What flood zone are you in?
Flood zones are determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The way a property is zoned within the flood system can have a drastic effect on the flood insurance premiums you are charged and can even change whether your mortgage company requires you to buy flood insurance. FEMA and the NFIP establish your initial flood zone through a flood insurance rate map (FIRM). To contest your flood zone, you must comply with the Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) process established by the NFIP.
Instructions
1. Obtain Form MT-EZ from the NFIP. Using this form helps ensure that you submit all of the required information.
2. Fill out Section A of the form. This will ask for the legal description of the property, which should be on the copy of the deed. It will also ask you to state whether you are contesting the flood zone for your entire property or only parts of it. You also need to state whether fill dirt may have been placed on your property to elevate it above the base flood elevation (BFE). If so, you will need a different form, MT-1. Next, fill in your name, address, email address and phone number. Then sign and date the first page of the form.
3. Hire a registered professional engineer or licensed land surveyor to complete a survey of your property. The surveyor will complete Section B of Form MT-EZ. If you are contesting the flood zone for a structure only and have an elevation certificate for that structure, you can submit it in lieu of Section B.
4. Include your supporting documentation with the form. This includes a flood insurance rate map (FIRM), which you can look up at the FEMA map service center. The engineer or surveyor you use will also have a copy. You will also need a plat map and a copy of the property deed, which must have a stamp from your local recorder's office.
5. Mail Form MT-EZ and your documentation to the following address:
LOMC Clearinghouse
7390 Coca Cola Drive, Suite 204
Hanover, MD 21076
Attn: LOMA Manager
Tags: flood zone, Form MT-EZ, will also, also need, contesting flood
