For those of us who depend on flood insurance to sell and close property....we have been left in the 'lurch' agin, by our wonderful legislatures. It is hard to comprehend that they truely believe their vacations are MORE IMPORTANT than this issue. I assure you, none of them are needing flood insurance right now. With the start of hurricane season June 1....it is a travisty.
We need to call, write and email our representatives and remind them that we are watching, and we need this business attended to.......LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!!!
National Flood Insurance Program Expires Once Again; Could Delay Closings June 3, 2010
For the second time this year, Congress failed to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program as it expired May 31. Congress returns from recess June 7 when several bills to extend the program will be considered. In April, Congress le t the NFIP lapse for three weeks before it was reauthorized, allowing the program to once again issue new policies or renew policies to cover flood damage. The NFIP sunset could cause short-term problems for closing transactions within a special flood hazard area.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, new flood insurance policies can't be issued for loans closing on or after June 1 until the NFIP is reauthorized, unless the application and presentment of premium were made on or before May 31, and the application and premium payment were received within 10 days of the closing date. In this case, the new policy may be issued with a requested effective date on or after June 1.
For applications and premium payments made on or after June 1, it is recommended that the companies hold new applications and premium payments for processing until the reauthorization is received. If Congress retroactively reauthorizes the program, then these policies may be issued with effective dates as early as June 1. If Congress does not retroactively reauthorize the program, the earliest effective date for these policies will be the date the NFIP is reauthorized.
The lapse of this program comes at an inopportune time as the hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean started June 1. The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will be even more active than feared, leading U.S. forecasters said as they predicted 10 hurricanes, five of them major, with a 76 percent chance that a major hurricane would hit the U.S. coastline.
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