In need of a home for herself and her five children, Krystal Nixon recently rented a house in west Houston, less than 900 feet from Langham Creek. A nurse aide, Nixon was attracted to the safety of the neighborhood after her old place was burglarized twice in one week.

But along the quiet streets of the Bear Creek subdivision, another danger looms. Nixon’s new rental took on water during Hurricane Harvey and sits in the 100-year floodplain. She said her landlord never said a word about the home’s flood risk.

Texas law does not require landlords to tell tenants a unit has flooded or sits in a floodplain. Houston City Council must close this loophole by adopting an ordinance requiring landlords to disclose a unit’s flood history to tenants.

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Nixon, who evacuated from New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina bore down on Louisiana, said she would have liked a warning about her home’s flood risk before signing a lease.

“If you know, you at least have the opportunity to say, ‘I don’t want to move here,’” Nixon told the Editorial Board.

The time to pass such a common-sense ordinance to protect renters was decades ago. But the redevelopment of Harvey’s housing carcasses and the tendency of hurricanes to fade from Houston’s collective memory make action more urgent.

Chronicle reporters David Hunn and Matt Dempsey published a groundbreaking story last week on how real estate investors are buying Harvey-flooded properties and converting many to rentals. Harris County had planned to purchase many of these homes, 88 to date, and demolish them.

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In the hands of investors, these homes can be renovated to remove signs of flooding, slapped with a fresh coat of paint and rented to tenants who are none the wiser. It’s no secret that an apartment with a flood history is less appealing to tenants, and there is nothing stopping unscrupulous landlords from withholding this information.

This situation, Texas A&M University professor Shannon Van Zandt told the Chronicle, puts renters “at greater risk of losing everything they have — including a place to stay, a shelter, their most basic human need.”

Nearly half of Houston’s 2.3 million residents rent. Thousands flock to our city each year from other states and countries and are unfamiliar with our susceptibility to flooding. Even longtime residents struggle to keep track of the lengthening list of neighborhoods that have been swamped.

Even earnest renters who scour Harris County’s flood maps before choosing an apartment are taking a gamble, as a Chronicle investigation revealed more than three-quarters of homes flooded during Harvey sit outside the 100-year flood plain.

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Renters have a right to know if their apartment have flooded or are at risk during future storms. Tenants deserve to know if they should purchase flood insurance for their belongings, as many renters’ policies fail to cover flood damage. And above all else, they deserve to know the likelihood of being forced to evacuate from floodwaters.

To prepare for future storms, Harris County commissioners and Houston City Council wisely revised the rules for building new structures in the floodplain. But repairs and construction will continue in flood-prone areas, leaving tenants at risk if they are unaware of their apartments’ flood history.

By changing rules for new construction, council members ensured new buildings are less likely to flood, though as a consequence construction will be more expensive. An ordinance protecting renters is easier —forcing landlords to tell tenants about a property’s flood risk won’t cost a dime.

As we’ve written before, the city should also post public signage about flood risks.

Builders can, and will, continue to build in flood plains. Renters are free to choose where they live. But they have the right to make an informed decision, and knowing an apartment’s flood risk is a must.