The decline in the United States 10 year treasury bond yield has triggered a lot of refinancing of home mortgages due to lower rates now being offered by lenders. The refinancing process can often lead to a mandatory flood insurance requirement by the lender. The reason for this is that banks and other lending institutions that provide mortgage financing in flood zone areas are required to have flood insurance in place on properties where they lend.
Is my home located in a flood zone? I have never heard of this requirement in the past. Your home may now be located in a flood zone even though it was not previously. Several years ago there was a major revamping of flood insurance zones throughout the United States due to the massive flooding and fallout from the Katrina hurricane. Areas that had previously had little or no flooding moved to a higher risk zone and the demand for flood insurance policies skyrocketed.
How are flood insurance zones determined? Several years ago there was a major revamping of flight insurance zones throughout The United States due to the massive flooding in fallout from the Katrina hurricane. Areas that had previously had little or no flooding moved up on the radar and the demand for flood insurance policies skyrocketed.
Flood Insurance Zones are the general basis for the cost of the insurance premiums for flood insurance. However each property may have a variance due to the elevation of that property relative to the zone that it’s in. And example of this is is a home that sits above the average grade of the flood zone can have a much lower insurance rate than one that sits below grade. We often advise homeowners to get an elevation certificate specific to their property when we feel there’s a possibility of getting a lower premium than what the basic flood zone cost would be otherwise.
We often advise homeowners to get an elevation certificate specific to their property when we feel there’s a possibility of getting a lower premium than what the basic flood zone cost would be using the base rate.
For more information regarding Flood Insurance and your refinance process, please call our office today. We can help.
