(Read the first letter to FEMA by clicking here.)
I should feel sweet victory. But honestly, I am simply disgusted with you and your policies. I think it's horrible that someone in an air conditioned office can simply 'redraw' the flood lines. And because of this, we are REQUIRED to pay for FEMA flood insurance (by our mortgage company) because all of a sudden our home is an 'high risk flood zone'!
Well, we KNEW our house was not in a high risk flood zone, so we paid $300 for a surveyor to prove it. Then we had to pay you another $321 for flood insurance, because our mortgage company only gave us 60 days to get this 'flood insurance' and you take 60 days to approve or deny a request, we simply did not have enough time after getting the survey, and filling out your forms, to prove in time that indeed our home was NOT in a flood plain.
We now have our LOMA form that officially removes our home from a high -risk flood plain, but your error cost us over $600 to prove it! So, if you'd like to do the right thing and reimburse us for the expenses of your error, you know where to send the check. The only sweet victory that is mine is that I don't have to keep paying you $321 a year for the rest of our mortgage!
Sincerely,
Cathy
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Can't Decide...
So, I can't decide which wall in my dining room I like the most... my ever changing artwork wall...
or...my new branch decal that I just put up...
what do you think?!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Dear FEMA, This means WAR.
I'm purely venting. Feel free to have a pity party with me if you'd like.
Our neighbors gave us a heads up about this a few months ago, and today the letter came in the mail from our mortgage company. Someone at FEMA decided to look at the map and redraw the floodplain lines - and move our homes from not just being in a 'no flood plain', but all the way up to being in a HIGH risk flood plain! So now, we are being required to pay FEMA what looks like possibly an extra $150-$200 a MONTH for flood insurance!! and did you know - FEMA draws the flood line and you can only get flood insurance through FEMA? How convenient for them!
The thing is...I am 99.9% convinced our home will NEVER flood! We had our land surveyed a year ago for another reason, so I called the surveyor. He said that 100s of homes in our community have just been 'added' to a high risk flood plain - and of all the homes he's surveyed - none of them have been in the required flood elevation - they are all ABOVE it. So, now we get to pay him a few hundred dollars - and hopefully he can prove that we are above flood elevation. Then we have to submit paper work to FEMA to get an exemption of sorts, then we have to submit paperwork to our mortgage company proving all of this. But you can be sure, we'll do all we can to not be fleeced by FEMA, because that is exactly what feels like is happening.
It's so frustrating...we would have NEVER bought a house in a flood plain. And adding an extra $150-$200 a month to our mortgage would certainly have been taken into consideration BEFORE we bought it. And now we're stuck. And it feels so very unfair. so.very.unfair.
Our neighbors gave us a heads up about this a few months ago, and today the letter came in the mail from our mortgage company. Someone at FEMA decided to look at the map and redraw the floodplain lines - and move our homes from not just being in a 'no flood plain', but all the way up to being in a HIGH risk flood plain! So now, we are being required to pay FEMA what looks like possibly an extra $150-$200 a MONTH for flood insurance!! and did you know - FEMA draws the flood line and you can only get flood insurance through FEMA? How convenient for them!
The thing is...I am 99.9% convinced our home will NEVER flood! We had our land surveyed a year ago for another reason, so I called the surveyor. He said that 100s of homes in our community have just been 'added' to a high risk flood plain - and of all the homes he's surveyed - none of them have been in the required flood elevation - they are all ABOVE it. So, now we get to pay him a few hundred dollars - and hopefully he can prove that we are above flood elevation. Then we have to submit paper work to FEMA to get an exemption of sorts, then we have to submit paperwork to our mortgage company proving all of this. But you can be sure, we'll do all we can to not be fleeced by FEMA, because that is exactly what feels like is happening.
It's so frustrating...we would have NEVER bought a house in a flood plain. And adding an extra $150-$200 a month to our mortgage would certainly have been taken into consideration BEFORE we bought it. And now we're stuck. And it feels so very unfair. so.very.unfair.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Motherhood and Backyard 'Lake View'
Sometimes I feel like I 'rock' as a mom. Then there's nights like tonight. And I wonder if I ever do anything right. I'm sure I'm majorly screwing up my kiddos. Sometimes I just wish this motherhood journey could be easier than it looks. Sigh. Hopefully in the end, the moments I get it 'right' will outweigh all these 'screwups'!
Well after days and days of thunderstorms, tonight, there is a sunset out my back window!! The leaves are filling out our trees, so it's harder to see; yet, I see the colors of the sunset faithfully shining through the branches. And when it rains, we get this lovely river that surges through our backyard (really it leaves all kinds of trash and opens sink holes and is really a pain!) But while it's flowing - it's captivating. This summer will make three years in this house and I still find myself drawn to the 'river' every time it rains. The force with which it flows, the stuff floating downstream...and that I hope keeps floating on by so I don't have to pick it up later, the constant movement, the beauty. Well tonight I paused and looked out at the sunset and it was reflecting off the 'river' and it was simply breathtakingly beautiful. It almost looked like we lived on a lake. I tried to take pictures to capture this 'lake view' with my camera, but my camera failed to capture the colors and beauty of it all. But nonetheless, here is a picture with and without the flash. It was a welcome glimpse of beauty after days and days of rain and a heart that is heavy with the journey of motherhood tonight.
Well after days and days of thunderstorms, tonight, there is a sunset out my back window!! The leaves are filling out our trees, so it's harder to see; yet, I see the colors of the sunset faithfully shining through the branches. And when it rains, we get this lovely river that surges through our backyard (really it leaves all kinds of trash and opens sink holes and is really a pain!) But while it's flowing - it's captivating. This summer will make three years in this house and I still find myself drawn to the 'river' every time it rains. The force with which it flows, the stuff floating downstream...and that I hope keeps floating on by so I don't have to pick it up later, the constant movement, the beauty. Well tonight I paused and looked out at the sunset and it was reflecting off the 'river' and it was simply breathtakingly beautiful. It almost looked like we lived on a lake. I tried to take pictures to capture this 'lake view' with my camera, but my camera failed to capture the colors and beauty of it all. But nonetheless, here is a picture with and without the flash. It was a welcome glimpse of beauty after days and days of rain and a heart that is heavy with the journey of motherhood tonight.
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