Taxpayers should not be rebuilding your house when you live in a flood plain or anywhere else.
I live in the woods in north central floriduh and it is a constant battle each year to keep insurance. They always raise it or cancel and there is also a hurricane fee tacked on as well. Its just crazy!
You want to live there, you pay the price, why should my money be used to bail you out? The only issue I have is that it treats home-owners differently, with respect to the premium rate hike.
Yep. Time they payed for their own insurance. Nobody is paying mine now nor will they in the future If you can not afford to live in a flood zone then don’t. i don’t nor would I. Although my insurance is pretty high without being in a flood zone.
I’m wondering just how much a three-bedroom, two-bathroom split level with a pool on the intercoastal waterway goes for. In round numbers.
Just for a bit of perspective.
I mean, any house built in this particular neck of the woods is subject to getting the Wizard of Oz treatment during hurricane season.
This law makes way too much sense. How did it ever pass?
“The retirees said they had enough in savings and investments to pay the mortgage and the $1,482 yearly flood insurance on the home”
Retirees who need to take out a mortgage to buy a house ought to consider downsizing so they can pay cash and have the peace of mind knowing the bank cannot foreclose them.
Now this couple is facing an insurance bill they cannot afford and may default on the house.
That sounds like a much better idea than whining. I don't want to pay for their insurance through taxes. IMO it's a private matter between the Elston's and those they transacted business with.
Flood insurance used to be offered in the private insurance market and then the government took it over. Now, the rates are willy nilly as it has transition to a “transfer of risk” to a funding entity of FEMA and therefore a redistribution monster for the Feds!
Expect the exact same with health care.
Rush talked about that issue years ago.
His rate would have paid for his house in a couple of years.
He said screw it - no mortgage on the house so didn’t need flood insurance.
He said if a Hurricane knocked it down he’d build another out of pocket. Of course he added the house was built to withstand something like a Cat 5.
It isn’t fair to increase their flood insurance. They should be grandfathered in and all new owners should expect to pay exorbitant rates.
PS....there will likely be no new owners with rates that high!!
Yes, people know that some areas they choose to live in may be flooded and so you can prepare for that. But there is also an issue of some government agency redefining what is part of a flood plain and this can change. Just ask the people in Colorado, for instance, who not only have no homes but also did not carry flood insurance.
We live in an area that could be expected to have hurricanes and so we are required to carry Wind Insurance. Not a problem. Even though we’ve had no hurricanes for five years our rates took a huge jump this last year. We were told it was because of costs associated with the forest fires in Texas. If someone wants to live near or in a treed area, they should pay for their own insurance and not expect me to pay for it. But that’s not how it works.
Might be cheaper here soon......
They can always go out and get some market rate insurance.
Wife and I bought a retirement home in Florida last summer and we have not yet received any flood insurance notice. But when we do we will pay the increase . . . without crying, we don’t feel that anyone but us should shoulder the cost of the house. That being said, now why can’t the farmers pay for their crop insurance without the taxpayers subsidizing their premiums with 62 cents on the dollar and paying the administrative costs?
“”We have to possibly look at losing this house,” said Colin Elston, who is 71 and bought the home for $575,000. “We’re not rich, we’re comfortable. We had a very good plan for retirement. We’ve been very financially responsible.”
If the Elston’s can’t afford a $10,000 hiccup, then they most likely bought a property above their financial situation. We can’t fix stupid.
Property taxes on a $575,000 house in Florida are around $12,000 per year and can increase 3% or more per year.
Regular fire and theft and wind insurance on $575,000 house is around $6,000 per year.
The state of NC screws NC homeowners who live in coastal county locations that have never been hit by hurricane damage.
“Over the past 35 years, Florida’s families have paid into the National
Flood Insurance Program over $16 billion, four times more than the
amount they have received in claim reimbursements."
--FL Governor Rick Scott
If you bought a house with a creek in the back yard, you're in the flood plain whether or not the thing actually poses a danger to your property. If you budgeted $2000 a year for flood insurance (based on the disclosure of said flood plain) and suddenly your insurance jumps to $12,000 per year with no notice and no warning, how would you feel?
The banks and realtors were not required to warn anyone that, although insurance was afforable last year, this year it's not and there's nothing you can do but allow the home to be forclosed.
This only affects people who hold mortgages. People who own their property outright can cloose to forego flood insurance. People who have spare cash right now will be able to buy up all the waterfront properties at fire sale prices, since their owners will have little choice but to walk away and allow the banks to forclose.
Who benefits from this? Not you or me, since our taxes go up no matter what the flood insurance program does. The people benefitting from this are the ones with ready cash to snap up all the soon-to-be forclosed properties.