The Connecticut records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: Under Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-327b the seller must give the buyer a written Residential Property Condition Report, based on actual knowledge, before the buyer signs a binder, contract or option; Public Act 25-33 added a Flood Risk Awareness section asking about FEMA floodplain status, flood claims, flood insurance and water penetration.
You must receive the state condition report before you sign, including six flood-risk questions added by Public Act 25-33 (sources differ on whether that section took effect July 1, 2025 or July 1, 2026, but the current 07/2025 form contains it). If the seller does not furnish the report, the seller must credit you $500 at closing, which does not excuse hiding a known defect.
Sources: portal.ct.gov · search.cga.state.ct.us · incaca.com · portal.ct.gov
Buying does not reset your assessment to the purchase price; values change town-wide at the five-year revaluation. Your bill can still jump sharply in a revaluation year, so check the town's revaluation schedule and any phase-in before relying on the seller's current bill.
Homestead: Connecticut has no general statewide homestead exemption from property tax for all primary residences; relief is mainly age- and income-limited programs for elderly and disabled homeowners, and towns may adopt a local-option exemption in some cases.
Connecticut Sex Offender Registry is run by Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP). Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official Connecticut registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
Connecticut's disclosure report specifically asks about pyrrhotite, the mineral linked to crumbling foundations in northeastern Connecticut, and a separate foundation condition report applies to certain foreclosure-related transfers in affected towns.
Under Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-327c a seller who fails to furnish the Residential Property Condition Report credits the buyer $500 at closing; that credit does not create a warranty and does not relieve a seller who concealed a known defect.
What the Connecticut disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official Connecticut registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview