Insurance declarations and any claim history, including any flood policy, current or lapsed.
• Receipts and invoices for roof, furnace, water heater, electrical panel, sump pump and foundation work.
• Any building permits and certificates of occupancy or compliance from your town, which you can request from the town building department.
• Septic pumping and well testing records if the property is not on public water and sewer, which is common in parts of Rush, Mendon and West Henrietta.
• Prior inspection reports, including the one from when you bought the house.
• Your current tax bill and assessment record from the Monroe County or town assessor.

A seller who has these on the table answers the property condition disclosure statement New York requires in one sitting, with documents behind each answer. A seller working from memory ends up with a page of unknowns, and a page of unknowns invites questions later.

Ready to list with the paperwork handled first?

If you are preparing a home for sale in Henrietta, Pittsford, Brighton, Rush, Mendon or Honeoye Falls, the disclosure statement belongs in your pre listing work, not in the panic after an offer. Schedule a time to talk with Khem Kadariya and walk through the form, the flood questions and the rest of your listing file before your home goes live.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Monroe County NY seller still give a $500 credit instead of a property condition disclosure statement?

No. Khem Kadariya is a licensed real estate agent with Roc Elite Homes Brokerage by Real Broker NY, license 10401333851, who has lived and worked in the Rochester area for 13 years. New York repealed the $500 credit option effective March 20, 2024, so it is no longer available to Monroe County sellers. Sellers of one to four family homes must now deliver the state Property Condition Disclosure Statement, including the flood questions, before a binding contract.

Can a listing agent fill out the property condition disclosure statement for the seller?

No. The statement is the seller's statement, based on the seller's actual knowledge of the property, and the seller signs it. An agent can hand you the current Department of State form, explain where it goes in the transaction and make sure it reaches the buyer on time, but the answers have to be yours. If you do not know an answer, the form allows you to say so rather than guess.

What happens if something about the house changes after I hand over the disclosure statement?

Under section 462 of the Real Property Law, published by the New York State Senate, a seller who learns something before title transfers that makes a previously delivered statement materially inaccurate must deliver a revised statement to the buyer as soon as practicable. A new roof leak, a basement that takes water during a storm or a failed sump pump are the kinds of events that trigger it. The statute does not require a revised statement after title transfer or after the buyer occupies the home.

Does the disclosure statement replace a home inspection?

No. The statement reports what the seller actually knows, not what a trained inspector would find, and it is not a warranty of any kind. Buyers in Monroe County still order their own inspection and still negotiate from the inspector's report. Sellers should treat the form as a record of knowledge, not as a guarantee of condition.

Do I have to answer the flood questions if my house is nowhere near the Genesee River?

Yes. The flood questions are part of the standard form for every covered one to four family sale in New York, not a section reserved for waterfront property. If your parcel sits outside a mapped high risk zone and you have never carried flood insurance or had flood damage, you answer accordingly. You can confirm how your parcel is mapped at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center before you fill in that page.