Flood titles, state by state: brands and title washing
28 states brand flood damage by name, 16 fold it into salvage, and in some the history can thin as the title crosses a border. The rules, from the statutes.
Where a flood history sticks to the title — and where it can fade
After every hurricane season, hundreds of thousands of water-damaged cars re-enter the
market, and whether a buyer three states away ever learns it depends on two rules that differ
state to state. First, the brand itself: 28 states
print a flood-specific brand on the title, while
16 fold water damage into a generic salvage or rebuilt brand
— accurate, but silent about why the car was branded — and
6 have no flood-specific rule at all. Second, the hand-off:
when a branded title crosses a state line, 21 states carry the
incoming brand forward onto the new title, 22 translate it to
their own nearest brand, and in 1 the history can lawfully thin out
in the crossing — the mechanism people mean by “title washing.” Every
jurisdiction now checks NMVTIS before titling, so the electronic record survives; what varies
is what the paper in the buyer’s hand says.
Whether the state prints a flood-specific brand on the title, and what it does with an incoming out-of-state brand; statute or manual linked per row, 2026-08-25.
Connecticut prints a distinct FLOOD brand and applies its own comparable brand to incoming out-of-state titles (Regs. Conn. State Agencies 14-174-3). ↗
Kansas has no flood-specific brand (KSA 8-197(2)); an out-of-state salvage vehicle must be titled there first, then KS issues its own 'rebuilt salvage' title. ↗
Louisiana brands a distinct 'water damaged' title (RS 32:707(O)) and blocks any ordinary title for an incoming water-damaged vehicle except onto LA's own branded documents (RS 32:707(E)). ↗
Maine has no flood-specific brand -- flood is just one cause folded into the generic 'Salvage' legend -- and it carries a matching out-of-state legend forward verbatim (29-A M.R.S. … ↗
Maryland prints a distinct 'Flood Damaged' title notation (Transp. 13-507(b)(3)) and translates a substantially-similar out-of-state brand into MD's own wording (13-507(d)). ↗
MI defines 'flood vehicle' (MCL 257.17c) and MCL 257.222(1) requires a matching flood/rebuilt/salvage/scrap MI title when the out-of-state title already carries one. ↗
MN's own brand is 'flood damaged' (325F.6642 subd.1), separate from salvage/prior salvage/reconstructed, and it is recorded onto the MN title when an incoming title already bears it. ↗
MS admin code names 'Flood Damage' as its own brand (Rule 404.5) and requires brands on any state's title, MS's or another's, to carry forward onto the MS title (Rule 404.4). ↗
MO's statute (301.190) and titling manual print no 'Flood Damaged' brand of MO's own -- an incoming flood-branded title is translated into MO's generic 'Prior Salvage' brand. ↗
Montana brands flood damage only as generic 'salvage'/'rebuilt salvage' (MCA 61-3-210(8), 61-3-212), and MCA 61-3-202(1)(f) requires MT titles to show 'any required or carried-forward brands' from prior titles. ↗
Nebraska brands flood damage as its own 'Flood Damaged' title brand, separate from Salvage (60-174), and 60-172 requires any other jurisdiction's brand -- flood damaged included -- to be disclosed on the NE title with the issuing state named. ↗
NM has no flood-specific brand (salvage/nonrepairable status is an economic 'uneconomical to repair' test); an out-of-state 'Reconditioned' brand is entered as 'SALVAGE' on the NM title. ↗
NY treats 'water damage' as equivalent to 'salvage rebuilt' (no separate flood brand); an out-of-state SALVAGE REBUILT brand is carried onto the NY title with the origin state's abbreviation appended. ↗
NC statute lists a distinct 'Flood Vehicle' brand among six title-brand classifications, and any out-of-state brand is converted to NC's nearest listed brand on retitling. ↗
ND's damage-disclosure statute explicitly counts 'submersion in water' toward the same generic salvage/damage brand (no separate flood brand), and out-of-state brands other than junk-type are carried forward onto the ND title. ↗
OK stamps flood-damaged titles 'Flood Damaged' (47 O.S. 1111(C)(2), (L)); an out-of-state brand is retained on the new OK title but drops off if documented repair cost does not exceed 60% of FMV (1111(J)). ↗
RI's salvage law is cause-blind with no flood or water language anywhere in ch. 31-46 (Classification A/B by damage severity, not cause); the statute is silent on handling an incoming out-of-state salvage/flood brand. ↗
SC has a distinct 'Salvage Flood' brand; a non-matching incoming brand is translated to SC's nearest definition (Section 56-1-10; Section 56-19-485). ↗
Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-3-201(2) defines a 'Flood vehicle' and requires the word 'Flood' across the front of the title, distinct from Salvage/Rebuilt/Nonrepairable; § 55-3-209 maps an incoming out-of-state brand into TN's own four categories. ↗
WA's own salvage-vehicle test (RCW 46.04.514) is cause-blind with no flood brand of its own, but WAC 308-56A-530(3) carries forward an incoming 'Flood damage' brand from other states. ↗
WV Code has no flood-specific title-brand provision anywhere in Ch.17A; the DMV's own salvage certificate is issued uniformly as 'salvage' regardless of cause. ↗
Wis. Stat. §342.10(3)(d) requires 'flood damaged vehicle' be permanently branded on the title as its own category, separate from (f) 'previously a salvage vehicle.' ↗
Wyo. Stat. §31-2-106(a)(i) defines 'flood vehicle' and requires the next title be 'branded with the word "flood"'; §31-2-108(c) (with the explicit mandate in §31-2-107(d)) carries out-of-state salvage/rebuilt brands forward onto a WY title. ↗
How this table was built
Each row rests on the state’s brand statute or its titling manual, fetched and
quoted — the linked source — then re-verified against the same source by a second
pass. Rows marked unresolved are exactly that: a source we could not re-read, reported
honestly rather than guessed. This is the consumer-facing map we could not find anywhere
when we went looking for it.
Brand statutes are amended after big storm years; each row links the text it was checked against, and the unresolved rows say so plainly rather than guessing.
