Broward County, Florida Flood Zone Remapping Finalized

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 11, 2012 -- Broward County, Florida

FEMA will be posting the changes in Flood Zones this month which impacts Florida Home Owners and their Property Insurance, especially effecting HOAs and Condominium Associations.

I met with a board president in Miami before New Year’s who was explaining he was in a real jam because he had many non-paying foreclosure units. He did not have enough money to pay for the Associations’ expenses. The biggest line item was the $40,000 premium for Insurance. with $7,000 of it for flood insurance.

FEMA remapped Miami-Dade last year , yet I am meeting quite a few associations that are unaware their Flood Zone had changed. Further, they are also unaware that a Flood Zone can be changed by applying with FEMA (such as this case). After listening to their financial concerns, I asked if the association had inquired into applying for a Letter Of Map Amendment with FEMA so they could see if they could drop the flood insurance.

After meeting with the Flood Map Rezoning specialist, the association found out they could be rezoned to a X zone which means Flood insurance became optional from that point on. Their total insurance premium expense just went down $7,000 or 17.5% to $33,000.

The scoop on Flood Zone Remapping in Florida

In the next couple of weeks, FEMA will be releasing the flood maps for Broward County Florida. What does that mean for the 24,000 Condo Associations and Homeowners in Broward county?

Time to check out your flood because it may have changed…

In theory, this is how it works:

Scenario A: If you were in a non-mandatory zone (labeled X), you may been placed in a mandatory one (AH for example). The association will now have to buy flood insurance.

Scenario B: If you were in a mandatory zone (labeled AH for example), you may have been placed in a non-mandatory one (labeled X). The association no longer has an obligation to buy flood insurance and can chose not to renew it (officially not I’m supposed to recommend as 1/3rd of flood claims come from these zones… but if the association is on life support due to a lot of non-paying members, it should be considered).

Ok, here’s the important part: Flood Zones can be appealed! FEMA can ‘remove’ someone from a mandatory zone if given the right paperwork and the data supports the request. They then give the association a LOMA letter (Letter of Map Amendment) for each building and they can chose to no longer carry flood insurance.

For example, I live in an association that was originally in a mandatory zone AH. They obtained LOMA letters for each building and are now in a non-mandatory zone X. As a result of these LOMAs, the association does not carry flood insurance and our lender can’t require us to carry it or force-place coverage. LOMAs don’t always get approved. If you are literally on the beach, FEMA will probably not approve a LOMA request.

How to check your Flood Zone: It’s easy!! Go to www.freeflood.net and type in your address.

Click on the “Flood Risk” tab and you will see your flood zone. You can also give them your email at the “Notify Me” tab and they will send you quarterly updates.

If it says anything other than X, your Association is in a mandatory flood zone. Don’t despair if you do, it MAY be changed (if you aren’t in an obvious flood zone such as being directly on the beach).

Get professional help to apply for the LOMA letter: Applying for a LOMA letter is a rather tedious process so there are experts (usually former FEMA employees) that offer to help submit the request. Their fee is usually a percentage of the annual flood premium (from 50% to 70%). Be careful who you hire as FEMA will only allow one application and if it isn’t done right and gets rejected, then you won’t be able to re-apply. I’m happy to share the names of a couple of different providers who have done a good job for some of my clients upon request at my email: sean@condoinsuranceexplained.com or TOLL FREE 855-84-CONDO.

DISCLAIMER: I am not recommending to anyone they drop their flood insurance as about 20% of flood claims come in from X zones, however, I do feel it is my fiduciary obligation to inform the board of their options.

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