US Senate OK new flood insurance bill; good news for Louisiana homeowners

Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) announced that the U.S. Senate passed flood insurance legislation, H.R. 3370, “The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act.”
The legislation reinstates grandfathering and protects against unaffordable rate increases passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
“This huge victory saves families in Louisiana and across the country from losing their homes,” Vitter said. “It’s a long overdue, permanent fix that is also entirely paid for, so the program will be able to sustain itself in the future.”
Vitter worked to get Republican support for the bill, specifically getting Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to agree to a vote without amendments.
Provisions of the “The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act” include the following:
• Reinstates Grandfathering - This bill permanently repeals Section 207 of the Biggert-Waters Act, meaning that grandfathering is reinstated. This means that all post-Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) properties built to code at the time of construction will have protection from rate spikes due to new mapping – for example, if you built to +2 Base Flood Elevation, you stay at +2, regardless of new maps. Additionally important, the grandfathering stays with the property, not the policy.
• Creates a Firewall on Annual Rate Increases – Prevents FEMA from raising the average rates for a class of properties above 15% and from raising rates on individual policies above 18% per year for virtually all properties.
• Refunds policyholders who purchased pre-FIRM homes after Biggert-Waters (7/6/12) and were subsequently charged higher rates.
• Brings Accuracy and Accountability to the Mapping Process - requires FEMA to certify its mapping process is technologically sufficient to provide accurate maps as well as notify communities of remapping as well as models used in the mapping process.
• Permanently Removes the Sales Trigger – This bill removes the policy sales trigger, which allows a purchaser to take advantage of a phase-in. The new purchaser is treated the same as the current property owner.
• Funds the Affordability Study and Mandates Completion – This bill funds the affordability study required by Biggert-Waters, mandates its completion in two years and requires FEMA to minimize the number of policies with annual premiums that exceed one percent of the total coverage provided by that policy.