U.S. lawmakers try to work out wind, flood issues

WASHINGTON – Aug. 2. 2010 – With the U.S. Senate slated to remain in session through Aug. 6, it is unclear if the chamber will make any headway on revising the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), especially since the U.S. House already has recessed until mid-September.
One bill, the Coordination of Wind and Flood Perils Act of 2010, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) would place the burden of determining flood and wind loss allocations on the entities that pay claims, not on policyholders. Disputes between the NFIP and the wind insurer would result in a 50-50 split of the claim and require arbitration.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) continues to favor his legislation, the Multi-State Disaster Relief Act, that would add wind coverage as an option for those participating in the NFIP, enabling them to receive payments for damages without having to live up to three years in a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers on federal assistance while suing private insurers.
However, insurers and other groups oppose Taylor’s measure saying the bill would merely add to taxpayers’ already burdensome liabilities from the NFIP. It is unclear if the Senate will have time to deal with any of the NFIP reform bills that have passed through the U.S. House or Wicker’s bill.
Source: BestWire (07/30/10) Hamilton, Jesse A.
© Copyright 2010 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Mortgage rates hit another record low

McLEAN, Va. – July 9, 2010 — U.S. mortgage rates fell for the second straight week to the lowest level in five decades, as a refinancing boomlet took hold.
Mortgage company Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) average 4.57 percent, down from last week when it averaged 4.58 percent. That’s the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.
Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.20 percent.
“With mortgage rates falling to historic lows, refinance activity has been strong over the past three months,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the effective mortgage rate of all loans outstanding was just below 6 percent in the first quarter of 2010, the lowest since the series began in 1977. Since the start of the second quarter, two out of three mortgage applications on average were for refinancing, according the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.07 percent, up from last week when it averaged 4.04 percent. That was the lowest on records dating to September 1991. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.69 percent.
Average rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 3.75 percent from 3.80 percent.
The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The nationwide fee for all types of loans in Freddie Mac's survey averaged 0.7 a point.
© Florida Realtors

Florida Realtors® News

Congress extends homebuyer tax credit and flood insurance
The U.S. Senate passed two bills last evening previously passed by the House. Both bills still need President Obama's signature to become law, but that's expected to happen quickly.
Homebuyer tax credit
The Senate passed HR 5623, which extends the mandatory closing date to qualify for the homebuyer tax credit. The contract deadline does not change - homebuyers must have a contract signed by April 30, 2010 (an exception for active duty military) - but the previous closing deadline of June 30, 2010, has been extended to Sept. 30, 2010. The National Association of Realtors estimates that the approved bill will benefit more than 14,000 deals in Florida.
National Flood Insurance Program
Congress once again reauthorized a short-term extension for the National Flood Insurance Program to Sept. 30, 2010. The bill, HR 5569, makes the program retroactive to May 31, 2010, the date the program went on hiatus.

© 2010 Florida Realtors®

Deepwater Horizon Incident, Gulf of Mexico

As the nation’s leading scientific resource for oil spills, NOAA has been on the scene of the BP oil spill from the start, providing coordinated scientific weather and biological response services to federal, state and local organizations. More

• ·        Deepwater Horizon / BP Oil Spill Press Releases

GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse [leaves OR&R site] is a new online tool that employs the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) a web-based GIS platform that provides you with near-real time information about the response effort. The site offers you a "one-stop shop" for spill response information.

The site integrates the latest data the federal responders have about the oil spill’s trajectory with fishery area closures, wildlife data and place-based Gulf Coast resources — such as pinpointed locations of oiled shoreline and current positions of deployed research ships — into one customizable interactive map.

Updated daily
Situation: June 25, 2010

Fifth NOAA Ship Adds to Ongoing Research Efforts in the Gulf Coast

NOAA Ship Delaware II departed Key West, Florida, to collect tunas, swordfish and sharks and compile data about the conditions these highly migratory species are experiencing in the Gulf of Mexico. During its two-week mission, the research vessel will use longline fishing gear to capture the fish, and assess their environment using sophisticated water chemistry monitoring instruments.

Two other NOAA ships—Pisces, one of NOAA’s newest research vessels, and the ship Oregon II—are in the midst of surveys of reef fish, bottom-dwelling fish, and shrimp in the eastern and western Gulf of Mexico to sample for seafood and water quality and species abundance as part of the oil spill response. For a complete list of vessels involved in NOAA’s ongoing efforts to engage the best scientific minds to monitor water quality and ensure the health and safety of seafood, click here
NOAA Response

NOAA provides coordinated scientific weather and biological response services to federal, state and local organizations.  Experts from across the agency have mobilized to help contain the spreading oil spill and protect the Gulf of Mexico’s many marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, shellfish, and other endangered marine life.  NOAA spill specialists are advising the U.S. Coast Guard on cleanup options as well as advising all affected federal, state and local partners on sensitive marine resources at risk in this area of the Gulf of Mexico. Overflights are conducted on a daily basis (weather permitting) to provide field verification of model trajectories. NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) is supporting the response work in the Gulf with NOAA-owned ships and aircraft. Currently, NOAA has deployed four NOAA owned vessels in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Please see GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse for further information on the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon Incident.

Trajectories

Winds are forecast to be predominantly easterly (E/ESE) through Sunday at speeds of 7-15 kts. The northern edge of the slick continues to move northwest threatening the barrier islands of Mississippi/Alabama and the Florida Panhandle east to Freeport. Under these persistent easterly winds, the Chandeleur Islands, Breton Sound and the Mississippi Delta are also increasingly threatened by shoreline contacts in this forecast period. Models suggest westward currents developing south of the Delta may begin moving oil west towards Terrebonne Bay.

OR&R’s modeling team continues to generate daily trajectories for the nearshore surface oil. The offshore trajectory maps (previously displayed on this page, showing oil interacting with the Loop Current) have been temporarily suspended because the northern end of the Loop Current has been pinched off into a large eddy (Eddy Franklin) so there is no clear path for oil to enter the Loop Current from the source. Also, there have been no reports of recoverable oil in the Loop Current or Eddy Franklin and the oil has moved to the North and away from the Eddy Franklin. We will continue to monitor the area with overflights, vessel observations, and satellite analysis. When the threat of shoreline impacts to the Florida Keys increases, we will resume producing the offshore trajectory maps.

The Loop Current is an area of warm water that comes up from the Caribbean, flowing past the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico. It generally curves east across the Gulf and then flows south parallel to the west Florida coast. An eddy is water that rotates.

Closures

The June 23 closure remains in effect (see map). The federal closed area does not apply to any state waters. Closing fishing in this area is a precautionary measure to ensure that seafood from the Gulf will remain safe for consumers. The closed area now represents 78,597 square miles, which is approximately 32.5 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters. This leaves more than two-thirds of Gulf federal waters available for fishing.

Any changes to the closure are announced daily at 12 p.m. Eastern at sero.nmfs.noaa.gov and take effect at 6 p.m. Eastern the same day.

Sea Turtles and Marine Mammals (effective June 24, 2010)

A total of 549 sea turtles have been verified from April 30 to June 24 within the designated spill area from the Texas/Louisiana border to Apalachicola, Florida. Between Wednesday, June 23, and Thursday, June 24, 7 turtle strandings were verified (One live in Florida, one dead oiled in Alabama and another dead in Alabama, three dead from Mississippi and one dead from Louisiana). Three live, oiled turtles were captured as part of the on-water search and rescue operation by the Unified Command. There are now 121 sea turtles in rehabilitation centers. These include 86 sea turtles captured as part of on-water survey and rescue operations, and 35 turtles that stranded alive. A total of 96 stranded or captured turtles have had visible evidence of external oil since verifications began on April 30. These include the 84 captured or collected turtles from on-water operations (78 live turtles, 3 found alive that died in rehabilitation and 3 collected dead ), six live stranded turtles (two caught in oil skimming operations), and six dead stranded sea turtles. All others have not had visible evidence of external oil.

Of the 549 turtles verified from April 30 to June 24, a total of 413 stranded turtles were found dead, 43 stranded alive. Four of those subsequently died. Four live stranded turtles were released, and 35 live stranded turtles are being cared for at rehabilitation centers. Turtle strandings during this time period have been much higher in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle than in previous years for this same time period. This may be due in part to increased detection and reporting, but this does not fully account for the increase.

The NOAA Ship Pisces reported a dead 25-foot sperm whale on June 15, 2010, that was located 150 miles due south of Pascagoula, Miss. and approximately 77 miles due south of the spill site last week. The whale was decomposed and heavily scavenged. Samples of skin and blubber have been taken and will be analyzed. The whale had not evidence of external oil. Sperm whales are the only endangered resident cetacean in the Upper Gulf of Mexico. There are no records of stranded whales in the Gulf of Mexico for the month of June for the period 2003-2007.

From April 30 to June 24, 52 stranded dolphins have been verified in the designated spill area. One decomposed dolphin was reported from Louisiana. Of the 52 strandings, five were live strandings, three of which died shortly after stranding, one was released and one is in rehabilitation. Forty-seven dolphins were found stranded dead. Visible evidence of external oil was confirmed on five dolphins, two live and three dead stranded animals. We are unable at this time to determine whether three of the dead stranded dolphins were externally oiled before or after death. Since April 30, the stranding rate for dolphins in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle has been higher than the historic numbers for the same time period in previous years. In part, this may be due to increased detection and reporting and the lingering effects of an earlier observed spike in strandings for the winter of 2010.

A stranding is defined as a dead or debilitated animal that washes ashore or is found in the water. NOAA and its partners are analyzing the cause of death for the dead stranded and dead captured sea turtles and the stranded marine mammals.

Assessment


To help determine the type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for harm to natural resources as a result of the spill, a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (Document format: PDF, size: 90.8 K) will be conducted by NOAA and our co-trustee agencies. Although many agencies are involved in this process, NOAA is a lead federal trustee for coastal and marine natural resources, including marine and migratory fish, endangered species, marine mammals and their habitats. The focus currently is to assemble existing data on resources and their habitats and collect baseline (pre-spill impact) data. Data on oiled resources and habitats are also being collected.

Flood insurance expires at midnight Monday

WASHINGTON – May 28, 2010 – Congress has a number of bills that would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) beyond it’s pre-set deadline of Monday at midnight, but the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) now says that action is unlikely before then.
As a result, Realtors should once again prepare for a lapse in flood insurance coverage.
After Monday, NFIP no longer has the statutory authority to issue new or renewal policies unless Congress reauthorizes the program. This does not affect existing policies, renewal policies within a 30-day grace period, or policies purchased prior to the program’s lapse.
However, it does impact buyers of flood-zone properties relying on a mortgage to close the deal. Without flood insurance, lenders probably won’t release funds, effectively postponing closing on these properties until Congress reauthorizes the flood insurance program.
During the Memorial Day congressional recess, NAR says its Federal Political Coordinators will meet with Congressional leaders to urge immediate action on a lasting NFIP extension.  Additional information regarding NAR’s policy position is available at www.realtor.org.
Options during flood insurance hiatus
Should a buyer not secure flood insurance on time, closing is still possible if the buyer “assumes” the seller’s existing flood insurance policy. For this to work, the seller must have coverage and be willing to transfer it. More info: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/nfip/manual201005/03gr.pdf
In addition, a handful of private companies also offer flood insurance not backed by NFIP, such as Lloyd's of London, Chubb and AIG. However, these companies issue only a limited number of policies and, without federal backing, it can be expensive.
Secondary lenders that purchase mortgages have their own guidelines on how to handle a flood insurance lapse. FHA has already issued updated guidance. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the VA and other lending authorities are expected to release guidance shortly.
For more information on each secondary lender, visit the applicable website at:
FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip
FHA: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/ref/sfh1-18c.cfm
Fannie Mae: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2010/ll1005.pdf
Freddie Mac: http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/news/2010/3/NFIP_authority.html
VA: http://www.homeloans.va.gov/
© 2010 Florida Realtors®