Owners of second homes in Southwest Florida will face higher flood insurance premiums and surcharges than owner-occupied residences under new legislation that provides relief for flood-prone areas.
But those increases could have been much steeper if Congress had not recently approved a significant scaling back of the much-criticized Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
Primary homes got a boost from the legislation, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Friday, but vacation and second home owners also got a break from skyrocketing flood insurance costs.
Potential increases to flood premiums — many in triple digits — threatened to undermine the region’s real estate recovery by making insurance unaffordable for many owners and potential buyers in flood zones — even of properties not near significant bodies of water.
For more on this story visit: John Hielscher, Herald Tribune