Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen & Bipartisan Group Of Her Colleagues Urge Action To Stabilize The Housing Market After Expiration Of The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
Washington, DC – April 14, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior member of the Florida Congressional Delegation, has recently signed on to letters, along with a bipartisan group of her fellow Members of Congress, expressing their concern with the failure to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Flooding is the nation’s number one disaster but most private insurance companies do not offer their own flood insurance and standard homeowner insurance policies do not cover flooding. The National Flood Insurance Program was created to help alleviate this dilemma and at present around 90 percent of all flood insurance policies are provided through the NFIP, with nearly 40 percent of these NFIP policies held in the state of Florida.
In a letter to the House and Senate Financial Services Committees, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen and her colleagues expressed their alarm that both new and renewal flood insurance policies will no longer be issued until the NFIP is extended, effectively halting home closings due to an inability to purchase flood insurance.
The letter also reemphasizes the terrible impact of this lapse by stating “This is an unnecessary obstacle in [American families] path toward homeownership and adds another layer of instability to the ever struggling national housing market.”
Since September 2008, the NFIP had been operating on short-term extensions from Congress until this recent lapse. This letter urges a permanent reauthorization of the NFIP so that greater stability can be introduced into the housing market and protect homeowners in Florida and throughout the nation.
Joining her Congressional colleagues in a separate letter, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen also urged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to “take every step available under existing law to allow for the continued servicing of commercial and residential properties until the National Flood Insurance Program is extended.”
