A reader, Adrianna, writes about the oft recurring problem faced by South Floridians who may, or may not, be in a flood zone;
I am writing to you today after my mother, a retired teacher, received a letter from her mortgage company informing her that her property of 40 years is now in a Flood Zone and she is required to obtain Flood Insurance within 45 days or they will impose a very expensive policy on the property. My Mom has always been a very responsible citizen, has kept insurance on her property even when her income was substantially reduced. She paid off her mortgage ahead of time so that when she retired she wouldn’t be a burden on anyone. Because of this letter she has not slept for several nights, her blood pressure is up and is just twisted up about the entire thing. You see she has an Equity Credit Line on this property which is open but is unused. She keeps it just in case of an emergency, it is her peace of mind. Now she is worried that she will have to close this line of credit because of this undue burden being imposed on her or rather someone’s desire to mess with her.
She
contacted her insurance agent who confirmed that in fact she is not in Flood
Zone: AH but rather in Zone X which does not require flood insurance. I went on line for her and did some research
on the FEMA website to obtain the Special Flood Hazard Area Map to see if in
fact she was in Zone X. It is clear that
her property is nowhere near the AH flood zone but in fact in Zone X. She contacted the mortgage company and they
insist she now needs to get an opinion from FEMA and compile an excessive
amount of County documents a survey and they won’t even be able to get her a
response for 30 to 60 days. Just to
prove that her property is where the FEMA Map shows that she is which is ZONE
X. I was told by FEMA that the Banks and
Insurance companies have the final say on whether a property is in a Flood Zone
or not, even if the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map indicates otherwise. She will now have to incur a great deal of
expense and run around to obtain a ridiculous amount of documentation in order
to prove something that is already documented on a Federal map.
This just
seems like an attempt by the Mortgage companies and the Insurance companies to
get rid of a loan on their books and generate revenue by forcing citizens to
buy insurance that they will not need.
My mom will now have to spend money she doesn’t have to try and keep her
security blanket (she has had this Equity Credit Line open for 8 years). I understand that this problem is being faced
by a lot of Floridians and something needs to be done.
It is very disheartening to see my Mom so upset when she has spent her entire life doing the right thing and someone can send a letter and just rock someone’s world like this. I appreciate you taking the time to read/listen to me vent, but I couldn’t let this go. I will fight to get her the determination from FEMA and try to help her hold on to her peace of mind.
Fighting the new flood map?
You may be entitled to Reimbursement of certain expenses; appropriation authorization
US Code from Cornell University
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/search/display.html?terms=flood&url=/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00004104----000-.html
TITLE 42 > CHAPTER 50 > SUBCHAPTER III > § 4104
§ 4104. Flood elevation determinations
(f) Reimbursement of certain expenses; appropriation authorization
When, incident to any appeal under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the owner or lessee of real property or the community, as the case may be, incurs expense in connection with the services of surveyors, engineers, or similar services, but not including legal services, in the effecting of an appeal which is successful in whole or part, the Director shall reimburse such individual or community to an extent measured by the ratio of the successful portion of the appeal as compared to the entire appeal and applying such ratio to the reasonable value of all such services, but no reimbursement shall be made by the Director in respect to any fee or expense payment, the payment of which was agreed to be contingent upon the result of the appeal. There is authorized to be appropriated for purposes of implementing this subsection, not to exceed $250,000.
One Congressman called the NFIP “the worse federal program he has ever seen”.
The NFIP has paid out only $11.6 billion dollars in claims since 1978.
The NFIP owes the US Treasury 20 billion dollar.
FEMA pay’s the insurance industry $ .71 cents of every dollar in premiums it collects.
FEMA has been unwilling to correct bad data used in new flood maps.
The NFIP puts the burden on the tax payers to correct bad data used for this new insurance maps.
Let’s stop this waste.
Let’s help balance the budget.
Let’s cut this wasteful federal program.
Tell your Congressman and Senators not to fund the NFIP.
Stop the National Flood Insurance Program.
Posted by: NOINSURANCE | March 20, 2010 at 09:17 PM
Want to find out who asked for this flood program in Congress?
Want to know who to thank for your flood insurance bill?
Check it out
On youtube
NFIP part1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0c-MpNuReg
NFIP part2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBSbABaK6Cg
NFIP part3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNGiCWFP3tM
NFIP part4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w243vI1n6BI
Posted by: NOINSURANCE | April 03, 2010 at 11:02 AM