A bipartisan bill approved by The House in early March would allow sellers to pass along their subsidized, below-market insurance rates to new buyers, while lowering the limit on just how much flood insurance premiums can go up each year.
This is a good step for people in living in oceanside communities in Ocean and Monmouth Counties. The bill was approved 306-91 and the legislation would reel back a recent overhaul of the federal flood insurance program after homeowners in flood-prone regions spoke out about high premium increases.
As residents in areas affected by Superstorm Sandy continue to rebuild, the bill means prospective home buyers won't have to absorb high flood insurance rates, and families across the US can avoid what Rep. Michael Grimm of New York called "a wave of devastating premium hikes and foreclosures" when he was interviewed by the Associated Press.
In essence, the bill would curb a 2012 law which attempted to get thousands of homeowners off subsidized flood insurance rates. As it stands, the US flood insurance program is about $24 billion in the hole, mostly because of Sandy and Hurricane Katrina. When the 2012 law was passed, lawmakers did not intend for it to greatly increase insurance rates like it has. Rep. Maxine Walters, a Democrat from California, co-sponsored the latest bill and also the 2012 law.
Anyways, the bill will now move on to the Senate, which already passed a measure in January that delayed enacting the insurance overhaul by four years.
Posted by Shawn Clayton on
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