President Obama recently signed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (HFIAA) into law. This aids New Jersey residents who are in flood-prone areas, and are subject to the recent changes to flood maps, and flood insurance laws. Under the new law, home buyers will be able to purchase flood insurance at the same rate as the home seller – previously, under the Biggert-Waters Act, this was no longer possible.
“NEWARK, NJ – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today applauded President Obama for bringing relief to flood-weary New Jersey residents. By signing the Menendez-led Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (HFIAA) into law, thousands are protected from the financial tsunami that would have resulted from soaring flood insurance rates.
“This critical law, which I originally authored and introduced on the one-year anniversary of Sandy, is a tremendous victory for thousands of New Jersey homeowners who were facing skyrocketing flood insurance costs as they continued to recover from the worst natural disaster in our state’s history,” Sen. Menendez said.” (Courtesy of http://www.menendez.senate.gov/)
Some of the elements of the HFIAA can be seen below:
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The full press release can be found here. Another article which addresses some of the issues not resolved by the bill can be found here. It should be noted that while this law is not a final solution. It is hoped that in 2017, when the National Flood Insurance Program must be reauthorized by Congress, that some of these issues can be more permanently resolved.