Realtors, others seek renewal of flood insurance

It might shakeup the housing market across the country, according to the NationalRealtors Association. Realtors Federal flood insurance is required for federally backed homeloans of properties identified within a 100-year flood plain andoffered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Under thenational flood insurance program, a residential home can be insuredfor up to $250,000 and up to $500,000 for non-residentialproperties. It covers direct physical losses to the structure,support for elevated building, utility connections and mechanicalequipment needed to live in the building. Nancy Deichert, executive director of Bismarck-Mandan Board ofRealtors, said Realtors urge clients to purchase insurance beforethe deadline so buyers don't risk losing home loans. Those figures exclude homes sold privately byowners. This will not affect existingpolicies and renewal policies within the 30-day grace period orpolicies purchased prior to the program's lapse. He said the failure to reauthorize the program would not affectcurrent policy holders who are flooded now and have filed aclaim. Deichert said members of the North Dakota Association ofRealtors and local Realtors have supported the national stance bydirectly doing call-ins to the congressional delegation or writingletters of support to the national Realtors group. House passed the Flood Insurance Reform Actbill to extend the flood insurance program by five years, but itstill needs Senate action. It is making sure theprogram is financially sound now and in the long-term," said Sen. Kent Conrad's staff reported Thursday afternoon that he wastraveling and could not be reached. Congress has approved a series of short-term extensions of floodinsurance programs over the years while they seek long-term fiscalreforms, according to the national Realtor group. Deichert said the national Realtor group has fought against theprogram lapsing and reported it might jeopardize 40,000 home loanclosings per month across the country. The national Realtor groupestimates that 8 percent of housing units or 10 million homes arelocated within FEMA's 100-year flood plains. Joe Sheenan, vice president of mortgages at the CornerstoneBank, said on the short-term "There aren't a lot of pending salesfor flood properties. In the long-term, if people want to movetheir properties (in the flood plain) and lenders can't close onthe sale, it will affect the housing market. He said ifthe properties cannot be insured and sales cannot be closed, itcould damage the overall stable, healthy housing market growth theBismarck-Mandan area is accustomed to. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.