A few years ago, the last time the flood maps were updated, I fought to have my house (the insured structure) removed from the AE flood zone. I did this with a Letter of Map Revision. The ‘test’ for this is if the “lowest adjacent grade” (the elevation of the dirt at the corners of you house) is high than the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) shown on the adopted FIRM then you qualify. Mine is and so I went back to qualifying for a “Preferred Risk” policy.

Now, with Risk Rating 2.0 being implemented my first renewal led to a premium of $687. I looked at the math and I could not see where the Community Rating System (CRS) discount was applied so I reached out to my insurance agent who looked into it and sent me this response: “In addition, I was advised that community 120217 has a 25% credit and that the total $687 premium is with that community credit, however, when I asked 25% of what amount I was told that the NFIP does not provide their rating information currently and that they can only  verify the discount for the community number.” Sounded like hocus pocus, trust me it’s in there BS to me but I moved on.

I was at a meeting the other day at the county and an insurance agent sent me: “Explaining the CRS discount in Risk Rating 2.0“. This has a great graphic in it to explain how the CRS applies to policy premiums under the new system. This table assumes a CRS Class 5 rating of the Community and thus a 25% discount applied. Basically, for most folks take the Annual Increase Cap amount shown on your policy renewal and multiply by 1.18.

This is a list of CRS rating for communities for April 2022.

Palm Beach County Properties enjoy a CRS of 5 (25% discount).

Village of North Palm Beach Properties enjoy a CRS of 5 (25% discount).

Juno Beach Properties enjoy a CRS of 5 (25% discount).

Jupiter Properties enjoy a CRS of 5 (25% discount).

Palm Beach Gardens Properties have a CRS of 10 (0% discount). YUP! No Discount.

Now, with Risk Rating 2.0, each policy is indivually rated and the mere fact that a property is in (or not in) a flood zone does NOT affect the premium.

In Dec of 2022 the FHA Announced the 2023 loan limits. So what does that translate into for Palm Beach and Martin County?

FHA Loans for Single Family in Palm Beach County is $557,750.

FHA Loans for Single Family Home in Martin County is $500,250.

But most folks will use a “conforming” Fannie/Freddie loan. And this loan limit is the same for Palm Beach and Martin County and is now set at $726,200.

I had occasion recently to dig into this.

A zoning map shows the zoning designation of a property and is correlated to the zoning code of a municipality. This is the map from which one would obtain the zoning designation of a property so as to go into the zoning code and see what a property may, or may not, be used for. What the building set backs are? May I have a detached garage or say a guest house?

A future land use map is used by the various planning agencies in Florida, FDOT, SFWMD, to plan for growth. So an Engineer working for say the water district would use the future land use map to get the future land use designation of a large areas. They would then look to the Comprehensive Plan or regional water plan to find the maximum density in that area. This would then be used to determine IF with a maximum number of units (and per capita gallons/day) there’s enough water. The future land use map and comprehensive plan are the product of the “local planning agency” which is typically the local panning commission. The BIG thing in the FLU is that ALL zoning codes and official actions (permits) must be in compliance with the Comp Plan.

• FL chapter 163 provides:
  • “Local planning agency” means the agency designated to prepare the comprehensive plan or plan amendments required by this act.”
• Specifically 163.3174(4) provides that:  The local planning agency SHALL:
  • (a) Be the agency responsible for the preparation of the comprehensive plan or plan amendment…
  • (b) Monitor and oversee the effectiveness and status of the comprehensive plan…including the periodic evaluation and appraisal of the comprehensive plan required by s. 163.3191.
  • (c) Review proposed land development regulations, land development codes, or amendments thereto, and make recommendations to the governing body as to the consistency of the proposal with the adopted comprehensive plan.

What’s the connection between the two? The Comprehensive Plan and future land use is the MAXIMUM use that can done in that land. Fl 163.3194(1)(a) reads “After a comprehensive plan, or element or portion thereof, has been adopted in conformity with this act, ALL development undertaken by, and all (ALL) actions taken in regard to development orders by governmental agencies in regard to land covered by such plan or element SHALL BE consistent with such plan or element as adopted.”

A few years ago the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) got this change made to the Florida Condominium Act 718 to limit the just plain crazy fees that association management companies were charging to approve applications for a Lease or a Sale. At that time it was $100 per “applicant” but it’s been updated since then and is now $150 per “applicant” as per FS 718.112 BUT MAY be adjusted by the cpi (inflation). The condo docs must allow for a fee. The Condo Board must set the fee (to be $150 or less). Note below the definition of an applicant that spouses and /or parents (plural), be they married or not, and any dependent children are considered one applicant. So, and applicant with a spouse and any minor children is ONE applicant so $150. And also note that this statutory cap MAY be increased for inflation every 5 years to a number calculated, and published, by DBPR.

(k) Transfer fees.—An association may not charge a fee in connection with the sale, mortgage, lease, sublease, or other transfer of a unit unless the association is required to approve such transfer and a fee for such approval is provided for in the declaration, articles, or bylaws. Any such fee may be preset but may not exceed $150 per applicant. For the purpose of calculating the fee, spouses or a parent or parents and any dependent children are considered one applicant. However, if the lease or sublease is a renewal of a lease or sublease with the same lessee or sublessee, a charge may not be made. Such fees must be adjusted every 5 years in an amount equal to the total of the annual increases occurring in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average, All Items during that 5-year period. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shall periodically calculate the fees, rounded to the nearest dollar, and publish the amounts, as adjusted, on its website. The foregoing notwithstanding, if the authority to do so appears in the declaration, articles, or bylaws, an association may require that a prospective lessee place a security deposit, in an amount not to exceed the equivalent of 1 month’s rent, into an escrow account maintained by the association. The security deposit shall protect against damages to the common elements or association property. Payment of interest, claims against the deposit, refunds, and disputes under this paragraph shall be handled in the same fashion as provided in part II of chapter 83.

OK, so you just got your Citizens Insurance quote and it’s sticker shock so how can you get that down?

First, make sure they have all of your basic criteria correct. These are things like is it owner occupied? primary residence? Do you have a fire, sprinkler or fire alarm? The latter is only applicable if you have a policy for other than wind storm from citizens. Next, look at the “Construction Details” section. Some of this is basic information and other stuff is taken from the Wind Mitigation Form. Tale a look at this document that Citizens has to be able to verify the Wind Mitigation Feature guidelines.

A while back I wrote this article on how to calculate the reduction in premium that having a certain wind mitigation credit will get one. So, if I add ALL/FULL impact shutters then how much do I save each year? And I wrote this one going over the Citizens Mitigation Form. Let’s look at the policy declarations to check…

Year Built – The only question here is does the property appraiser show this as being before or after 1 January 2002? This has to do with the implementation of the statewide Florida Building Code. IF THE HOUSE WAS BUILT AFTER 1 JAN 2002 THEN STOP. YOU GET THE BEST RATE.

Construction Type – CBS or Frame? If the house has more than 1/3 of the square footage as frame then it’s considered frame by Citizens. This would include a 2 story house built before 2002.

Roof Shape – Hip shaped roofs with NOT MORE THAN 10% of the perimeter of the roof that is something other than hip get a credit. Get your tape measure out and do some math.

Roof Cover – Was the roof installed post 03/01/2002 (After the FBC was adopted) or post 09/01/1994 for Miami Dade located houses?

Roof deck Attachment – How many nails are hold the plywood onto your roof trusses? Was it re-nailed at the roof change out? Look at the “shiners”, the nails that missed the truss. Are they 6 penny, 8 penny, ringed? And, you need the spacing which you can figure out with a small metal detector.

Roof Wall Connection – This is what holds your roof truss down to the walls. Is it a single wrap, a double wrap, a small “clip” or is it toe nailed (no metal)? ON inspection they denied my credit for a single strap for to few nails so I bought a Milwaukee “palm nailer” and added 10 penny x 1.5 inch nails to the straps. That was fun.

Secondary Water Resistance – The requirements for this is something which has changed over the years as far as where and when it would be required. This can be a few options but most of the time it is a done by peel and stick tape applied to the plywood joints at re-roof. This is a VERY minor mitigation credit but still, if I was having a new roof installed then I would do it.

Terrain – B or C? If you have Citizens its probably because you live in an Exposure C location.

Some time ago I did this post on making sure one gets the right parameters for your new Risk Rating 2.0 policy. Well, I just got my renewal offer and this is where the rubber meets the road.

This data all looks OK to me for rating purposes but I was expecting to see a Ground Elevation and First Floor Height defined.