At first it sounds like a bad idea, making climate risk data less visible. But once you realize how inaccurate these particular ratings can be, and that the company providing them is trying to sell you stuff based on their projections, then you understand the issue. I wrote about this problem 15 months ago, see below. It was obvious that the projections by First Street, a for-profit company stating long term flood chances by percentages, was very inaccurate. Then there are links to sell you insurance against the so-called hazard right next to it. That causes undue harm to the property owner when selling, and possibly needless money spent by the visiting home buyer. I suggested that home buyers not base a decision on any one factor by this company, but to check other, more reliable sources, like FEMA flood plain maps which have been used for many years. I also pointed out that wrongly affected homeowners might sue First Street for monetary loss.

I am glad that Zillow has stood up to First Street and buried their information. If they want to provide a free link to the FEMA flood maps, and any other accurate, non-biased climate risk details, I am all for it. That would truly be a public service that we would all benefit from. I hope I helped Zillow make the right decision in this matter!

Here is a link to a Zillow article written last month, when this story was in the news:Zillow quietly removed millions of climate risk scores from the listings on its site. Will that help or harm homebuyers?

Here is a link to my previous story on this: Climate Risk Ratings on real estate sites | Saint Louis Real Estate | Gary Hoeferkamp