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Huge Money Making Scam

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mark:
TRUMANN — Recommendations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for local landowners to purchase flood insurance are nothing more than a scam, a levee district official told a crowd of concerned residents Saturday.

"FEMA is taking an area of debt that they have and they are trying to expand, and they are trying to get money, and this is the only way they have to do it," said Rob Rash, CEO and chief engineer of the St. Francis Levee District, during a candidate forum at Trumann High School.

"FEMA officials in Washington, D.C., looked me in the eye and said, 'We owe $20 billion to the U.S. Treasury, and the only way we have to get it is through flood insurance premiums,'" Rash told the candidates. "Please don't be fooled by this."

Those attending the forum included six candidates for the 1st District congressional seat.

FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are reviewing levees and flood zones using the Flood Map Modernization Plan. Supporters of the plan say the new regulation will improve levee security in a flood-prone area, while opponents say the plan will cost residents millions of dollars in increased flood-insurance premiums.

Rash said the federal agencies are using a 100-year flood event scenario to justify the new maps, but the 1927 flooding to which they are referring left the water level 16 feet below the top of the levee. That flooding event led to the 1928 Flood Control Act.

Rash said the St. Francis Levee District has held up much better over the years than levees in other parts of the Mississippi River and Tributaries project because of a larger initial investment and continued maintenance and improvements.

Severe flooding two years ago devastated other parts of the Delta, but water levels locally left the levees with 8 feet to spare, Rash said.

He acknowledged there are areas of localized flooding, but he said they do not warrant the type of coverage recommended by FEMA.

"This is a scam, and that's all that it is," he said.

"We've got to stop this, and candidates, I beg you — when you go to Washington, D.C., this is what you're going to face: You have a bureaucracy that's trying to expand," he said. "The reason that the private sector is not involved in flood insurance is because it's not profitable. FEMA is trying to take it to a profitable status."

Coyote:
It's true.  The feds have taken over our lives.  They decided we are in a flood zone, which we are not.  Based on what someone in New England came up with, without ever having come to the area to look at the situation on a case by case basis.  If our house flooded, we would all be dead or floated away on an ark.  I'm not kidding about that.  And the huge kicker was Wells Fargo telling us to get an elevation survey but they would make the final determination of whether or not we have to get flood insurance.  Doesn't sound good does it?  And our savings by getting refinancing is lost in insurance payments.  The only saving grace is that our house will be paid off 3 years earlier.  Then we will drop all insurance and just take care of our home as we always have and hope for the best.

And Mark...thank you for your posts.  They make me feel not so alone in this.



--- Quote from: Pete on February 22, 2012, 10:47:17 PM ---I thought for sure for a second this had something to do with Obama care. The feds are trying to take over all parts of our lives. School lunches, utility bills, now they have meters that will monitor you usage, at certain times if they wanted they could cut you off. We are going in the wrong direction.

--- End quote ---

Coyote:
Thank you Rep. Day.  I sent messages of my situation to Sen. Blunt, Sen. McCaskill, AG Holden, and President Obama.  I really don't expect any results, although it would be nice.  At the least I feel like I've done something positive.


--- Quote from: Rep. Day on February 22, 2012, 03:57:53 PM ---I am 99% sure that those are federal regulations.  Everything you mentioned is a federal group and almost all banking regulations are federal.

I would suggest shooting a note to your member of congress or either (or both) of your U.S. Senators.  They probably have some information on that or at least may be able to get you in contact with the correct person.

Sorry I am not more help.

Dave

--- End quote ---

mark:
FEMA Drowns Millions of Homeowners in Flood Insurance PremiumsBy Charles Feldman  | Posted Jan 5th 2010 2:38PM
221 Comments 000

From the kind folks who brought you the Katrina debacle (OK, OK, I know! Mother Nature gave us the hurricane that wiped out New Orleans. But it was the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, that largely gave us the debacle part!) now comes a new act that has millions of home owners up in arms -- if not yet water.

Many homeowners are getting notices they must purchase flood insurance for the first time, even though they may live in areas never known to flood....as in, never!

These premiums can cost anywhere from $500 to a few thousand dollars a year. And, in a sweet-heart deal if ever there was one for insurance companies, flood insurance is a requirement for anyone whose mortgage is backed by the federal government. And, yes, more than 50 percent of all mortgages in this country are now guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (who, by the way, ought to be married by now, don't you think?)





FEMA is relying on new maps drawn up to highlight areas that could --- let me repeat that word again, COULD --- get flooded in what is called a once-in-a-100-year storm! ("Just because you haven't experienced a flood in the past, doesn't mean you won't in the future" FEMA helpfuly explains on its floodsmart.gov website.)

According to FEMA, a high-risk area has at least a 1 percent annual chance of flooding, which equates to a 26 percent chance of flooding over the life of a 30-year mortgage. Because "changing weather patterns, erosion, and development" can affect floodplain boundaries, the agency explains, it has spent the past several years updating its county-by-county flood risk maps.

Still, that's hard for many homeowners to swallow, especially if your typical weather concern is drought, not deluge. Here in mostly dry Southern California, one irate local politico told the Los Angeles Times, "I'm a little bit suspect of FEMA in light of their track record."

Some cities and municipalities across the country are fighting back and, in some cases, FEMA is backing down and delaying or redrawing its maps.

Famous last words on this go to Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks, once chief of the LAPD: "We don't understand how all of this area becomes a flood zone," says he. Yeah, good question, Bernie!

To see if your area is deemed a flood risk, consult FEMA's maps. That is, if you can make heads or tails of them.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." Oh, and he doesn't have flood insurance!

Coyote:
Thanks for the article Mark.  This is going on all over the country.  The FEMA map guys have been very nice and they have received our documentation and are reviewing our information for a LOMA letter, but we will get the elevation survey done anyway, so we have something to put with our deed if we ever try to sell our home.  What we are hoping against is to get all this done, at our own expense, and then have Wells Fargo say that they want us to get flood insurance anyway.  Then we will sue if we can get in a class action suit because we cannot afford to do it on our own.

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