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We became involved with this type of work as a result of Federally insured
mortgages requiring Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood information to be added to our residential and commercial survey plats.
We soon became very aware that the flood plain maps were "approximate" at best, and that the use of the maps was intended to show Special
Flood Hazard areas in general and were never meant to pinpoint locations as they are being used today.
We have found that almost all FEMA maps are lacking any vertical information and probably half don't have base flood elevations. In the
early 1990's FEMA started a mapping program to test methods of getting vertical information on properties in or near Special Flood Hazard
areas. Our firm became one of the sub-contractors to develop procedures to perform low cost elevation certificates.
In 1996, our firm worked on a Price-Waterhouse Coopers study to evaluate flood plain mapping, nationwide. The study was an effort to
determine if a large number of properties near previously mapped flood zones would actually be in the Flood zone when elevations were
determined. Our firm checked 9 out of a total of 22 communities involved in the study across the US. We found that the opposite was
true. We found that a large number of properties earlier understood to be in flood zones and subject to pay flood insurance were
incorrectly mapped and should be exempted from the requirement. Since then, we are not aware of FEMA actively pursuing getting
elevations data on properties in flood plains.
Now it appears to us that the only means left to correct mapping errors is by the individual affected or local public works offices.
In 1999, we were awarded a contract from Prince William County, VA where we did Elevation Certificates on approximately 700 houses
located in a 1995 FEMA flood plain map. We successfully removed almost 40% of the listed properties from the Special Flood Hazard
Area saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in needless flood insurance premiums.
While it may appear we are Anti-FEMA, that is not the case. We are strong supporters of a NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program).
However being surveyors and mappers , we are strongly opposed to poor or inaccurate maps. We feel that it is unfair to mandate
insurance requirements on properties located in "A" (Approximate) zones where base flood elevations have never been determined,
and unless an elevation certificate is obtained and a complete flood study conducted, a property can be adversely affected for
years with no reasonable way to correct for possible erroneous mapping. We also don't understand why it is necessary for all
mortgage applications to be required to pay for a Flood Certification. By reviewing data from flood determination firms, we have
found that about 97% of all properties are outside of the Special Flood Hazard Areas but still have to pay between $10-25 dollars
to obtain this form as part of their mortgage application. We realize that this is a relatively small expense, but when that amount
is multiplied by the 15 to 20 million mortgage applications each year, this cost grows to more than 1/4 billion dollars per year,
97% of it unnecessarily. We think it would make more sense to locate the 3% of properties in the special flood hazard areas, obtain
proper elevation data for verification, and create a database on the FEMA web site, available to anyone at no charge.
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(FEMA Form 81-93)
Since the 1994 National Flood Insurance Reform Act was approved, mortgage lenders are required to have this form completed for every
mortgage loan application. Many lenders have made it a practice to obtain this information from mapping interpretation firms that perform
this service on a national scale. This works fine for properties not near Special Flood Hazard Areas, but it falls short when the property
is in or near flood zones. Since in most cases, it would be impractical for these firms to make field inspections. They can only send the
forms forward leaving the parties involved to resolve. Too often, the borrower has to by flood insurance he may not need, or a buyer may
reject the property at the settlement table.
We feel that in almost any business situation it makes more sense to work with local professional firms than with companies thousands of miles
away, especially, when there is no significant difference in price. Therefore, while we have the ability to perform flood determination nationwide,
we generally limit them to our normal work region, where we can perform field elevation checks when warranted. If you wish to place an order for a Special Flood Hazard Determination, please
click here.
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(FEMA Form 81-31)
The Elevation Certificate is a form that is used for two primary purposes:
1) The form, when completed by a surveyor, adds elevation data to the structure in question. Insurance providers can use this information to more
accurately assess flood risk and set more equitable flood insurance rates.
2) The form, along with other related information, can be submitted to FEMA as a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA). FEMA reviews this data and determines
whether the subject property is truly in the Special Flood Hazard Area. If it is not, a Letter of Map Change is prepared and the property is not
mandated to require flood insurance.
We have performed thousands of elevation certificates all over the country for private individuals, county and state governments, and on many FEMA
projects in flood prone areas and hurricane disaster locations.
If you have any questions or comments on these types of surveys, we invite your inquiry or response by E-mail.
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