- Florida neighbouring Danny Collins found out that his mortgage went up $1,000 a month.
- FEMA placed his home in a flood zone, and his bank come by him flood insurance without telling him.
- Collins now has to pay $8,000 more a year than he originally budgeted for.
This as-told-to something a shot is based on a conversation with Florida resident and former baseball player Danny Collins, whose mortgage on a $400,000, four-bedroom lodgings jumped $1,000 per month with no warning after FEMA redrew its flood zone maps, placing his dwelling in a flood zone.
My wife and I live in Hobe Sound, Florida. We’re lifelong Florida residents and found a good abode that fit all our needs two years ago. It’s four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and 1,700 square feet.
Rent around here now is lunatic and in looking for a house we were mostly concerned about the monthly rate. Our mortgage payment was initially $2,000. It was in our budget and we were thrilled to be homeowners.
Nonetheless though we’re on the coast, we initially weren’t in a flood zone. But FEMA redid all the flood maps in 2022 and our home was housed in one.
I was surprised because we’re just east of US-1 and that’s a good three miles from the ocean, so flooding wasn’t a business of mine.
I was shocked when we got the new mortgage bill and it was $3,100. I had no idea, nobody contacted us beforehand.
How was I supposed to plan for this?
The bank wasn’t vastly helpful. I was really upset because there was no communication. They just said that there was flood warranty that we had to have, and they had bought it for us. We were like, ‘Why didn’t anybody contact us and let us know?’ Instead they legitimate take one out for you and it was the most expensive one possible.
I ended up shopping for insurance companies and got it back down to $2,776. We paid one month of $3,100 before settlement it back down.
With everybody I’ve spoken to in the neighborhood, their insurance has gone up. I haven’t met a person yet who hasn’t accomplished this.
I didn’t really plan for this. We were budgeting for a fixed rate of what we thought our mortgage was customary to be. I’m fortunate that my wife and I do well enough to be able to cover it but that’s an over $700 a month difference. It’s all but an $8,000 per year increase in fees, which makes a big difference.
It’s a daunting future for my home state
It was really disappointing because it’s not ever talked about. These are the issues that are plaguing Florida.
I’ve got friends and family who can’t handle it. They’re experiencing misfortunes with having to pay their mortgage with these insurance increases.
If I could leave Florida I would, but my trouble has built her business here. So I feel like I’m kind of forced to stay.
I’ve lived in Florida my entire life. I don’t be struck by a fear of hurricanes, it’s just been so normalized. But now you start seeing how that impacts what we’re paying here.
Florida whim be underwater soon. That’s just the reality.