"The bill hides information about property claims and losses from insurers and consumers, leaving them less educated about the true insurance risk of a home, and it opens the door for an increase in fraudulent claims," he said.

Among the provisions of the proposed legislation:

?Prohibits use of claims closed without payment in underwriting.

?Prohibits use in underwriting of any claim resulting from wind or hail unless it can be proved policyholder failed to maintain property.

?Prohibits insurer declining coverage solely on loss history of previous property owner unless negligence can be proved.

Lynn Knauf, personal lines director for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said the measure for the most part was driven by North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman.

Larry Maslowski, interim deputy commissioner, said Mr. Poolman proposed the measure in response to consumer complaints over the years as to how loss history data has been used in homeowners underwriting.

As for any possible veto, Mr. Maslowski said he has not had any conversations with the governor's office on the legislation. Both houses of the North Dakota State Legislature are controlled by Republicans.

The bill's passage came as both the National Conference of Insurance Legislators and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners are considering model legislation or regulations dealing with the issue. NCOIL is currently further along in the process and could approve such a bill this summer.

Ms. Knauf said that in addition to North Dakota, Arkansas, California, Oregon and Virginia are eyeing legislation while the District of Columbia has issued a new bulletin on the topic.

Ms. Knauf said interest in such legislation has dwindled considerably in the past year. "We think it has a lot to do with the fact that the mold issue is not as great a concern as it once was before majority of states approved the exclusion," she said.