Flood Certification

Author: Terri Ewing | Date: October 29, 2008 | Filed In: Glossary

Flood Certification Defined

Flood certification is used by the lender to find out if your property is in a flood zone. Companies that provide flood certifications or flood certs get the flood map information from FEMA. For this, they get paid a fee by you as part of your closing costs. It is not a costly fee…usually around $10 to $15. Some people may think it is a junk fee but this service is required by the lender and the fee goes directly to the service provider. The lender underwriting your mortgage is the one ordering the flood cert. Part of the underwriting process is determining if your home has the appropriate amount of insurance.

If your home is in a flood zone, you will be required to get flood insurance. The flood cert fee is not for flood insurance. You are required to get your own flood insurance and pay the premium if your home is in the flood zone.

Flood zones change and areas get remapped, albeit slowly, which is why a flood cert is ordered with every mortgage no matter how long ago you bought the home. Your home may not have been in a flood zone when you bought it but when you try to refinance years later, you find out it is. It is very rare for that to happen but it does. We had it happen to one of our clients.

To read more on hazard insurance and flood insurance go to Hazard Insurance Overview.

Author: Terri Ewing