The housing industry, from servicers to real estate agents, will be impacted by this year’s hurricane season long after 2022. In the midst of this, many people are concerned about a potential lapse in National Flood Insurance.
Congress must renew the NFIP’s operating authority regularly. According to FEMA, the president signed legislation passed by Congress at the end of September that extends the NFIP’s authorization until December 16, 2022. Aside from that, there are more questions than answers about the program’s future.
Lenders are now beginning to question the impact of a mortgage loan closing if the NFIP lapses. Real estate and insurance agents are currently looking for relevant data and information that can help in their journey of providing a better understanding of flood risk to their consumers and how to act by purchasing flood insurance. Also, homeowners and borrowers are searching for possible ways to reduce flood insurance premiums.
In a discussion with Scott Gibberson, the principal of Product Compliance at CoreLogic, he mentioned that the lenders’ key objective is resilience. The ability to stay resilient in the face of natural disasters and recover in no time with the aid of data analytics and insights is essential in the industry. Gibberson believes that quick, effective and sustained communication of flood risk can drive the industry to greater resilience. Lenders can contribute to this effort by making flood risk and flood insurance easily accessible to clients, as most states have seller disclosure regulations in place already. To read more, click here.
