Tampa Bay Times
December 12, 2013
Congress appears willing to head home for the holidays without doing a thing to correct the mess it created when it made sweeping changes to the National Flood Insurance Program. Homeowners now facing skyrocketing rates — or who can’t sell their homes because the potential buyer would pay so much more — should hold their representatives and senators accountable for this manufactured crisis. This is a problem that won’t go away just because Congress doesn’t want to deal with it.
In last-ditch efforts to provide some immediate relief from the rates that went into effect Oct. 1 for older homes, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both the Senate and House this week tried to use procedural moves to hit the pause button on the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act. They have failed so far, and the House is expected to adjourn later today for the holidays.
The inaction comes amid new questions about the veracity of flood maps drawn on the cheap and clear signs that changes to the flood insurance program are hurting real estate markets.
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