Certain residents of Michigan have recently received letters from their mortgage companies, informing them that they will be required to purchase flood insurance, or that coverage will be bought on their behalf.
This is the result of a newly mapped flood plain by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and affects the residents of the Frank and Poet Drain, who are currently in an uproar over the sudden cost.
Since February 2012, when the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) went into effect, there has been a much larger area included in the flood plain designation, which is now affecting more properties than ever.
The residents whose homes are now included in the flood plain must now either buy their own flood insurance coverage or it will be purchased for them by their mortgage company, at the expense of the homeowners. They had been given a 40 day deadline in which they were required to purchase that coverage, following the receipt of the letter.
It has been recommended that these homeowners act sooner rather than later as they seek quotes and find out what options are available to them. Furthermore, they have also been advised to obtain those quotes and purchase their own policies, as the coverage will be purchased for them at their expense if they do not act by the deadline, and that cost could be much higher than the coverage that they could find on their own.
A Trenton City Council meeting saw a great deal of upset from the affected homeowners, and a concern was brought up that this additional cost – which could be as high as $100 per month – may be high enough to make some homeowners abandon their properties altogether.
