My monthly mortgage went up $1,000 after my Florida home was put in a flood zone. I'd leave the state but my wife's business is here.
- Florida resident Danny Collins found out that his mortgage went up $1,000 a month.
- FEMA placed his home in a flood zone, and his bank bought him flood insurance without telling him.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Florida resident and former baseball player Danny Collins, whose mortgage on a $400,000, four-bedroom home jumped $1,000 per month with no warning after FEMA redrew its flood zone maps, placing his home in a flood zone.
My wife and I live in Hobe Sound, Florida. We're lifelong Florida residents and found a good home that fit all our needs two years ago. It's four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and 1,700 square feet.
Rent around here now is crazy and in looking for a house we were mostly concerned about the monthly rate. Our mortgage payment was initially $2,000. It was in our budget and we were thrilled to be homeowners.
Even though we're on the coast, we initially weren't in a flood zone. But FEMA redid all the flood maps in 2022 and our home was placed in one.
I was surprised because we're just east of US-1 and that's a good three miles from the ocean, so flooding wasn't a concern of mine.
I was shocked when we got the new mortgage bill and it was $3,100. I had no idea, nobody contacted us beforehand.
How was I supposed to plan for this?
The bank wasn't very helpful. I was really upset because there was no communication. They just said that there was flood insurance that we had to have, and they had bought it for us. We were like, 'Why didn't anybody contact us and let us know?' Instead they just take one out for you and it was the most expensive one possible.
I ended up shopping for insurance companies and got it back down to $2,776. We paid one month of $3,100 before getting it back down.
With everybody I've spoken to in the neighborhood, their insurance has gone up. I haven't met a person yet who hasn't experienced this.
I didn't really plan for this. We were budgeting for a fixed rate of what we thought our mortgage was going to be. I'm fortunate that my wife and I do well enough to be able to cover it but that's an over $700 a month difference. It's almost an $8,000 per year increase in fees, which makes a big difference.
It's a daunting future for my home state
It was really frustrating because it's not ever talked about. These are the issues that are plaguing Florida.
I've got friends and family who can't handle it. They're experiencing hardships with having to pay their mortgage with these insurance increases.
If I could leave Florida I would, but my wife has built her business here. So I feel like I'm kind of forced to stay.
I've lived in Florida my entire life. I don't have a fear of hurricanes, it's just been so normalized. But now you start seeing how that impacts what we're paying here.
Florida will be underwater soon. That's just the reality.