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Bought this house in March 2017. Mortgage rates have gone down quite a bit and I tried to refi with old lender. In the meantime, Flood zone went from X to AH. Never would have bought here if ANYONE had mentioned flood. Never. Not disclosed at time of sale.
Now I am being told I need a surveyor and an elevation certificate to get flood insurance. Can't even get a quote without it??? So then I thought, don't refi, just leave it alone. Lender says if they (the loan servicer) find out about the new flood zone, they will mandate flood insurance. This is not fair. Now I am in a bind. This is a reverse mortgage and lender says go get the survey and certificate so I can refi. What should I do? Sue the realtor for never telling me about this flood zone?
Bought this house in March 2017. Mortgage rates have gone down quite a bit and I tried to refi with old lender. In the meantime, Flood zone went from X to AH. Never would have bought here if ANYONE had mentioned flood. Never. Not disclosed at time of sale.
Now I am being told I need a surveyor and an elevation certificate to get flood insurance. Can't even get a quote without it??? So then I thought, don't refi, just leave it alone. Lender says if they (the loan servicer) find out about the new flood zone, they will mandate flood insurance. This is not fair. Now I am in a bind. This is a reverse mortgage and lender says go get the survey and certificate so I can refi. What should I do? Sue the realtor for never telling me about this flood zone?
According to what you wrote, FEMA has changed the flood designation since you purchased, so the previous owner and agent couldn't disclose anything. If it was previously listed in Zone X, they wouldn't have disclosed it because flood insurance isn't required. Zone AH requires flood insurance.
Any change in your loan trips this kind of requirement with lenders. So yes, you need the flood certificate so you can be in compliance regardless.
FEMA changes flood zones, arbitrarily. It is a nightmare to deal with them, and in fact, there is no dealing with them. There used to be a FB group called "FEMA (something derogatory, can't recall what).
If it wasn't disclosed, and you are within the statute of limitations, I would pursue something with your Realtor.
That is not cool.
Go through your paperwork and look for the one that indicates if property is within a flood zone.
Meanwhile, if you are in a flood zone, you should know it by the creek, river, lake, or ocean nearby.
But the house wasn't in the flood zone when he purchased it. The zone was changed afterward if I read the situation correct. You can't disclose something that isn't there.
FEMA has been updating the maps and in many cases using LIDAR elevations and advanced modeling to predict flooding. The result of this is changes in the maps. You might check with your city about whether there are any projects planned which will kick you into 500 year flood map. I guarantee you there were public meetings on the new maps before they were adopted so no you have no case. Flood insurance is a good thing to have for how cheap it is.
As a former Realtor myself, I have seen and heard of changes made to established areas without any special designation changed to a flood zone. From what you described, the prior realtor and/or seller were probably not aware of such a zoning change. It most likely occurred after you bought the home and would have 0% chance of winning against either the Realtor or the seller, unless you can prove otherwise. Your best option would be to inquire with your local zoning board, but that might not make any difference in the mind of your lender.
You might check if the info is accurate. Just because it's the govt doesn't mean they got it right or want to make it right.
We were among several with that fema special deal....flyover- spots- a- blue -area- let's- say- it's- in- a- flood- plain- and- let- the- public- have- the- problems -with- getting- it- out.
Fortunately there was a large number of us.
It helps if you have some info like a web gis you could pull up online that has a key as well indicting a map layer for the flood plain. Sometimes the previous info is there and accurate and the new info is inaccurate.
Contact politicians, council people, state senators, whoever probably live in the area you do, in your county or town. A good number of people seeking help from the politicians can help.
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