For the 4th time in a year, I've run into a problem where CoreLogic's interpretion of the flood zone map differs from mine. The first 3 times CoreLogic stated the property was in a flood zone, when it wasn't, and it was like beating my head against the wall to get someone to beleive me ...
This time CoreLogic states the property is in a Zone C when it's clearly half in a B and half in an A9, with the structure in the A9. And the realtor is blowing a gasket because she apparently thinks (a) I'm trying to pad my bill with an Elevation Certificate and (b) going to ruin her deal if the client learns he has to carry flood insurance.
Anyone else having these problems? And why are bankers so inclined to believe a company 1500 miles away than a surveyor from the area?
Rant over ...
Luckily I have not run into that in my area. I don't think that these companies should be allowed to exist. They have totally unqualified people making determinations that greatly affect people's lives.
Not a good thing.
Shortly after I refinanced my own home in 2004, I received notification from the lender that they were intending to procure flood insurance on my behalf due to an erroneous flood zone determination made by some company located in the Southwestern region of the US. Whether or not it was the company in question, I cannot recall.
One of the chords that struck me in that episode of "me vs. my mortgage company" was the fact that the other entity making the flood zone determination was NOT licensed in the state in which I hold a surveying license. I requested copies of documentation the mortgage company was relying upon. I also requested to have the surveying, engineering, or governmental official's license and registration number which backed up the opinion rendered.
In my case, the boundary survey supplied in triplicate to the mortgage company prior to closing clearly showed that my home is NOT in a designated flood hazard area with reference to the map, panel, and effective date of the FIRM map consulted. Working for a surveying company with more licensed surveyors than you can count on one hand, I suggested that if the mortgage company wished to persue their acquisition of flood insurance that I would gladly challenge the single unlicensed flood zone determination the mortgage company was relying upon with the signed and sealed opinions of five or more surveyors licensed in the State of Florida, plus the opinion of my local building official.
Review your state statutes or regulations regarding licensed professions, and if necessary, counter the inept determinations of unlicensed individuals with your own licensed work. If the realtor continues to push the issue, review your work and remember that the intent in most states to license the surveying profession is with the following end goal in mind: "to protect the public from the unscrupulous measurements".
As a surveyor, I provide relevant facts on the size, shape, location and elevation of property and assets with measurements recorded in field books. If necessary, I can back up the information shown on my surveys with redundant measureuments in front of a court of law. I do not provide whimsical tales of fantasy to my clients. I leave the whimsical tales of fantasy to the realtors who describe properties as "a carpenter's dream", "a showplace" or an "executive retreat with million dollar views".
> because she apparently thinks
>(a) I'm trying to pad my bill with an Elevation Certificate and
>(b) going to ruin her deal if the client learns he has to carry flood insurance.
>
- This is always the perspective from which realturds come from -
... Frick'n realtors - they are all the same...
Right! You're padding your bill and she is going to loose "her deal"
forget the fact the property is located in a hazard area
I got out of the flood determination business a long time ago (life is too short to be arguing with faceless bureaucracy). Sadly nobody noticed.
RELEASE THE(termite sniffing)HOUNDS!:-)
I think most Realtors are women simply because you don't hit a woman. With that thought in mind, perhaps we need more female Surveyors.
> perhaps we need more female Surveyors.
One of my friends from high school is a female surveyor... She's not shy about telling the facts, even if it's not what you wanted to hear. 🙂 She's also WAY too pretty to consider laying a finger on.
Your stand does not appear to jive with Texas Land Surveyors that contend that the Board of Registration has no business disciplining a Land Surveyor over NFIP matters.
It would be interesting to see a debate among Florida and Texas Land Surveyors concerning this difference of opinion.
