text:
New Jersey to Adopt FEMA's Flood Elevation Maps, Christie Says
At a press conference in Seaside Heights, Gov. Chris Christie said the new flood maps will help the Jersey Shore rebuild better and stronger.
New Jersey will adopt the Federal Emergency Management's (FEMA) Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps, clearing the way for residents and business owners along the Jersey Shore to rebuild better and stronger, Gov. Chris Christie announced during a press conference in Seaside Heights Thursday afternoon.
The move comes as residents along the shore wait to find out not if they'll have to raise their homes following Hurricane Sandy, but just how high.
"If we wait, all we're doing is delaying New Jersey's recovery," Christie said, adding: "I think this is what we need to do to build a 21st century Jersey Shore."
The advisory maps, or ABFE's, were released in December and recommend that residents in flood zones in 10 counties and 194 communities raise their homes on average between 1 and 5 feet. Based on a scientific analysis of recent and past storms, the flood maps estimate the kind of flooding various zones can expect during a once-a-century storm, like Hurricane Sandy.
It's anticipated that the advisory maps will be adopted by FEMA as its new flood insurance maps. While the new maps - and new insurance rates - won't become official for anywhere between 18 and 24 months, conforming to the standards of the advisory maps is necessary when it comes to rebuilding, Christie said.
By adopting the advisory maps at the state level, Christie said it removes the onus from municipalities still struggling to understand the maps and their ramifications. The move also eliminates the potential for what could have been a patchwork of non-conforming standards throughout the state.
Adoption also makes it easier for property owners to begin to rebuild by removing the need for state Department of Environmental Protection permitting, a step usually required for those looking to elevate their homes.
Christie said the state is adopting the flood maps as is, though he encouraged property owners in affected flood zones to build higher, if possible. Should FEMA determine that its advisory maps are too high in some areas, it will only benefit property owners by having buildings that are safer and more resilient to future storms, Christie said.
Using an example offered by FEMA, Christie explained the kind of flood insurance premium increases property owners could anticipate if they don't build to, or above, the new flood maps.
If a property in an A Zone, which is described as a high-hazard zone, is 4 feet below the flood maps, the owner can expect to pay up to $31,000 in insurance a year. If the property is built or elevated to the new standard, that total drops to $7,000. Another two feet above the the recommended height and that total is cut in half.
FEMA has maintained since introducing the new maps that while they are advisory, they are expected to be very similar to those adopted as the new insurance maps. FEMA officials have stated publicly that while the flood maps could go down in some areas, they will not increase.
By adopting the advisory maps, New Jersey has also made it easier for property owners to receive Increase Cost of Compliance, or ICC, funding. For those with flood insurance, ICC can provide as much as $30,000 to raise a home. Without adopting FEMA's standards, however, that money would not be released.
"I can't wait another 18 to 24 months to rebuild the Jersey Shore," Christie said. "That is an unacceptable alternative to me."
BettyAnn Bleakley
6:19 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Will Christie be asking the Delaware River area residents or North Jersey residents who flood regularly to raise their houses? I think not! Political games!
8:38 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
In the end it was not Sandy that destroyed the Jersey Shore. It was a greedy Government.
7:53 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
All you Christie bashers, how would the shore and its homeowners fared had the new regs for home height been in place many years ago? How did that house in Mantaloking ( where the breach occured) make out that was built up on stilts many years ago before it was a requirement? Wahoo, you seem to have the biggest mouth, whats your solution?
Joseph Skakum
8:39 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
A pilot announced: "Ladies & Gentlemen I have good news and bad news for you. First the bad news...We are lost. Now the good news...We are making good time" Gov Christe is the pilot
8:34 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
"...property owners whose buildings were substantially damaged by Sandy must raise their homes considerably if they choose to rebuild." (FEMA map says 9 feet for my mainland Toms River house!)
"Owners of properties less severely damaged have a choice, but it's not really a good one. If they rebuild their homes to the new flood elevation standard, their annual flood insurance premium figures to be about $7,000. That can be cut in half to $3,500 if they raise their properties 2 feet above the new standard." (If they don't raise it, yearly premiums could be $31,000!)
- from NorthJersey.com, AKA the Bergen Record newspaper
(Expect a mass exodus from the Shore and any other NJ areas that were flooded, to bail FEMA out of its Katrina debt.)
Chief Wahoo
5:28 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
"I can't wait another 18 to 24 months to rebuild the Jersey Shore," Christie said. "That is an unacceptable alternative to me."
Yeah because you desperately need that revenue to fix that budget, you keep lying about.....so who cares what happens to the homeowners that LIVE AT THE JERSEY SHORE !!
6:02 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
CW you need to take you MED's your going ovr the edge!
5:34 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I just lost alot of faith and respect for him. There are hundred's of homes on the mainland that should NOT be in V zones, meanwhile there are sections of the barrier island that are in an A zone? That makes no sense!
Pattie Romano
8:15 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
bernie, each week the map seems to be updating- here is the link
10:08 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
i totally agree with you i live in Silverton and went from an AE zone to a A zone WTF is wrong with this picture, if your on the beach its a Azone bull shit!!!
2:45 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
And if the barrier islands are going to do the thorough job of installing dunes and maintaining them, it would only seem fair for those dunes to be shown on the fema maps. That way almost all elevations would go down to reasonable levels because on LBI in Brant Beach you can see a duned area and how well it worked versus a nearby area that didn't dune up and how miserable the area looks.
Everybody is rushing things and fema's notion of timetables are appalling. March lst is the cut of for a loan application and yet no one at this point knows what their final zone and its requirements will be. It's hard to know just how much to borrow without that critical information which won't be available before or on March lst. They are talking about September but the sand dunes apparently won't be on the map so we will have to overbuild because they aren't going to provide the full picture of what this area will look like in a year.
Fema isn't organized within itself and it is wrecking havoc on people who want to the right thing but within reason. The Governor should not have just blindly accepted any maps from Fema and now puts it on homeowners to fight the continuing bad data Fema puts out. Not many town governments are helping the residents who were hit by the storm so it means one house at a time at great expense to the homeowners who are running out of money.
2:46 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
you guys are the fools,
first of all you must not have been in the flood waters like i was till 4am
you must not have lost everything you worked for over the last 30 yrs.
the guy has just made it so i can raise my home
maybe i will be able to see some of the water i live by NOT ON ...
and he is going to make it easier to get funding ICC to pay for it
because after all this is them telling me to do this and not my decision to live
10 feet up in the air WHO LIKE STEPS.
also the shore brings the state a lot of $$$$$ not the homes in those areas that flood all the time.
they are the dumb asses that keep living there
this is the first time in 53 years my house flooded
and could go on and on
stop hatin just embrace it. live save , and worry free,
Galloway Guy
5:39 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Most of the small buisnesses will go under if they are not able to reopen this summer, putting a lot of people unemployed. His comment was made on talk radio, ask the governor, in response to FEMA claiming it would take hat long to provide the analysis maps. I agree with the governor, it is rediculous. I don't care for all his views, but he is acting with the best interest of the people of NJ in mind.
Chief Wahoo
5:42 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
oh really, so who is going to go to all these small businesses, when a good amount of people basically just lost their houses
6:36 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I would if someone would buy the house, with the market tanked after I bought and now raising or the new owner to raise I would not even cover the mortgage, it is sad but I see most having to walk away. This is a mess.
6:42 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
We live in a community of working people. I went outside and did a 360 turn, everyone I see will be raising their home. Where is all this money coming from, does everyone have 50 thousand laying around, don't think so.I cannot belelive this is happening to he beloved Jersy Shore, our home, we all need a true miracle.
12:56 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Even if you could raise you home, what contractors up here are capable of doing it??? The answer is no one. A month ago Toms River told us to be weary of any contractor who said that they could raise our homes. The experts are all down south and I don't see any of the up here! A unless your house is a total loss how do you raise a house that is 30% or 40% damaged? And if you can't raise your house who can afford $7,000 -$30,000 in flood insurance premiums a year!!?? It's a big FU to all of us at the shore.
1:00 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
One other thing. . Real estate taxes are due Feb 1. Is Toms River re-accessing our home values? NOT! Why am I expected to pay my real estate taxes and not a reduced one when my home has lost so much of its value?
2:01 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Laura to Laura,
It's called personal responsibility. Every township had the necessary paperwork that, you, as a resident, needed to fill out to change your assessment. In some , I think, cases the deadine passed a week or two ago. Some towns may have extended it.
3:30 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Laur to Laura. No need to preach to me. I did my paperwork. That doesn't mean I still don't have to make a $3,400 payment next week. Toms River has DONE NOTHING to assist it's residents. This is my third home so I can afford to walk away. Iveonly been a resident since Sept 2012 and figure I maughye as well cut my losses. But who wants to do that and if people do this area will be a waste land.
Chief Wahoo
5:43 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
they want a nation of RENTERS......the Republic is dead
Part Timer
5:44 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Will these rates be for all homes or for only the ones that had more than 50% of structural damage.
1:03 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
So if you thought you were lucky that you didn't have a lot of damage think again. I'm in that boat too. Now my flood insurance will be too expensive. Who can afford $7,000 - $30,000 a year in flood premiums. I'm sure our regular homeowners will go up too. But I don't see our real estate taxes going down, do you?
al hart
5:46 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
what is wrong with you chris.Look no problem raising BFE, but why should I be put in the
"V" vone from the "A" zone when I live in the back bay with No breaking wave action from this storm and little water in the house. This is an economic beheading for myself and plenty other folks due to the zone refigurations. Why didnt you address that?
5:46 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
where is this money coming from? A lot of us don't even have the funds to complete existing repairs without help. Now you tell us to expect to pay an additional 30K to raise a house. Why not just take the homes away from all homeowners, And on top of that we would be able to afford the insurance fees and taxes once in place. Are you trying to force everyone out so that corporate america can come in and make another disney land? So that the state collect one big tax bill without any expenses.
Brick Surfer
2:25 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
The $30K is only what the gov't. will give you maximum, to raise your home. It will cost much more than that, especially if you are on a slab. Property values are going way down, and those that don't have to raise their homes, their taxes will go way up to make up for the those heading down. Not good for anyone. Time to pack up and move out of NJ, I guess.
Missing Brick
5:48 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
@Part Timer- rates will be for all homes in the zones. For example, my property went from AE to a V and 6' to min 9' (recommended 11.)
ICC grant for only those with over 51% damage.
So, if you had under 50% damage...you can (as in my case) end up worse off than if you had more damage due to the high cost of raising some structures.
Not to mention that the value is calculated on the OLD value of your house and not the NEW post-Sandy value for the 51%.
This is the most rigged part of the game that assures so many perfectly good homes will become financial unviable.
Sandy my ars
6:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
missing brick:
except if you sustained 250k in damage or close to it because the ICC doesnt do u any good...Insurance payout + ISS still cant exceed 250K cap
1:06 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
What contractors are even capable of raising a house! They are all down south. The Patch wrote an article a month ago about not trusting contractors that said they could drains our homes. No one up here has the expertise. So even if you could afford it you're still screwed!
Part Timer
5:49 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
So why is letting all the Boardwalks rebuild at the same height. (Permanent structure... no).
OB Dave
5:50 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
So how high to we have to build our houses? All we want is answers
6:19 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Look at the flood plain map. It will have a minimum BFE & a recommended, which is 3-4 feet higher than the BFE. You have to go to the BFE, but to save a lot of money in flood insurance premiums, you should go to the .01% level.
6:31 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
It is not that easy. First, you have to check the new ABFE maps. FEMA has a web site. Then you need to look at your old flood elevation certificate. Unless it is very old, it should give you elevations of different things on your site, lowest floor, adjacent grade, lowest mechanical equipment etc. Depending on your flood zone, and if the Governor added any extra required height called free board, you should be able to get an idea of how high your house is above sea level now (on your certificate) and how high it needs to be raised (new ABFE).
If your Flood elevation certificate is old, some of the data used on it may not be accurate. If you do not have a flood elevation certificate or it is very old you need to have a surveyor create a new certificate. I do not know when a flood elevation is too old but you should be able to check with the Township or the surveyor that did the certificate.
Missing Brick
5:51 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Tomsboy: there will always be some who stay without insurance...so more likely you will end up with a blighted neighborhood where a thriving one once stood.
Also, it will cost more than 30k to lift even an average house. Esp. now that thousands need to do it.
the solution was obvious...they needed to grandfather in existing structures and take real time in making the new zones with real data rather than ram through this extreme plan that destroys what's left of the shore.
12:26 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Geez Missing Brick, you are more like the missing link between these monkies and sanity. Why couldn't doughboy think of that one?
8:32 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I totally agree, we know changes need to be made, but really! Where is the money coming from? We need as many homeowners as possible to contact Christie. He needs to have FEMA reassess inland areas such as Baywood.
Mary Challenger
5:52 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The State cannot get a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant without adopting the maps. Now they can go forward with getting the funding that will help many towns and residents rebuild their homes and towns in a sustainable way!
Karen M
8:00 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Mary, The grant is a good thing but the problem with the grant is that its not going to go to every person who needs it. I read in a previous post that one town had 220 applicants and only 20 people got the grant. So what happens to the other 200 people who don't necessarily have the funds to raise their home? And is the $30,000 guaranteed from your insurance? I mean it does say up to $30,000, it doesn't say that they are going to most definitely give you that total. With what has been occuring with the insurance companies I just don't trust them to follow through on anything. Nothing is a given anymore.
8:33 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
it will be 80k. pilings or helicoils, footings. block work. disconnect and reconnect hvac,plumbing,electric,gas and on and on. 30k is drop in the bucket. does he know this??
J Hutchins
5:52 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I had no flooding a block and a half from the beach. Are they going to hit my wallet anyway?
Chief Wahoo
5:54 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
this what they like to do on Wall Street......All those fools who leverage up 10X on margin , they shake the tree until they fall off and then pick up the shares on the cheap......
Now most of us are going to pay the price for the bubble inflated mortgages that you leveraged and now they are shaking the tree and testing your pain threshold......they will pick up your houses in 2015 for pennies on the dollar
Of course anyone who does not have a mortgage, does not have to answer to the machine....They are free to do as they please
steve pecchio
7:23 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
chief i think your one of the few that sees whats really coming here in nj. after losing my hard earned money invested in GM stock, i watched as my certificates turned to worthless paper when they reorgainized , bailed out GM, leaving me wondering what happened to my money? my kids just bought a shack in ortley last may, with a mortgage that burdens them to a virtually worthless property. thanks for your right on insight wish you could get this perspective on the news so the rest of the state, country would be able to witness the screwing we are about to take !!!!!
tuna stick
5:54 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Well, there goes the Jersey shore. Unless you make $200K per year, you won't be able to afford it. ....and somebody please tell the realtors trying to sell a house on the barrier island for $1.25 Million that are on a slab now that we've had enough lying from the politicians. Unbelievable.
Sandy my ars
6:03 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Wonder what his approval rate is in Ocean County now????
Let the Lifting Begin!!!!!!
Missing Brick
5:57 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
<<The State cannot get a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant without adopting the maps. Now they can go forward with getting the funding that will help many towns and residents rebuild their homes and towns in a sustainable way!>>
This is not entirely true. There is something called "negotiation" and the governer failed at it to cover his ass.
I think the idea that if a home is not substantially damaged in Sandy, that they should still be subject to an unreasonable insurance increase is total bs. If Sandy didn't do them in, what storm are they predicting that will? Also, why isn't the ICC factored into the 51%.
Sure and simple, they want to minimize cost to FEMA without any regard to the people the are supposedly "protecting."
You want to protect us? Build some dunes/levies/dredge the bay...don't just come up with ways we can spend money on top of repairing our damaged homes!
@Hutchins: Yes...if you are in the zone, which you can easily find out at the FEMA maps that are linked from the patch site on the earlier story about it.
5:58 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Tganks for giving in so easily and forcing many of usout of our homes. Hasn't he read that people are still waiting on ICC funding from Katrina. So by accepting these maps so easily, how does that make the ICC funding available to us citizens. We already have a President and federal officials forget about us, now our own govenor does the same.
The other part to this story that he seems to forget iswhat is going to happen to everyones property taxes, even the ones who dont live in the flood zones...
5:58 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Where is the savior Obama...why does he not care about the white middle class as was Bush accused of being racist.
mike morrison
6:54 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
oboma signed the bill that removed the flood insurance subsidy. it was burried in a transportation bill that also included student loans
Missing Brick
6:02 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Where are all the house raising companies going to come from? I was able to find only five that would even attempt my home and only one that would actually put an estimate on paper.
In the next year, you will see the sh*t start to fly like never before...bye bye Jersey Shore. Was nice knowing you.
anthony esposito
6:03 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
death knell to the quality of live at the jersey shore. We might as well abandon our properties on the barrier island and return it to Nature. Better yet, The State or Federal Government should buy us out.
Jean Bell
6:03 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
My cottage did not flood, although many houses along the street, higher than mine, had water in them. We lost insulation underneath, which has since been replaced unlike friends who are still waiting for theirs. Contractors are busy; a steady stream of vehicles can be seen. What does the "flood plain" mean to me? I am in a high-risk area, but remain safe. Shrug! Made phone calls on cells on Tuesday, (we stayed!), FEMA was here on Thursday, and cars, parked safely, we thought, were towed w/in a week. All's well that ends well, except it goes on and on and on! My sympathies to those who were displaced, as to those who have to deal w/ the new regulations.
6:05 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The insurance payments that are contractually due have not been paid and homeowners are supposed to rely on ICC additional funding to raise houses?
The lawyers will have a field day with this. The municipalities will have years of broken budgets because the property taxes will follow the property values down for the next 5 - 10 years. The Monmouth and Ocean County Republicans whom Christie depends on for re-election will be too busy trying to maintain their homes to get to the voting booth.
6:06 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Facts are the facts. If the new ABFE's were not adopted owners could miss the chance to utilize ICC money, or at least have to wait for 18 months to get the money. They would wait to elevate, delaying the rebuilding process.
The time to object to the maps begins when they become preliminary BFEs in August. All the objections to the new maps will be heard then. The final map adoption could take an additional 12 months. That is when the ABFEs, which become preliminary BFEs in August, then become FIRMs (Flood Insurance rate maps). Again, this would delay the ICC money and the rebuilding process.
The most the objections to the maps will accomplish is changing some homes in a V zone to an A. If I had a home in a V zone that was far back from the water, I would wait until the August preliminary maps are released. If a V zone house is on an open body of water, I doubt it will move out of a V zone. Only people that have a reasonable expectation of their property zone changing from a V to an A should wait. Elevate now and the Shore will be restored faster.
Funding help is a different issue that I hope the Governor addresses soon. Please Governor and the President help provide a source of funding to help pay for the elevations.
8:14 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Wait, this comment is rational and fact-based! What is it doing in this thread?
Tom Woodward
6:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Don't blame Obama for a republican Gov Christi decision. Are they nuts 30,000 for insurance on our homes on the barrier island. We are regular people not millionaires like him. That will kill the entire shore and it will be the empty island. Business will go bust except for the Very Rich. He just lost my vote. Just like a Republican Head in the Clouds.
peter festa
6:23 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Green Island resident
6:08 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
This is bad for the town, the v zone is not sustainable but Christie is tone deaf. The public does not have the money yor this. It will put homeowners in the position of either staying out of their house, doing work that is over the top, or failing to get permits.
He did not listen to Toms River officials and went on his own. The town should oppose this as it is wrong.
6:27 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Read the article- Christie's decision means NO township can oppose it- he is accepting the FEMA maps on the state level, which means municipalities don't get to accept or object. It's a done deal for the entire state.
Mary Challenger
6:14 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
There will now be additional funds available for homeowners to elevate/rebuild their homes through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, not just the ICC. If he did not sign off on the maps, the State could not get the funding. No FEMA map acceptance, no money. The State can go forward with getting the funding that the towns and homeowners need, now, not later.
Karen M
8:10 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Read between the lines on the grant program it isn't available for everyone. That is what was said in a previous article on the barneget patch. There are only a ceratin amount of grants to go around not everyone will be entitled to one. You can apply, it won't mean that you will get it.
Part Timer
6:14 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Can someone tell me were to go to find out how high my house is above sealevel now so I can compare to FEMA request.
6:31 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
If you were required to have flood insurance when you purchased your home, you should have had a flood elevation certificate done along with the plot survey. If you didn't- like me- pull out your plot survey & call the surveyor on it- they will come out & do a flood elevation certification for you. It's costing me $450 for mine.
James Ward
6:39 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
We are able to help Part Timer - call me tomorrow if you like I can assure professionalism & confidentiality 732-892-2700
James Ward
6:50 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
http://www.region2coastal.com/sandy/table ...plug in your address to see where you are at - in anticipating this our Ward Home Services division is ready with a national recognized house raiser as well as the necessary architects. engineers, geo guys, contractors you name it. Some will opt to build new and we have solutions to that end as well.
6:22 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Missing Brick
7:15 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
but they want even the people who did NOT get flooded to raise.
It should be easy. No ICC grant = no raise.
6:26 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Christie looks like he's constipated in the pic.
Chief Wahoo
6:28 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
how they even going to raise some of these homes built in the 50s and 60s ????
cant believe you people, more than anywhere else in state, got this liar elected and here is how he fights for you........lemmings
7:18 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I live in OB II and have seen some of those houses from the 50's and 60's raised. They are raised 4 to 5 feet and are COMPLETELY gutted except for the exterior walls. All interior walls, plumbing, electric, floors, etc gutted. My husband and I couldn't figure out why until we realized the homeowners got $$$ to raise their homes (which in the end were BRAND new). The only catch....being in the same footprint, which is not hard considering the lot size.
Mary Challenger
6:29 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Here is the link for the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program http://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program
6:40 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
nick from ortley we still have to pay taxes on the property comt the first of february WHY
Joe Salleroli
10:54 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Do you honestly believe Toms River is giving Ortley Beach a fair shake? Look next door, Seaside Heights is number one to get back to normal because that is where the revenue is! The Summers are most important for the money it brings in, not US in Ortley. A lot of Seniors that have homes both permanent and vaction wise will be bailing out because they will not have the money to rebuild to the new stasndards and the possibility of taxes being increased again and insurance doubling and maybe tripling. Dela ware looks awfully good to them n ow!I am a born New Jersey man and love this State but it is getting hard to live here.
1:25 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Yeah! Why aren't they re-assessing homes??? Taxes due next week. It's a joke. People are upside down in their mortgages, can't afford to fix their homes, waiting on insurance payouts, have to lift their homes, pay $7- $30 thousand in flood insurance premiums if they don't raise their house, and need to pay their tax based on overvalued Assessments. We should all just bend over!
6:42 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Here where you can find your old and new ABFE (flood elevation) copy the link below and just enter your address in the center of the page and hit detail. This information can also be found on the facebook page Rise UP TR Sound Board.
bobby chez
6:50 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
has anybody found a company that will raise your home for 30k ?
Chief Wahoo
6:55 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
supply and demand.....and demand made those prices just TRIPLED
James Ward
6:55 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
People need to realize that the act of raising the home is one company and expense and building a qualifying foundation under it is another.. if there is an average to "lift" the home it might be 15-20k say and then another 5-10 to complete the "building back under the house". Most house raising companies are booked for months although Ward Home Services has solutions available immediately via a national EXPERIENCED firm ~ Anyone interested can contact us initially at firstname.lastname@example.com ---there is no upfront cost to begin consultation.
7:22 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I had an estimate today $90,000 complete . house only 1500sq foot. Then they tell me your taxes will go up(improvement). If there is any one out there and can do it for 30k leave you # I would like to speak with you . Remember if if sounds good it usally isn't true.
Hurricane Sandy
7:43 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I priced out remodeling and raise my house last year, spring of 2012. The cost of just the raising was $28,000. I called the same company today. They said that they will come out and take a look. And that the cost starts at $45,000 for a 20x20 home. Mine is 30x30. I mentioned that I had a quote from last year. They told me that things have changed since then.
10:30 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Email the house size, location and a photo or two for house lifting. Send your contact info to email@example.com.
6:53 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The fat man has sung "So Long, Shore." Will the last one leaving please turn off the lights?
7:00 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
OMG!!! We so screwed......house for sale, in beautiful Toms River, off Fischer Blvd. nice lot and renovations already started.....this is crazy!!! Investors Savings, come and get it!!!!!!! Insane!!
7:00 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
How about a primary chalenge.
7:02 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I hear other people are talking about running against him.
paradise lost
7:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Just when you think it can't get much worse it does!
7:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
See people of Ocean & monmouth counties if it weren't for you who put Christie into office God would only know where he would be. He is not helping the people or should I say he is turning his back to us. He says he will except these new maps with know objection . Like one writer said how could Seaside Heights have a zones and people on the main land are in V zones and had know damage from the worst storm in over 100 years. Wouldn't any normal thinking person ask that. I went to one of his town hall meetings and I also voted for him but I came away from the meeting thinking what an arogant guy ,he is full of him self.
12:47 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Hey, you voted for him. Should have figured that one out ahead of time. The little clue was HE IS A REPUBLICAN!
BettyAnn Bleakley
12:55 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
I have friends who live on River Road along the Delaware. They have flooded 5 times in the last 4 years and no one is asking them to raise their house. What about North Jersey? All of the maps I see are along the ocean only!
Jon Q. Public
12:55 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
It needed to be done. This will help release funds that are supposed to help in rebuilding. Wether or not I trust the township for fair and equal distribution is a whole other ball game. I don't. That is where the rebuilding will freeze. This leaves funds to be deposited into pockets, budgets, everything else you can think of except rebuilding John or Jane Doe's house. I can smell the scams already. Anyone who is someone will get money and the rest, well you will be on your own.
Missing Brick
7:11 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I dub this:
The Christie-Creme Homeowners Relief Act of 2013
All you get is the crispie hole in the donut. He ate the rest.
7:16 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Okay I don't raise my house and my flood insurance goes up to 30k a year or 2500 extra monthly. I don't pay because I can't afford it. Now the bank will have a delinquent loan they can't foreclose on for two or three three years along with the flood insurance premium they will pay to protect their interests. The FEDS put the government out of harms way and shifted the burden to the homeowners and the banks. My hunch is many in our communities will have no choice but to do what many have sadly done across the nation - don't pay and stay - until the sheriff knocks on your door.
7:21 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
well said tony......seriously....i can't afford that much money, we in toms river and considered "A" zone, alread sunk almost $50,000 into renovations, trying to get the rest from the bank, but why bother?
Chief Wahoo
7:22 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Uncle Junior taught you well.....and if you and some of your friends are waiting for the sheriff, he may just turn around and not do the banks dirty work
12:51 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Wow. Strategic default I never knew. Things are just getting very very depressing.
7:17 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I dont think that you really understand whats happening. The Goverment does not want to subsides the flood insurance anymore. The Biggert Waters act 2012 extended the program for five years. Starting 2014 the flood insurance will increase 20% a year until we are paying the rate without the goverment subsides.this will affect the whole counrty.This is a failed goverment program. Like SS,medicaid and medicare.and the newest one obamacare.I cant afford to raise my house and if i did even the $4000. a year insurance would drive me over the edge.
Missing Brick
7:27 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I hate to say it, but I think that will effect a majority of homeowners in my area.
Unless people have a lot more socked away than I think, after all the repairs and raising are finished...it will exceed the value of the house anyway. Not helping will be the pockmarked neighborhoods with vacant lots (tear downs) and uninsurable homes (where the owner owns outright but can not afford to raise or new rates.)
The homes are getting squashed between a sandwich of falling home prices and increased cost of remaining.
7:18 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
There were already a few "fires" after the storm. Makes me wonder...
Chief Wahoo
7:19 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
tried to warn everyone, but guess what, nothing much we could have done .....next up....property taxes !!! UP UP AND AWAY.....county and towns 30, 40 ,50 % ....never let a crisis go to waste , is what they like to say
next warning, do not let them take your guns away.......2nd amendment is the big brother of the 1st amendment....without it, would make today look like a party
7:24 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The governor has just shown why he should never be president of the United States of America by making a quick decision on adopting the ABFE Maps. The decision to adopt these maps will destroy the jersey shore. ( properties will be in foreclosure, owners will have to sell ) He has just made many existing dwellings non-conforming in regards to finished floor height which will force owners to sell ( or lose their homes to the bank ) because of outrages flood insurance policy cost. ( hopefully the federal government steps in and deflates his overzealous personality )
Chief Wahoo
7:26 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
if the people were smart (they are not) if they stuck together (they will not) and they had guts to be free and brave (they do not) .....they could easily put this fight between the government and the banks.....they do not need to be a party to it , if they only knew how strong they were
Bowie Thelonius
9:38 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Unfortunately, I don't see that happening. The people truly are sheep, and being led to the slaughter doesn't seem to bother them as long as they can watch TV and buy crap they don't need.
Bob Gibson
7:30 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Never liked him. He's a phony. Can't even take care of his own body what made us think he could take care of us? One of the highest unemployment rates in the country. You just killed the shore pudge boy. Have another twinky!
Maybe he'll run for pres as a democrat Very pissed!
7:34 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
you are 100% correct. He should never be President or we are in big trouble. I guess something wore off Obama onto him when they did his fly over. He could of been a great leader!
7:37 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Oh yeah pounding beers tooling around the heights! My cooler and car are staying out the flood zone oh yeah!!!
7:43 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
It's just my personal opinion that our government: (municipal, state and federal) have forgotten that, THEY WORK FOR US, not the other way around.
Had Enough
7:46 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
If I Recall the commercial correctly,, NJ has 125 miles of coast..
How many homes have to be elevated? 1million?? More
Who is raising these homes?
Does the "fat man" know how long it takes to lift a home?
Where is the family to relocate to for up to 6 months?
Failure to comply? Who has all this money to comply?
Homeowners without any damage would potentially have to lift your home if your flood zone changed?
I feel BIG lawsuits or perhaps class action.. New Jersey has to unite!! And fight .
.. FEMA.. Save your $30k per home for the next 100 yr storm.
Stop trying to control everything! Land of the free...
Missing Brick
7:52 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
<<How many homes have to be elevated? 1million?? More>>
This is what I am wondering. Does anyone know?
In 10 years they could not get to all the raising that they want done. I guess they just want folks to tear down or walk away?
Personally, rather than raise I plan to litigate endlessly if need be. It's more practical...by the time it's all over the laws may have changed again.
8:32 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The middle class gets screwed again. Christie just winked to his rich friends, they will buy the shore up cheap and make billions.
Green Is El Rancho
7:59 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
LMAO----Just called my lawyer. He told me it will take the my mort company about four years to take my home if I play all the games available. Guess what, I have a appointment tomorrow with them. I am gonna stay here, let the home rot, save as much money as possible over the next four years and buy something for cash or rent. Toms River and Chase can have this half destroyed home in four years. I have an addition we did a few years ago that we can stay in for years. Done and over with.
8:00 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Belmar Silver Lake has no flood zone and flooded worse than Lake Como. Somebody living on or near silver lake must work for FEMA. Another useless
organization. Put spillways in both lakes. Good luck to those getting pounded.
Bob Gibson
8:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
FEMA sucks. They work with the SBA and basically just want to set us up with a loan @4% not me you pri$&
Karen M
7:23 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
A woman on Jersey Shore Hurricane News facebook page just said she was denied her SBA. She was told she didn't get the money because its her second home, but isn't that the point of filing for the SBA. The only way you can qualify it said, was if your home is a rental. She said she was so pissed off because they came out to her home, she filled out the application, gave them her financial info and they should've known that her home wasn't a rental when she stated that in her original request. So you see how F'd up this system is.
8:13 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I am sympathetic to all who have experienced loss from this or any other storm. However, FEMA totally dis-incentivized participation in the NFIP when they started making payments to the uninsured. I have not heard of any plans to discontinue that practice. Despite the requirement for flood ins when using mortgage funding, I expect this will cause MORE people will drop out of the insurance pool. Why pay if you get coverage for free? Rather than taking action that would increase the revenues, LIKE ONLY PAYING INSURED CLAIMS, these regulations are designed to limit the dollar value of the total claims. But if you pay 10 smaller claims but only collected larger premiums from 3 parties, the deficit will never be covered.
Jaime B
8:13 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Is there anywhere we can find out what the flood insurance rates will be once we are in compliance? I keep seeing loose figures being thrown around, but that is critical information needed in order to decide if elevating our homes will even be worth it. I am afraid to even ask an insurance agent! I have googled and searched, but it looks like that is top secret info. We have suffered enough with going through Sandy...now, they are taking away our livelihood. You are trying to live the American Dream, but then you get the Biggerts-Water Act shoved down your throats with no other option. Pay the insane premium, or pay to elevate a house where you are not even sure if you can afford the "new" premium - or the $$ to elevate a house. I have said it before...this is EXTORTION. Give us at least an option to get out of our houses that we can no longer afford because of a law that was changed AFTER you purchased it, when the rules were different. This is not a car where you can no longer afford the payment and it gets repossessed. A hit on your credit from a forced foreclosure follows you for life. We will be a state of bums between all of the foreclosures, and the people who can't pay the higher taxes on their existing property because of the loss of ratables from the foreclosed houses. SIckening.
Karen M
8:21 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I wish that i knew all this cr*p back in November when I started to repair my home, had I known they were going to do this, I would have waited and really weighed my options. Just a big waste of time.
Dolores Calicchio
5:21 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I think there are many who feel as you do. We wasted 50K of our own money and really don't think we can complete the rebuild now with the costs to raise our home. It was irresponsible of the townships and FEMA not to have disclosed this directly after the storm instead of granting permits to rebuild at your current height.
Karen M
7:29 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Dolores, you are so right. I am pissed off because I probably would have thought twice about this. I may just have taken the money and ran. This is all a bunch of BS. Do you know that you don't have to pay for any permits to raise your home? Its on the governor's website, look under the heading " Rebuilding Faster, Stronger, more Rresilient".
Missing Brick
8:30 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
It's not just 'afford' it is also about being more than upside down in your home.
It is not just that you are mortgaged for more than the house is worth.
You are being sandwiched between increased cost of post-storm repair + raising your house and falling property values as those around you who can walk away from their home. (Because it is the most sensible thing in some cases now despite your credit record hit.)
So your house was worth 500k? 400k after Sandy... 150k in repairs, 70-75k in raising, don't forget higher flood insurance still and, btw, we are raising your taxes a few times to pay for the clean up...but more over to pay for all the missing homes and walk-aways.
Wait you don't want a home next to two vacant lots, unmoved, with still some rubble from the homes destroyed and the memories of the friends you had that used to live there? Whoops, sorry...going to happen.
Oh...hey...what about all those bank owned properties? Aren't banks known for how well they take care of their foreclosed props? No you say? But those houses are just beyond the empty lots of knock-downs.
You like boating? Well maybe someday...in the meantime watch out for the floating debris and the places where the bay is only 2'. You might break something.
At the end of the day, find me a buyer that will buy into THAT! You'd have to be insane...and thus the property value spiral goes down and down.
1:11 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Remember how so many people left the Treme? And we thought we had nothing in common with those people right?
bobby chez
8:31 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Stafford Township (Beach Haven West Residents)
So what are your plans for your house now?
6:50 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
They leave no choice ... have you seen the SALE signs in BHW, check Zillow, a ton of 'Sandy damaged' homes 4Sale as is ... Stafford is going to loose a lot of residents and $! On the other hand, this is all some have and want to restore what little they have. That is what we are doing .... 49 yrs, first time ever with water .... tough decisions ahead!
1:22 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Demoing, raising and rebuilding. Nothing else I can do other than walk away. I won't do that either.
Karen M
7:45 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
We've owned our home since 2000 and I thank the god's everyday when we refinanced in Feb 2012 and our banker told us to pay the house off at the shore and keep one mortgage. Did he have a crystal ball? I kiss the ground he walks upon. We got lucky because four other banks turned their back on us and he was kind enough to take a risk on us. We will be forever grateful to him. There are not many stand up people in this world, he is definitely one of them.
8:32 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I only got like 5 beers left in my cooler. Gotta pull over and pee again dam
Missing Brick
8:35 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
You can compute your new insurance depending on height and zone and your current payments.
However, I wouldn't think this is in stone either. Also, you might want to call your insurance co. to get an idea if there are other factors. I was told I would go from $721 to near $20k if I don't raise...but damn if I'm going to do that...so no insurance for me, let the popo come and as I understand it FEMA would have paid me about the same as my insurance company will end up anyway so who needs the paid insurance!
8:36 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Since when does NJ need FEMA to do this? Its seems like FEMA is making more and more of a presence than it ever has. In fact FEMA can kiss my ass in the event of an emergency. Dont come knocking on my door you fascist bastards! You will be told to move on.. MARTIAL LAW or NOT!!
Missing Brick
8:42 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
who knocked on your door.
They skipped mine...probably because they didn't want to trudge through the icy water like I was doing. When they came weeks later, they promised me a big ZERO...thanks guys! I will not be carrying your FEMA backed insurance bs in the future...I'd rather perish alone than be "saved" like this. After paying my premiums on time every time, how much have I received back so far almost 90 days later? Zero...yep...the adjuster has also told me a lot of what is NOT covered without talking to much about how much coverage for what is. Ridiculous and criminal.
1:12 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Really it was kinda like they were nosing around playing that they wanted to help out when in reality all they were doing was snooping to see who they were going to stick this to. It is so scary to me the way this was done.
8:36 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
So the federal government is raising insurance rates to unaffordable levels so people can stick the mortgage companies with the homes which are federally backed ? In the long run aren't they shooting themselves in the foot ?
Missing Brick
8:39 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
not if someone buys it and builds a casino or whatever.
8:45 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I think there's a lot of real estate investors in Lakewood that would probably scoop these bargains up..
8:37 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
We need to unite and advise our local , county and state elected officials the impact of adopting the ABFE Maps. The change from A-Zone on the existing regulatory maps to the advisory maps V-Zone will truly make the barrier islands barrier in the future.
8:39 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I can't wait to do donuts in my boat behind my house in the 'high velocity wave zone.' Chief WaaaaHoooo - you're invited! I may even hit a Canadian Goose at that velocity. C'mon Jersey!! Let's make some waves!! Let's show these public servants just who in the hell they work for already!! Jersey - don't let me down. Who's got a pair?
8:53 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
NJ just had its death wish signed. The amount of foreclosures and unemployment rate will triple. We will be the Detroit of the east coast.
9:03 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Yep, Places like Asbury Park were on the upswing now Christie hits.
Missing Brick
9:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
We need a bridge to the big-media.
All the bItching here is not going to help much at all. After Katrina, I heard things on the news every 3 days for a few years...why no mention of this. I just looked at CNN and it is not even up there...imaginary g.f. for 19 year old football players make it, but losing our communities in one fell swoop is not worth the new ticket line?
9:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
If you search online ,is there any other states besides jersey facing this dilemma from the Federal Extortion of Middleclass America ?
Missing Brick
9:08 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
^^^ I think we are the test subjects for this new act.
If I understand correctly, it will actually be in effect next year.
Hank Kerchef
9:09 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
They are forcing people to lose their homes and its pathetic. Whats worse is the township code and building officials,,,they get off being A-Holes and screwing people over.
9:24 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Hank, you are right! Anyone who believes or trust any of these politicians are out of reality. No one could believe any of these Officials either, they are wannabe politicians. If you ask me they all get off being A-Holes and screwing people over.
9:18 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
for all you people who are against the decision to meet the FEMA guidelines, what would your recommendation be?
allow homes to be built to the standard they where prior to the storm? what good would that do?
should only homes that were destroyed be subject to the new guidelines leaving other homes at risk of being ruined at future dates?
should homes/buildings not ruined be grandfathered in and if so to what standard or cost of insurance coverage? if any insurance coverage?
unfortunately building codes change,that's a fact and those changes cost homeowners $$ in the long run, just ask folks who live in real hurricane regions.
if you believe gov.christie is doing this to hurt people, I believe you are either mistaken or just foolish. people are and have been demanding answers. some answers have been provided and decisions made. some will be happy, some won't. he's doing what he needs to do to get things moving.
how much longer should he wait to declare what is or isn't going to be the new standard? who should he go to get those answers, unqualified disgruntled homeowners or engineers and other experts?
if you missed the radio program Tuesday here's the link from ask the gov on 101.5
9:25 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
The business model of insurance is to take in more money than you payout. This is done by encouraging as many as possible to participate.This plan does nothing to address the fact that the NFIP is run like a PONZI scheme. Even if these changes proposed by this plan were gradually enacted over a 5-10 year plan, starting with new construction requirements, the basic fact that NFIP is not taking in enough premiums from all households it is paying would still not be corrected.
10:44 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
@lisa, thank you very much that was an interesting comment, but nothing that hasn't been told to me before.
what would you like to happen? i'd like to read your informative suggestions besides the name calling or that ins companies should just pay up, not that I don't believe they shouldn't but that's another story as "Freetobeyouandme" stated "The business model of insurance is to take in more money than you payout". this goes for all ins. co.'s auto, health, life and so on.
11:27 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Clamdigger, I think you missed my point. When was the last time you submitted a claim to an auto, health or life insurance company to which you had not paid a dime of premium and the insurance company paid your claim? The Publishers' Clearing House and all other sweepstakes are required to disclose that no purchase is necessary to win; flood insurance policies should be required to make that same disclosure.
Sandy my ars
5:23 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
no one wants to hear what ur saying just like they didnt wan to hear Christie say what he did. They want someone to tell them what they want to hear. "dont worry, dont raise ur home, dont do what you should have already done, we r all living on borrowed time, this should have happened years ago, I dont like it but I also dont expect someone to hand me a check and say hey we r sorry here lets fix ur problem. Im not talking about NFIP insurance , they should pay and do it now. i have a few suggestions for everyone dealing with adjusters,
Sandy my ars
5:32 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
as far as adjusters, they did not cause this problem, they have a job to do, you can treat them like crap, or take a step back and be realistic and informed, know your rights as far as just what ur insurance covers not what you would like tothink it covers.
Most of us including me didnt have a clue as to just what our NFIP insurance policy has in it. I do now, I got educated real quick. Bottom line, nobody is going to help you, you need to help urself. Stop crying, do what you need to do to help urself get what you have comn to you, dont expect anymore than that and DONT cry if you dont get what you would like to get because no one cares that you think you deserve it.
Biggest problem with the whole country. This all sux, no one likes it. And Christie and no one form your local gov is going to make it all better. They are not your mom/
Michelle Blamble
9:28 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Really - isn't it an over reaction to a freak storm to make everyone who lives by the shore raise their home?
And if I understand this correctly, best case scenario is premiums still go up 300%. If I get sick the health insurance company can't raise my premium, why is it ok with flood insurance?
10:14 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
maybe they can. The affordable health care act is coming.
Karen M
9:17 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I do believe that this is a rash decision to make people raise their homes. I would like to get more info before I spend $45,000- $65,000 on raising my home. I'm going to do as much research as possible before I jump head first into this.
9:35 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Back in the car only three cold ones left, looking for sleeping troopers
9:47 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I had no damage in storm. Had no water even in my year except rain. Not even a puddle. I was never classified as a flood zone, and my family has lived here 80 years. No all of a sudden, I am in the A zone. I live 10 blocks south of the river, and 11 blocks west of the bay. My water according to the maps will come from dry land. The water will come from the bay, go around many blocks and come at me from the south. There is no water there. How does this work?
Sandy my ars
7:17 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
so then you have no problem with flooding, dont get insurance
Kim E
9:48 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Can't sell my home ,can't raise it (to costly). So I will just live in my home with no flood insurance until I die and leave the problem to my kid . What horrific mess this is for so many people.
Bill Cooper
9:48 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Does the gov. mansion in Island Beach State Park need to meet the fema regulations? If so guess who will be paying to raise it. The tax payers of N.J.
gail sands
9:54 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Between the increase in our taxes and now this news about the high cost of abiding by these new maps and such, we wont have a leg or a dollar to stand on. Might as well give the houses away now. And those people who are not in the revised flood area, will still get "theirs" since it is advised that they get flood ins. now, plus our taxes will skyrocket too. What is next now? Owned my home for 45 years, and never dreamed it would wind up like this. What do we now?
10:07 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Well once the flood rates throw our home values in the crapper ,everyone will appeal our taxes and cut them in half .
10:17 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
if you dont have a mortgage you are not required to carry flood insurance.
10:00 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Hurricane Chrisitie and Hurricane Fema will cause more financial harm than Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Christie/Fema will destroy peoples lives
James Ward
10:04 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
the Biggert-Waters reform and this new information affects everyone differently. Primary residents won't be unsubsidized it is the non primary that the "big G" doesn't want tax payers funding any longer. Anyone wanting to discuss how they are directly affected and what solutions they may have are welcome to contact us. Already a wealth of incorrect information posted on here unfortunately...
Mr. ?
10:22 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Mr Ward, with all due respect, you are being allowed to advertise here. OK, and you are attempting to help home owners while understandably helping yourself by giving free consultation in the hopes of obtaining a customer -OK again. On this post you state "Already a wealth of incorrect information posted on here unfortunately...". In my opinion, if you would have been more specific and corrected the wrong information instead of ending your comment there, you would prove your credibility and expertise and would receive many more phone calls.
10:32 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Primary residents won't be unsubsidized.?!? I thought that was ultimately being faded out too , this is my only house ,so we will be able to keep subsidizing such as grandfathering or what other subsidizing will we maintain? Clear this up...please ,thanks
James Ward
10:37 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Understandable... limited amount one can type - many of you don't need me at all just google Biggert-Waters. I'm just participating in this heated message thread which will fizzle by tomorrow afternoon - the phone calls most definitely aren't a problem. Those affected that are primary owners are not looking at $31,000 insurance premiums - that was a misleading statement or interpretation by "Patch". Non primary owners well, there is a grave outlook but at the same time these effects aren't over night - law prohibits insurance from increasing more than 25% a year (25% of what is actually not clear at this time) so there's time to plan and mitigate etc... Given the 1200 new contractors from all over creation and horrifying price gouging as well as reliable service providers simply already booked people would do well to have another contact thats all. Even if its to say "you'll be ok" - and many will but just don't know it.
James Ward
10:47 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Floodgate: Subsidized insurance rates will be phased out for all properties except Pre-FIRM primary residences that have not lost their qualification for the rate - so those of you in the area 60 years, never flooded, never let your insurance lapse and the like are still qualified... I'll try to find a good link to post
10:51 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
So my primary residence that was built in 86 will lose its subsidiaries ?
James Ward
10:58 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Actually you may NOT...hate to say it depends - if you never lapsed, or if your cost to restore exceeds 50% of pre storm value or your improved assessed valuation... if you don't or haven't ever suffered repeat flooding... I hope for the best for you!
Daniel Nee
12:23 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
This explains it, to some extent: http://nhma.info/nhma-biggert-article/
Brian Iarrapino
10:06 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
How many houses in Manville and Bound Brook have been elevated in the past 10 years !!!
Candy Rang
10:12 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Hmmm.........to pay or not to pay the property taxes and mortgage due next week?? It seems our home is now an even bigger money pit than before!!! We can neither afford to raise our very small home or pay the projected FEMA brochure insurance premium of $31,000!!!! We would be bankrupt in short order. The middle class is being eradicated from this state and country!!!
Mr. ?
10:12 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
News flash! Christie on Fox news at 10:00. Same FEMA for New York state. Gov Cuomo wants residents to build to the new standards "on stilts" or they can SELL THEIR HOMES TO THE STATE AT FAIR MARKET VALUE! No such comment from Christie?
Bill Cooper
10:20 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I would sell to the state in a minute. But what are they going to say fair market value is? Before or after Sandy?
Bob Alou
10:17 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Gee, I remember when they used to call the private sector (insurance and banks) colluding with the public sector (government)......FASCISM.
10:26 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
blows me away...one flood to our homes in Baywood in 60 freaking years....christie just signed his political death warrant....he lost my vote and i was ready to be his campaign manager....
Missing Brick
1:05 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
While I never voted for Christie anyway, I will say this effects such a small portion of the residents of NJ it probably won't even make a blip in his re-election bid. I was just the A&P in Brick talking to someone and they said I was the first person they knew that was effected by this. (I live on a lagoon.) When you think of how massive the state is, probably screwing a small group out of their homes is going to do little to nothing to the people doing it. (I am probably one of those people...but I see their logic in making the choices.) The part that bothers me most is that when I purchased my home 2 years ago, the engineer told me I was 1.4' above min elevation so I'd never have anything to worry about even if they changed it by a couple of inches. How does FEMA redraw the map by FEET? Also making me code V, so besides needing to be 9', I need a whole new style foundation...seems pretty severe.
10:31 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
well I guess christie just made the shore areas a ghost town to non-residents might as well just leave the house as is let the bank foreclose goodbye lbi
6:43 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Christie and the govt is forcing the middle class out of their dream of living at the shore. Who can really afford to raise their house and if you can't, can you afford the outrageous insurance premiums? He wants the rich people at the shore to keep building their mansions so he can charge higher taxes and they spend their money there .... The smaller towns are going to loose out. Good luck.
7:36 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Hundreds of thousands of property owners and business properietors suffered from the flood and the disaster of the aftermath (insurance rip-off and rebuilding problems), and 1 million other property taxpayers will suffer for years to come, so Missing Brick, how can you say this impacted "such a small portion of the residents of NJ it probably won't even make a blip in his re-election bid." ???
People invested in NJ's 130-mile shoreline are MAD and FED UP with Christie. As far as the future of the shore is concerned, the Fat Man has sung. A major economic force in the state has been left for dead.
10:36 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I liked him until the death warrant was signed..
Bob Alou
10:45 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Stupid government intervention always leads to higher taxes, fees, insurance premiums, etc. when will people learn that government is not the solution, it is the creator of all of the problems.
Missing Brick
1:07 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Even Plato said something like "the government that governs least, governs best." 4000 years ago!
10:52 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
How about a real conservative governor?
Instead we get Christie, who blows kisses to Obama.
Chief Wahoo
10:59 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
You all should have voted for Steve Lonegan. But you fell for the RINO as you always do.
You all voted for Romney , when Ron Paul was the only man left to save the republic.
How after 3 years I was still reading people liking Christie is beyond me. Tell me how he has helped your family in the past 3 years ???? Glad you hate him today , but sorry just a little too late.
1:16 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Duh! The Repubs. always think they know it all. This is a sad way to learn though. this really stinks.
Mr. ?
11:10 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Christies "death warrant", not only to you as waterfront home owners, but imagine what this will due to ratables of 139 miles of coast line, the loss of business incomes and sales taxes to the state of N.J., unemployment (unless you are a carpenter electrician, plumber, electrician, engineer, attorney, or...oh wait maybe there is hope). Makes me wonder how and why, and the lack of viable information by his political professionals and strategists, again how he can conclude this is all about FEMA and ICC grants? Oh now I understand.
Mr. ?
11:19 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Thank you Mr. Ward for corrections to misinformation in these posts. Everyone needs every bit of info and help possible. So much of this anxiety is the lack of info and just not knowing .
11:25 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Mr. ?
11:53 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
So you will all rant a rave and discuss your problems with each other on this site, from your comfy chair with your laptop. Your local town government will not listen and defer the problem to the state and feds. Heed the advise above, organize, attend all town meetings and county meetings, call ALL public officials and legislators, sensational this disaster and don't let Christie grand stand and be in the spotlight! Write opinions to the media (hmm? and this aint it) call the radio shows like 101.5 and the local WOBM Sunday Bob Levy show . Remember for now, this is your problem as homeowners. Make EVERYONE realize what this means to the state of NJ as well as you, as most have no idea how this states prosperity of all will be affected.
Karen M
10:38 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Yes. Just got off the phone with my Representative and I was told to send a letter to him appealing the decision by Fema to place my house in a V zone from an A zone. I will do whatever I need to do. We can't go down without a fight. I will fight until there is nothing left to fight for. I will continue to call the Governor's office, my local Representative's office, the Mayor's office, whomever I need to call or write, I will do it. Yeah, its the government, but I will not allow them to just think that they can get away with doing this? I want to know, after Katrina, did all those poor and I mean poor people that had no money that basically lived in shacks and were living below the poverty line, you're going to tell me that they had the money to raise their homes on pilings? Interesting, when you saw Habitat for Humanity building homes down there, none of the homes were up on pilings. Most of the 9th ward has been demolished. Is this what Christie wants for the Jersey Shore? Thats whats coming. Read the following story about what has taken place in New Orleans after Katrina.
11:50 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Obama got all your votes, and he didn't even say thanks. Now you will never see him again, at least until he needs your votes for something else. If your not feeling used, and more than a little bit stupid, your not paying attention. Flood maps, FEMA...what a joke...and the joke is on you all.
1:20 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Ocean County is a Republican bastion. Just a little info for you.
Robin Fucchs
11:56 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I'm looking for Av as I have 10 beers left but me moped is almost out of gas. The Guv has fingered out (he knew it before ye storm) that Fed trumps State. So weird that people think the Guv or their crooked (most) councilmen can challenge the Federal goverment, especially an outfit like FEMA. This will be bad for most.
11:59 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Now most of you are starting to see Christie for the liar that he really is.
Brick Surfer
3:27 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I completely understand every ones frustrations, but this started long before Christie and Obama were even out of high school. The construction lobbyists and power bosses from NJ saw to it that building on the shore would not be stopped by building in a way that would meet or exceed the standards to withstand such a storm. The only surprising thing is that it didn't happen sooner. Short sighted and $$ hungry people are what put this situation in play 40+ years ago. Lax or non existent building codes, graft,and the usual back room dealings that are part of NJ and the USA politics have done this. It is all coming to fruition and we need to retreat from the beach, not build there again or closer as in Long Branch with Pier Village.
Brick Surfer
3:27 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
That said, the Billions in property values and the rateables that are realized from those properties are too much for the state to ignore and do without, so that is why the governor is wanting to get the money from the feds to rebuild. The big issue with that is that instead of stepping back for just a moment, the Army Corp of Clowns, er, Engineers are running rough shod over the Jersey Shore again, and the day after the storm were rolling in, non stop, truck load after truck load of sand down Mantoloking Road to fill in where the ocean met the bay. This approach will only be met with disaster once again, when the next big storm hits. I understand why the flow of water from the ocean to the bay needed to be stopped, but more thought should have been given to a long term solution, but people want everything back the way it was, and NOW. Long term this approach is not sustainable. When and if all the homes are rebuilt, it will be just a matter of time before they are all gone and the ocean and bay will be one. The barrier island from Ortley to Bay Head as we know it today, will be under water, just like the 4 blocks east of the sea wall in Sea Bright, where just over a hundred years ago there were homes and streets. There will always be a beach, it just may be further west that it is now.
Bowie Thelonius
9:55 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
You are correct. I grew up here at the Shore, and there were never so many houses, so close to the ocean. Most of the beach houses (in Manasquan, where I grew up), were just simple bungalows, used only in the summer. Now there are multi-million dollar houses in all these little beach towns, and we saw what happened when the ocean did what oceans do. The ocean always wins.
Donna Griffin
5:32 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
We'll raise the home as soon as the state can commit to raising the often times flooded roadways leading to it. Out of curiosity....how rigid were the ABFE standards post-Katrina or post-Andrew? Apparently, it's OK for Jersey to fund other state's disasters over the last hundred years, but not OK to expect the same consideration in return. This is what happens when a nation is bankrupt, continues to make promises it cannot keep and is lead by people without a clue on how to get us out from under this debt. Keep funding cell phones for all, bailing out union corporations and funding bankrupt solar companies. Now that a hardworking, taxpaying section of the country can use a temporary hand....hit them while they're down. I'm sick of the leadership in Washington and have just witnessed the choking of the leadership in my beloved NJ.
Donna Griffin
6:37 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Paul - Quite the ladies' man, aren't you? Unions built this country and are in the process of bankrupting it. No worries on Medicare or Social Security for me though. You see, they will be insolvent by the time I am old enough to benefit from them. No....I do not own waterfront property (family members who have been living with me for 3 months do... former union employees BTW). I do, however, pay my taxes in this state...quite handsomely at that. If you think ONLY those living on or near the water are going to absorb the cost of Super Storm Sandy, you clearly never made it out of middle school. Seems like you're stuck on the politics of this disaster. I'm more concerned about the recovery of this state. Blessings to you.
Paul Ryan
5:46 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Stop whining Donna did you have insurance as a responsible home owner
me and mitt say fema is immoral
and your lies and faux news re runs is making me sick
you know the cell phone thing was started by bush
tell us Donna how do you feel about Bush s unpaid for wars you know the reason for the debt
Donna Griffin
6:42 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Paul - Could it be that Bush was wrong too? Why is it that to question the direction of any government program leads to ....."well Bush did it so there!" How much more juvenile can an argument get? Do not speak to the specifics or merits of the subject. That would require thought and solution. For the record, I was not a big Bush fan. Also for the record, I am less of a fan of the man currently occupying the White House. Now...can we get on with the business of running this country?!? Or would you rather behave like a schoolgirl snickering in the corner all the while talking about another girl's unfashionable shoes?
7:01 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
What would it take to fight these new pending rates? Is there still time to fight a winning fight for this? I understand rates have to increase but bankrupting towns isnt going to help
Bob Alou
7:41 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
The government is bed with the insurance and banking industry. Its all about them, not us. One of the many, many reasons why we need less government and less regulation. Why our governor rolled over for FEMA, an incompetent, useless and corrupt organization is beyond me. It seems that the Federal government wants to take control of everything including the beachfronts. And what a great job they have done down on Hatteras Island too. Just ask the residents there what they think of the Feds. Oh well, wait till they completely take over health insurance. This is just a preview compared to that.
1:26 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Well Bob Alou,
With less government and less regulation, we wouldn't have any help at all. I'm still wondering where all the money from the benefits went.
Bob Alou
8:01 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Its all about skimming large revenue streams as another ways of stealing money from the taxpayers. Like Social Security, all that will be left is a worthless IOU. Healthcare is headed in the same direction. The lesson of all of this: anything that they regulate or run is doomed to failure, will cost more and certain special interest groups will make out very well. What a shame.
8:12 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
The Governor adopting the Flood Maps put out by FEMA is a double edge sword. It really creates hardships for many people, but on the other side, you now know where you stand instead of waiting two years to find out that your hosed. People affected by the storm should get together with attorneys and form a class action suit. I spent time in New Orleans after Katrina and there are no homes that I saw raised. The perimeter of New Orleans is being built to withstand another storm surge. So why can't the Jersey Shore have the same consideration? Build up the barrier island to withstand another surge and leave the good people of Jersey alone.
Bob Alou
8:15 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I see it as another centralized ploy. They want to regulate everything from DC, a place that should not in charge of anything, given their track record.
SB Girl
8:58 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
That begs the question...if the dunes are installed, as the government wants, will the insurable risk on the barrier island go down, and the flood plain modified and premiums reduced?
1:29 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Bob Alou,
So what exactly would Paul (and I don't mean Ryan) have done?
Michael Capo
8:15 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
The land grab has already started. I know a couple of real estate agents on the island who told me they are already getting calls from people looking to buy properties at distressed prices. If you have a personal friend who is a real estate agent ask if they are getting the same requests. The vultures are circling.
Bob Alou
8:23 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I am a real estate rep and own property on the barrier island. Looking to dump it as soon as possible but prices will be low ball. The people will large mortgages will be screwed especially.
Tom G
9:23 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Yes indeed. I am in Snug Harbor with a small ranch was was flooded. I only ripped out the sheet rock and floors and have not been back. I owe 329,000 on the home that if lucky ow is worth half of that. I was offered 100k from a realtor group last week as is. Yes. 100k for a ranch on the lagoon. Yes it needs to be redone and lifted acording to the new rules. So, my mortgage company is screwed cause I am living with my kid and could care less what happens there.
8:41 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Christie missed the boat big time on this one! Doesn't he see the ramifications of this! We all need to contact him to have FEMA relook at inland areas, such as Baywood.
8:45 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I was currently in an AE zone ... My flood was 1800 a year for 215,000 flood ins. My house is structurally compromised... Way more than 50%... Flood insurance is willing to pay me 63,000 to repair my house. I just got a letter from insurance saying we have to pay out of pocket before getting reimbursement for ICC. I don't qualify for FEMA. Housing (been denied housing assistance 5 times) bc we are both real estate agents and cannot provide a paystub to qualify.
So if an A zone is up to 31,0000 if not raised and 7,000 if raised and 3500 if you go higher??? Well that is still double what I pay now and why pay it when they don't want to pay you if there is a flood!!! 63,000 I cannot do squat with. Bank of America has already sent notices of intent to foreclose bc I cannot afford a rental and my mortgage since FEma won't help!! It is a lose lose scenario....ps I have called the governors office numerous times looking for some sort of help, got transferred 5 times before someone said call this number... So I did AND they said we do NOT help people directly.... Try to find an organization to help you!!! Haha thanks for nothing!!!
8:45 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Unfortunately, things have changed at the Jersey shore and homeowners need to comply with these changes or suffer the consequences. Yes, sad but true, some residence will need to sell and move on to higher ground. I wish only the best for those who can stay and for those who must go...its the only way that we as people who live in NJ can prevent future burdens on our taxes and not bankrupt the state. Oh, BTW, I too have family who have lived in Ortley and are at the very same crossroad...so I do feel for you all.
8:59 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Thanks Suz! I feel for all those effected. It's making me sick!
12:50 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Sell what? My ranch on the lagoon is substantialy damaged. I owe almost 300k to the bank. Who in their right mind would by a half destroyed ranch on the lagoon for 300k plus right now with maybe having to raise it or face 30k a year flood policy rates?
Steve Glaspey
8:57 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Let me try to remember the last time that the insurance industry had to pay out large sums on money in Ocean City, probably 50+ years ago... wait wait, it's coming back to me now...March 6th 1962. Now where do you think that all the premiums has gone for the last 50 years. One storm and everybody panics. Where is the leadership in this state.
9:05 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I just dont get why its been 3 month & everything looks the way it does still,Why People are still homeless, Why are streets still covered in sand, homes still sitting on top of one another,? Many people are out of work in the Tri-state area, stop with all the formality & red tape & get these people working, & secondly SHAME on you for spending 160-170 MILLION dollars on a party .... take 1/2 that & use it to rebuild this area REGARDLESS if it was a second home or not if they have a second home they are paying double taxes paying double into funding FEMA..Your telling people to rebuild on & raise up your homes ( will FEMA pay for that change) Think about what you are telling people that have the funds to rebuild, or to sell out , Thats telling them that they are basically being forced out ... these people that have the $$ will just go south,They will sell one home & bring there money elsewhere ( S.C. V.A, etc) where they will get a LOT more property & home for the $$ ...Just want NJ wants to do is push people that fund our townships out... SMART!
9:08 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
The posts here amaze me. So if I understand most of you, you want the same criteria for flood certs that you had prior to the storm, the same flood insurance premiums as if the storm and its lessons never happened. You blame Christie for accepting the advice of govt flood experts because it will cost you more for your waterfront living. Lets say for arguement sake, Christie ignores the experts recommendations and lets you all build as you had it before the storm. Another freak storm rolls in right after you got done rebuilding and once again destroys everyones property, are you all going to sing the praises of Christies decision to not follow the directives of flood experts or are you going to call for his head?
Get real, this storm was a catastrophy waiting to happen and with the global climate and water levels rising it will happen again. But just as Obama is shifting this nation over to, everyone wants to do nothing and have the govt bail them out everytime they didn't take care of themselves.
10:56 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Where is the guarantee that if homes are raised, any unmitigated damage will be covered by FEMA/NFIP? This is not rocket science. If I understood the last statistic properly, there are 75,000 NJ insureds in NFIP and 445,000 claims! Have FEMA pay $30,000 to raise ANY number of houses, it will not fix the problem. This government commandeering of personal property in an effort to compensate for its mismanagement will not break the middle class of the coastal NorthEast; it will annihilate it.
11:36 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Freetobeyouandme, I'll ask you the same question I asked someone else. What is your feasible solution? Your statistics speak volumes, 75k insured with 445k claims. Why should the govt cover the claims of those that opted to not have flood ins? WHy is it fair that the ones that all those years paid their policies only to have the govt cover the ones that didn't? Once again, the public is becoming to relient on the govt to bail them out when they wont take care of themselves. imo
12:11 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Resident, That is precisely my point, payment of uninsured claims is the root problem of this problem. I entered into contracts with my auto, homeowner, health and FLOOD insurance companies. In exchange for pooling my premiums, I expect that when a claim is entered by myself or someone else IN THE POOL, the claim will be honored. I have always adjusted my budget to make sure I could afford that coverage because I wanted that protection. Now, because the claim pool has no boundaries, whether you have managed the risk or not, the coastal residents are unilaterally being penalized because the program was mismanaged. WHY DOES THE GOV'T DIS-INCENTIVIZING PARTICIPATING IN THE PREMIUM POOL?
Mary Ann
12:53 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Dear Resident ~ I really resent your comment about asking government to bail me out because I failed to take care of myself. We have been paying for insurance for 20+ years. Buying the MAX we were ALLOWED to buy. Still to-date we are living on our second floor waiting to hear how much and when we might receive what we have been paying for. This is not a handout! Most everyone I know is in the same situation. We have done all we could to take care of ourselves and our homes. Your comment is out-of-line and insulting.
1:08 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Resident, you have it all wrong! We also paid all our premiums and should receive what we are entitled to. Also, some of us are not in the zones FEMA claims we are! Just asking them to re-evaluate the flood maps!
2:24 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Mary Ann and Gabriella, I was not referring to the ones that paid for their ins, I was referring to someone statistic that there were 75k paid flood insured and 445k claims put in. As for the fema maps, if you were flooded and are putting in a claim, how do you dispute the new flood maps?
1:33 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
The little part you are leaving out of the equation is the fact that the insurance companies are refusing to pony up after collecting premiums for decades! That is not insurance that is a freakin' scam. We had ways of dealing with scammers back in the neighborhood.
1:34 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I believe you missed one big point. I would bet most of those complaining did not vote for Obama and wanted smaller government and less interference from the government. Romney wanted to do away with FEMA. I wonder how much private insurance companies would charge for flood insurance?
1:39 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Mary Ann,
They are talking about quite a few residents living in houses that were paid for, who rolled the dice. They stopped paying for flood insurance because after the mortgage was paid off it was not required. Plus, their houses never flooded before.
9:08 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Maybe , is it possible that the governor is yesing Fema now so that the ones edible for the grants and ICC will get it, knowing that when the maps go to preliminary they will be fought to the end..for some reason i think he may be smarter than this.
9:09 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
So my home is pre-firm built in 1964. We have had continous insur coverage since we owned here . Sustained less then 50 percent damage. Now what is the sotry?
James Ward
9:24 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
It means you will have a couple years of low subsidized rates although eventually they'll want everyone into compliance...
9:34 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
so, if I take a very very long simple view of things.
The purpose of insurance is to pool risk.
The defining base flood elevation, is to determine the 1% flood line
once in 100 years, the flood waters will get to or above that line.
after 100 years of premiums, (long view remember)
the premiums at 3,500 a year for a really jacked up house will come to 350,000
at 31,500 a year, the premiums will total over 3 million.
the MAXIMUM payout for flood coverage is 250,000
stacy buono
9:45 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Sadly, no one took the time to challenge FEMA on a ridiculous flood chart they came up with that they publically admitted was NOT based on any engineering models. It has my home, which is 5 houses from the Bay in a V Zone which is an active wave zone. It has homes within two blocks of the OCEAN, you know the place where the waves come from, as a lower zone. This basically took my neighborhood and turned it into an eventual ghost town. There is no way that Silverton residents can afford the two options here: lifting your home onto pilings, which costs in some cases as much as $100k, or not complying and having your flood insurance literally become over night 10 to 15 times higher than it is now. We are doomed.
Karen M
9:30 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Stacy, its totally crazy. I have a home on the second to last street before Jennings Rd in Village Harbor. Our home is paid for and we have flood insurance and they have now changed it from an AE to a V zone. Yet, across the lagoon some 150 feet is Morton drive, half of the street is AE and the other half is V, how does this make any sense. You mean to tell me when a supposed 3 foot wave comes crashing in from the ocean its going to miss one half of the street? Also, the lagoon directly in back of us, the last lagoon in the development is still in an AE zone because they didn't get water. How can Fema change the maps so drastically without engineering models. I would love to have an elevation survey done from those streets just to see where they are in comparison to my property. I plan on fighting this with the state. I am writing a letter to my Representative as he told me to, and I am appealing this V zone decsion because quite frankly I think it is skewed.
Karen M
9:32 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I actually just read up on some Fema crap on their website and you can appeal their flood maps. You just have to get a surveyor to show that the zone they put you in is scientifically and technically in error. You have 90 days to appeal the decision from the time it is presented to the public. I will give you the link and you can look through the index for the specific areas that you're interested in.
Steve Glaspey
9:45 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
People make the insurance business more complicated that it needs to be. They collect premiums and pay out claims. When times are good, like the last 50 years they pocket the profits. When they eventually have to start paying claims, ouch, they want you to forget about the good times and concentrate on the current disaster. Don't take you eye off the ball and fall for the crocodile tears.
Andy Pat
9:53 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I did not vote for him last time. Will not vote for him next time. However, there are no easy answers to the abominible situation the shore is in. There is also no "silver bullet" answer that would make everyone happy. I do sympathize with Christie as he tries to address a situation no previous governor has had to deal with.
Bob Alou
9:58 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Oh, and after all of this is done, I am sure the silence will be deafening about providing public access too. That will become a "local" issue and after all this tax money goes towards fixing dunes, etc. Just open up the beaches already and come into the 21st Century. The lack of access makes us the laughingstock of the nation.
No access.....no tax money.
10:14 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
It is my understanding that by the Gov, excepting these advisory maps opens up some funding needed by those affected, were as towns saying they were gonna fight it, would not be eligable for funding. Now, I heard that the maps will become preliminary around August. Once preliminary, that is when public opinion is heard for or against zones, zone lines. Now, some things to consider, I've been told, by a local engineer, that the base maps used for the model, that created these maps, are OLD usgs topo maps, probably from the 60's, we have a drawer full of the paper maps, and some roads & neighborhoods are not even on them. The model also does not take into account any and all houses that could potentially nock down the wave action, thus moving the V line back toward open water. It will be neccessary for you to know what your current elevations are. Existing finished floor, mechanical room finished floor, outside corner grades of the house, and the centerline of road and gutter/edge pavement elevations. DO NOT depend on what fema used as a base map for existing grade....Several, if not whole blocks can contract a surveyor to run down a street and get these grades in one shot, at probably a very reduced rate if the surveyor can do many houses after running a benchmark into a road. I am NOT a surveyor, as some will think I'm drumming up work, just someone in the local engineering field, that is already up to eyeballs with this mess. Maps become final about a year after preliminary.
10:38 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Mr. Christie are you rushing to fix the shore for the insurance industry that is taking months to submit a report of damage so we can begin rebuilding and moving on. If so when you meet with them behind closed doors let them know that you will not accept increases until all claims are final. Then they can submit for increases.
10:47 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Remember Romney wanted to do away with FEMA & everyone thought it was a terrible Idea?? Remember when everyone thought Obama was going to save the world ??
John Q
11:30 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Who, I believe he wanted it to be a local thing not a national thing. Looks like it would be much better if we controlled it not the federal goverment. I think he was correct . Let the states and local goverments handle the money.
wrong doesn't make right
9:28 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
John Q..... & hows that working out for everyone??
1:42 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
John Q,
So the Federal government is just going to hand money to the States and local governments to spend as they wish? Good luck with that one.
Jimmy Wanamassa
10:51 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
This is so the people who have already paid off their mortgages can now take out new loans from the big banks (helps Christie and false economy in NJ and country), this puts the people back on the lurch, which banks and govt love. The one thing they hate is debt free citizens. Good luck NJ. I love you. You don't HAVE to buy into it. Wait for your house to get demolished, then take out a loan and rebuild. Chances are good that you will never get wrecked. Fear tactics as usual. Money as usual. Politics as usual!
Chief Wahoo
11:01 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
they must always have the debt bubble increasing because fiat money = DEBT.....and as hard as Bernanke is trying and making the dollar worth less and less , its not working and the ponzi system is collapsing
thats what people do not understand......Money = Debt
Chief Wahoo
11:03 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
also most people think its better for them if their house is $500,000 and 3% interest , instead of house being $150,000 and 12% interest.....WRONG WRONG WRONG !!!
all it means is you can afford your PAYMENT but probably not your house .......its always best to buy a house when INTEREST RATES ARE THE HIGHEST !!!!!!
Karen M
11:10 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I don't have a problem raising my home, what I have a problem with is the cost and thr burden of that cost. If the government is willing to cover the cost to raise these homes well then go ahead and raise, but who has extra money lying around? Don't these buffoons realize that we are still struggling economically and that people are still in recovery mode from the past 5 years of a terrible economy. It sounds so easy for them to say it and for Fema to put it on paper as if changing a letter on a map is so simple, but for 1000's of us, its a costly change. We are hurting and the prospect of having to dole out money that I don't have is ridiculous. The majority of us are middle class Americans living a middle class life and we do not have disposable income at our beckon call to just throw into raising a home. I am tired of paying loans and to take on another one is just going to force me to continue working until the day I die. This economy has ruined our lives and it just seems that every time we think we're getting close to moving forward towards something good, something else is holding us back. This just flat out stinks.
Chief Wahoo
11:11 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Answer these questions before reaching for your ideological blanket:
1. How many banks would loan penniless, near-zero-income students $100,000 if the State did not backstop and ruthlessly enforce its parasitic, exploitive "student loan" programs? Answer: none.
The consequence if the tyrannical State ceased to enforce the debt-serfdom of Student Loans: the Education Cartel would collapse in a odoriferous heap, and the banking Aristocracy would be stripped of a highly profitable State-run business.
2. Under what conditions would banks originate mortgages if the State did not guarantee mortgages via FHA and the other socialized-mortgage agencies? Answer: 30% to 35% down, hefty points and a higher rate of interest than FHA loans.
We can find the answer by examining the conditions banks demand for non-State backed loans. If the State wasn't backstopping the risk, what bank would be insane enough to originate a 30-year fixed mortgage at 1 point over official inflation and a negative rate when measured in real inflation? It makes no sense without State subsidies and guarantees.
What percentage of the mortgage market is purely private, i.e. not backstopped by FHA et al.? About 5%, and the terms of these private loans are considerably stiffer than those originated under the taxpayer-funded umbrella of FHA.
In other words, debt-serfdom is not possible without the State enabling and enforcing the banks' power.
Via Charles Hugh Smith
Dentss Dunnagun
3:17 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
it's really quite simple ....Don't borrow money .....otherwise you're selling yourself out to become a wage slave or worst to lose your savings
11:53 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Too many people are not taking the time to really think through their situations. Ignoring all the venting and the usual trolls that see a conspiracy under every seashell, many people are not sitting down and going through all the implications.
FEMA was never designed to make every person whole, it is beyond their authority and ability.
For some, walking into the bank and saying thanks, ;but unless you can offer some relief, here's your keys. If your property was underwater before the storm, you are probably better off just giving it back unless you can really afford the future added costs.
Its over!
12:55 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
I think we have all come to a breaking point. When does it end? People say Government, I say what government? They are all but puppets on a string. This
country is run by big business and their lobbyists. Just STOP paying all the exorbitant taxes and fees that are constantly being rammed down our throats.That's the only thing they understand is the pocketbook. At this point what do we really have to loose? If we don't do something, most of us are going to loose it all anyway. Like they said in that movie "we are mad as hell and we are not going to take anymore"
12:37 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Leaving riggers where did all the Porto potties go? Cooler packed! Oh yeah baby!!!
Bob Alou
12:53 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I don't think people fully realize what he has done. Lots of homes for sale, lots of foreclosures and huge price reductions. Who will take the risk to live there? Even if you get a good deal, the maintenance, insurance and taxes will be so ridiculous. Unless they make some major adjustments, this will be the end of the Jersey Shore as we know it. It may make the areas nearby more desirable but no reason to live close to the ocean unless you are a millionaire. Don't think any millionaires will be looking at our house either, since its the low spot on the street. Some of the biggest disasters have been caused by the best of intentions.
1:18 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Ok so let me understand this, I live in a development that never flooded, when I bought the house we were not considered to be in a flood zone even though the bay is a block away (wonder how much the builder had to pay someone to get that through). Now all of a sudden we flood for the 1st time and we are considered zone A with 9 ft elevation. No one can tell me what my elevation was before. I was told to hire a surveyor to tell me or find the original surveryor and he will tell me. So now I have to take out a loan with the SBA to put my house back to what is used to look like and on top of that I either have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to raise my house or pay a stupid amount of money for flood insurance, neither of which I can afford. Where does our governor and all his buddies think we are going to get the $ to do this. A mortgage, an sba loan a kid in college another going soon and now this. Sure no problem, I guess I will have to work until the day I die, never take a vacation again for the rest of my life and hope that I will have enough $ to eat. FEMA and everyone else involved need to focus on fixing the issue that created this problem and not unload all of this on the working class. If the proper precautions had been taken years ago the ocean would not have broken through in Mantoloking and caused all of this damage. They must look and re-evaluate the flood & elevation maps, they are ridiculous. Look for more tent cities to pop up soon.
Dentss Dunnagun
1:31 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Tent cities must be elevated as well ...otherwise they will be denied flood insurance as well.No escaping FEMA
Karen M
1:23 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
By the way, they forgot to tell you when you applied for your SBA loan that if you own a second home, guess what you're sh*t out of luck. The only way to qualify for the loan is if you rent it out. How's that for kicking you when you're down?
peter festa
1:23 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Bob Alou
1:33 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
The consensus I am reading in the comments section here is that the Governor is wrong.....I agree, he is wrong. Like he demonized the NJEA, he is demonizing the oceanfront homeowner. This guy is nothing but a bully who acts like an advocate but could care less about the Middle Class. He is full of crap.
Beach Orphan
2:16 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
It seems to me that the consensus I am reading in the comments is demonizing the Governor.
Bob Alou
2:31 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
The role of the government is NOT to determine how and where people, who own private property, can live. This guy just bankrupted a whole bunch of people who are already still in shock from this devastating storm. The State needs to back off and let people get their lives back in order, not come up with a bunch of expensive and inflationary Federal guidelines that make everyone feel good, but are not practical. With record unemployment and the economy in the dumper, do you really think any of this is a good idea?
A Resident
2:13 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Hmm, what will this mean for schools, government buildings, police stations, fire stations, churches, etc that are all in these new flood zones? Do the FEMA flood zone guidelines outweigh/overrule Federal ADA guidelines?
Art D
2:23 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
There are different procedures for non-residential buildings when it comes to flood control. For instance, they do not need to elevate them but can use dry flood proofing methods.
Art D
2:16 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I spoke with an engineering firm today about getting a baseline soil condition sample done so I can see if a helical pile foundation can be used to raise my house. Sure, get the sample done he said but we still don't have answers from FEMA on certain things like "what is the Depth of Scour we should use when conducting sampling?" That determines how far down you need to install pilings and your foundation footings and walls. How do we move forward as the Governor says we should when there are unanswered questions that the engineers need to know to help us rebuild? This is a knee-jerk reaction by Gov Christie, who I personnaly like, but his decision to adopt the advisory maps was done without fully understanding the impact on thousands of homeowners.
peter festa
2:18 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
frankie thesherm
6:48 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
and that my friend is why Mitt said fema is immoral so whats that make a grown man who believes in magic underwear
bobby chez
2:27 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
i think i will see if HGTV would like to purchase my home for next years dream home sweepstakes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bob smith
12:55 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
I think all of you are missing the point, the point is that when you rely on Government fed, state, local you are going to be very disappointed with the result. Now mark my words wait until you find out that this is what your so called govt provided health insurance will be like. This is not Christies fault totally...Fema is the US government and is run by the Obama administration and these are the new rules because really most of you would not have been able to afford to live in flood areas at all if you weren't subsidized by the government to begin with.
if your home is worth 300,000 and you pay 2000 a year in flood insurance probably less in years past..how many years would you have to live there to pay to replace the home.....150 not possible.
I truly feel sorry for all the people put out by this storm but you were sold a lie by the government for years and are now waking up to the fact that the govt is not your friend and is not there to help you and those expecting help should remember this and teach it to your children.
2:47 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Someone please answer me this - What happens to all of the people who have small primary residences built on concrete slabs that cannot be raised? AND they had less than 51% damage? We will all lose our homes! The technology doesn't exist yet to raise older homes built on concrete slabs (heard this directly from the city structural engineers at the town meeting) and who can afford to pay $31,000 a year in flood insurance on a $190,000 home? It seems insane that myself an many others will lose our homes because of this. Previously, we were not in a flood zone, now we are. Where will we live? Because there is no way people can afford that in flood insurance. I have always been responsible and paid all of my bills, now I will be forced to lose my home and have my credit destroyed so that I will never be able to buy another. Crazy.
4:20 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
They need to read Biggert-Waters Flood Act, which extended flood insurance continuation. I believe that there are provisions regarding homes that were built before the FIRM rating maps were enacted and homes that are on slabs, where damage was under 50%. Then there are other issues regarding past claims on those homes...
Karen M
4:52 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
According to the house movers I spoke with they can raise a home on a slab. If you go to "LBI Houseraising" facebook page you will see how he did one. It is possible. What the cost will be is another story. That you'd have to find out.
3:22 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
It's very bad!! Government does not exist to bail you out. No, it's not fair. It's very simple. If you can't pay,.... ....you will go away. Done!
Gary Miller
3:22 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Christie will fight the Fed Govt to institute Sports Betting in NJ but won't fight for the families of the Jersey shore. Call his office and tell him he's a fraud. 609 292 6000
Katie Vannucchi
3:49 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
People are going to walk away from their house's. this whole thing is making me sick!!
Bob Alou
4:01 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
This is from a good friend......more results of Christie's BS.....
"My home was majorly destroyed by the storm, and i went to investigate the Christie sandy relief fund website. They don't have a way you can apply for it. They say that on the sight. but they do have a way to donate? does that make any sense?? There is $61 million dollars just sitting there and we can't get a penny of it. I haven't seen any money in any form. Nothing from the relief concerts or FEMA. Where is all this cash going?? Nothing I mean nothing has come thru to help us other than family and good friends. If someone has a reasonable explanation I'd love to hear it. And I have been in touch with every site and organization, so save your advice on that. i have got the letter from my town saying I have to knock the house down in 60 days or have it "code ready" in 90 days. They found time to do that. I'm sick of the BS."
Great job Governor....
4:28 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Bob Alou, We get it, you don't like the governor. Wheres the money that was donated you ask, you do realize this storm hit the entire north east coast in catastrophic proportions right, not just Brick? Where do you think all the support to date got its funding as congress took their Christmas break before deciding to vote on helping us? Who called out congress and his own party ignoring the possible backlash to move things along? You do realize they just voted on it this week I believe...but that is Christies fault right?
As for your earlier comment on his attack of the teachers union, if you believe teachers are worthy of keeping their jobs simply because of longevity at the position and not the quality of their work, then all I can do is shake my head as I recognize the cause of some of the problems this state is in.
Bob Alou
4:45 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Don't start with your partisan BS. This is being handled poorly by the Feds and the State of NJ, both parties. People are always more important that laws, codes, ideas or theories....show a little compassion for people.
Mahatma Ghandi who said, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."
Go here for additional quotes: http://sapphire-rain.xanga.com/621547647/item/
Dolores Calicchio
5:11 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Dear Resident,
Look people are really angry, they are being forced into short sales and foreclosures. My guess is you work for the government but I think you need to understand some sympathy rather than passing judgement might be a better approach. p.s. I agree teachers should be accountable but quite frankly, who cares at this point about that when you are losing your home?
5:16 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Partisan BS, excuse me? I do not have a party affiliation, I vote for whomever I believe is the best canidate. I do however recognize and support a politician that does not follow the status quo or toe the party line for the sake of his career. Name one other politician that called out his own party in the fashion Christie did, he put the spotlight directly where it was needed and got them to start the process they were putting off. The govt money everyone is waiting on is a congressional issue and he brought the media's attention to assist. What did Cuomo do, how about Bloomberg or the other Govs or even Acropolis who was basicly invisible in this whole storm?
I do have a great deal of compassion for those that were hurt by this storm, I live a block from the surge and provided neighbors with food/firewood/hot showers and a place to get warm and charge their phones etc till the power went back on as I had a generator to run my home.
As for the codes/ideas/theory part of your response, I understand and agree somewhat with what you are saying, but govt is also responsible to make an effort to prevent the very same catastrophy from repeating itself. If this happened again and the govt didn't take the measures they are trying to put in place and simply ignored making the hard decisions, would you be so supportive of their choice to not try and fix the problem after the first time?
Quotes are all nice and fine, but in the end action is what gets things done.
5:45 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Resident, it was just on the news that the senate will vote on Monday! Monday? Mr. Christie acted yesterday to place even greater financial and logistical problems on homeowners who are just trying to keep their heads above water (no pun intended). There is an old saying that timing is everything. This is not the time for the government to shirk on to struggling homeowners its financial burden which has resulted from decades of poor planning and poorer execution. This plan clearly has not been fully fleshed out and will likely create even greater economic hardship than the storm did.
6:47 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Freetobe, exactly my point, everyone wants things to happen ask quick as possible, but in taht haste mistakes are made for the sake of expediancy. It is simply a damned if they do and damned if they don't situation.
7:36 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Resident, we agree but the difference is I'm looking at it from the viewpoint of homeowners who are just beginning to make progress re-building their homes and lives. As of last night, if they were lucky enough to have work started, it all stops while they try to ascertain what this all means and how they are going to pay for it. The immediacy that has been assigned to the implementation of these standards is arbitrary, counterproductive and reeks of political bargaining. I do not think it is coincidental that this very important news is buried in the media (with the obvious exception of the Patch)
Dolores Calicchio
8:04 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Resident, I think you are missing the point. The replies from freetobeyou are what the sentiment is. Many understand the need to protect ourselves. It's the timing, the decisions that are not clear, the fact that our homes are already under water, and the requirement to build up on pilings in a zone that should be an A that is causing the frustration. For many if they decide to rebuild or walk it will tale a decade or more to recoup, either way. Many are retired and there is no funding if less than 50 percent. And for those who will get some funding it will not even cover a third of the cost.
Dolores Calicchio
5:00 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Appartently FEMA is 8 billion in the hole and will be 3-4x greater with Sandy. There is no more federal subsidy because our Federal governmaent decided to approve a student loan program and trasportation bill and stop paying subsidies to FEMA. I suppose this is popular because the government and ultimately tax payers would not want to keep bailing states out when there is a storm especially where dwellings are not built to the new codes. We don't spend enough to try to avoid this with levies, buidling up dunes, a stronger barrier island infrastructure, and other means? Our solution is to overburden these homeowners financially into foreclosures and short sales. But we can spend 353 Billion a year on illegal immigration?
1:51 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Yes. It is called the new world order. And I am not being sarcastic, I am serious.
Dolores Calicchio
5:00 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I also don't understand how the homes in Ortley and Lavalette can be a zone A two blocks from the ocean but a house on the Meteconk is now changed from an A to a V zone. We don't experience velocity waves and we have several houses in front of us that would prevent it even if it did happen, but we are now a V zone. Yes building stronger than we have to may in theory sound good to others until you start looking at the costs that we cannot afford. No help for these homeowners you are on your own! We are still paying our high mortgage, high property taxes (no relief there even though you cannot live in your home!), and a rental and utilities. And it now seems it will be over a year before you will be anywhere near being done with construction bc we can't seem to get answers on the parameters to lift, assuming you have a contractor to lift it. I am being told a minimum of 8 months waiting time for a contractor to lift your home. People who are not living this situation just don't get it!
5:51 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Delores, I apologize if I seem callous in some of my responses. I truly feel horrible for what people are going through. Someone earlier posted that it could be possible that Christie agreed to the "preliminary" flood plan to get the coffers opened and to the people that need the money. He also mentioned that they do not become the rule until a year has passed, which means they are up for change. Would everyone here prefer he fought the plan from the start and stalled the payment? All i am saying is if that is true from the previous poster, maybe he is doing what he is doing for the right reasons.
Dolores Calicchio
8:13 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I hear you resident. I am not blaming Christie. I understand what we are all going through because I am living it and tend to give more leeway and let people vent. This is an awful situation that is continuing to cause a lot of agony for us. You are right Christie has done more than anyone but it is not getting to the homeowners. It is building the infrastructure to help prevent a bigger problem for the State but we seem to be forgotten.
Missing Brick
1:52 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Probably many will self insure. But what about when you sell? You can not get a mortgage without the insurance...that's what makes this an even bigger disaster. They ask you to put $70k into a home with say $100k worth of damage already...while on the other end your property value is plummeting rapidly and you will likely have vacant lots and empty houses on the same block with you where once a neighborhood was thriving.
BTW, the kicker is, for that $100k of damage, the insurance company want to write you a $50k check and you could have got FEMA to pay you $30k if you were irresponsible and had no insurance in the first place. BTW, those people I hear area already getting paid while we (the insured) have not received even our first check!
5:04 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Pre -sandy there were over 600 homes for sale in my town .I bet there will be 1000 more now.Who can afford to pay these crazy insurance rates and the high tax rates.How about the schools and town buildings that need to be raised. It seems the politicians are worried more about the tourist than RESIDENTS .
Karen M
6:28 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Go look on zillow and see how many homes are being sold "as is" . Its a shame. People are already walking away. Do you blame them? First off, its cheaper to move south and you pay less in the way of taxes. I almost sold a few years back, and now I should have. This is nothing short of a nightmare.
Pete Grace
6:59 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Well we meet last week and got advice good or bad on how long it takes in NJ for a bank to take your home. A good estimate is , IF you play all of the games is around 40-48 months. Maybe longer if you file BK at the very end. So we figured, instead of dealing with this enormous mess and probably never getting our investment back, as we now for sure own way more then this house is worth. To start saving every mort payment and dollar over the next four years and maybe look South at a nice condo in Fla for cash. Just saying, we owe more then the home is worth so why stay? We can tough it out here for free for a few years , walk and let the town and the bank deal with this stinking mess. We have a small 3 br 1 bath ranch on the lagoon that I owe 260k on. It needs 80k in repairs and needs to be raised , so say 130-140k in total, Is this ranch worth over 400k? I can save the 30k a year in mort payments , just saying. Was online looking at condo's in Fla for 125k, cash speaks volumes.
Missing Brick
10:30 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Don't forget those much maligned "2nd home owners."
While people love to point at them, the truth is, they are the best kind of town member. They pay the same taxes and use less facilities.
If my home were a 2nd home, I'd dump it in a heart beat. I mean, this is not FUN...and the only reason to deal with it is, well...I have no where else carved out to go long term and my life savings are sunk into this hole.
If that were not my situation, I would pack my bags, count my losses and maybe bulldoze my house so that I can sell the land at some better day to the right buyer without paying a mountain of taxes or insurance for now. Maybe I can even write it off my rich-guy taxes? Probably.
It will start happening. Rich folks tend to be less sentimental with their money I have noticed. Only fools like us stay and fight (the middle class who have limited options.) The smart people will start their exit when that first inflated insurance premium hits if not even before.
1:53 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Absolutely! More emphasis being placed on replacing boardwalks than assisting homeless.
OB III Pete
5:07 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
first its a push for tax cuts to benefit the rich...now lets price out the middle class families that have owned homes along the shore for years! Wonder how this is going to play out in heavy republican Monmouth and Ocean counties...
Missing Brick
10:25 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
It is easy to see how it will play out.
People will default and: go away.
Others with deeper pockest, will buy the land at a steal and build higher and better buildings.
Sucks for the guy who owns the house now (like me) but the logic is obvious.
Whenever a whole village moves out, damn, what a great place for a mall or casino or ???
They will get their taxes sooner or later and people will ALWAYS flock to the shore and want to live by the water.
I know because it was my life-time dream ...and after working towards that for 44 years, I had it just for two.
The game is rigged...but that is not new news is it?
Karen M
9:59 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
My husband and I have owned our home for 12 years and we worked two jobs and scrimped and saved to buy our house at the shore. My husband delivered newspapers at 4:00 in the morning for 10 years to buy that house and we've scaraficed a great deal. These last 5 years have been finacially challenging for us, as they have for so many people. We are middle class people, by no means rich. We just happened to buy at the right time, before the shore went completely crazy. We love it here and this is our retirement. We are here winter, spring, summer and fall. We want to retire down here in the next few years, but I'm afraid of what this place is going to look like in the next 5 years. I already see the homes just abandoned, some haven't been touched. Its sad to see that its come to this. People work their entire lives for something, only to see it destroyed. But to make matters worse, Fema comes in and wants to make changes to the maps that are ridiculous given the fact that I have never flooded in the past. I will agree, however, that yes, maybe some areas do need to elevate, but for many of us who are so far inland, it just seems to me that changing from an AE to a V is drastic. Where is the logic in all of this.
5:29 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I CALLED CHRISTIES OFFICE TODAY AND HIS AID SAID THEY ARE GETTING MANY, MANY COMPLAINTS. tHEY SAID HE WILL ADDRESS THIS BUT i HAVE HEARD THIS FROM HIS AIDS BEFORE REGARDING OTHER ISSUES. kEEP CALLING WHO KNOWS IT MAY HELP. LISTEN TO THIS I HAVE 6 BLOCKS OR MAYBE 7 BETWEEN MY HOUSE AND THE BAY ALTHOUGH ALL THESE HOME ARE STILL IN THE A -ZONE BUT MY HOUSE ON THE NEW MAPS WAS PUT IN THE V-ZONE. I GUESS THEY MUST THINK THE WATER WILL GO OVER AND AROUND THEM 90HOMES BEFORE IT GETS TO MY PLACE WITH A HIGH VELOCITY WAVE. MAKES KNOW SENSE . THIS IS THE TYPE OF UNFAIRNESS THAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR AND WE HAD MINOR WATER AROUND OUR HOUSE AND HOMES VERY NEAR BY HAVE BEEN RED TAGGED OR EXTENSIVE DAMAGE WITH FEMA LEAVING THEIR AREA IN THE SAME A-ZONE. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE.
6:12 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Let's call it what it is… A TAX. It is a tax on people who had the good sense to get flood insurance and unfortunately had the audacity to put in a claim. Now the "house" (Insurance Companies) want their money back. They are locking the doors to the casino, raising the table limits, adding a few decks to shuffle and forcing you to sit down and play until they get every penny back and then some.
I'm a fan of the big guy. But for someone who runs around talking about not raising taxes he better look in the mirror because he just taxed the Jersey Shore into oblivion.
6:56 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Can't stand it anymore, this has been such a burden on my family. Trying to get the toms river house back in shape so my kids, who rent it from me, can go home. my daughter homeless with granddaughter, they here few nights a week and in laws renting next door. This whole situation sucks a big one! Yes, we got our flood ins. money, no help from FEMA cause my "secondary home" son cannot get help either, they tell him he lost all his belongings to get a SBL, bank holding on to money, ugh. I signed up to go to a FEMA workshop at HS East tomorrow from 1-4, but you need tickets. I have them for the 3:00 session, but why bother to go?? Hey, maybe we should all go, tickets or not, and storm the good old FEMA reps!!
7:07 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Good one Pete Grace, i like your thinking!!! lol It was in our plans to rent our toms river house out to my son for a few years, we moved to retirement village, then sell the t.r. house and get a place in Naples, Fla when we "officialy" retire.....well so much for that idea now. But what you saying makes alot of sense. love it....
8:28 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Why is new Jersey the only state listed with new abfe's on the maps? Why isn't new york dealing with this, and for that Matter why is no other state show any concerns over Fema's new flood premiums? Is Jersey the Guinea pig for this ? Are we the only state that got hit by sandy?
9:20 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Something just isn't right about this whole map thing , Louisiana didn't and isn't going to suffer these financial consequences from Fema ,and these two old bats that created the biggerts and waters act has the 2005 Katrina listed in there as why our rates are going up. Google flood premium increase, if any other states are discussing it,they are looking at a one shot 25% increase ,in fact in a few states flood zones are being removed .. Something isn't right ,soon as sandy blew out ,this whole plan was sitting there waiting for us and it seems they can't wait to shove it down our throats.. They are trying with New Jersey to see what Fema can get away with ...
Missing Brick
10:17 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Floodgate: I agree with this 100%. They are giving this a go for our disaster because Katrina was such a national black eye. We are the guinea pigs. I just wonder how many homes are effected by this...I heard in the end over 100,000. Could this be true? The coastline and LBI are actually pretty small...but since it reaches blocks inwards I bet there are bunches of folks that didn't realize that it will effect them too. Say, for example, what about Hoboken? Will they raise those buildings that are hundreds of years old? Why didn't they raise the homes in N.O. to 13' high after Katrina. The biggest surprise to me is how quickly the good for nothing governor laid down to them. No negotiation? Nothing? What's that about?
8:38 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
So torn emotionally but want to get some hard #'s to know how big my problem is. Can anyone recommend who I can reach out to for house raising/foundation estimate?
6:20 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Hi Knotshore, My company name is A.G. Development Marine L.L.C (732-864-1840) we are a local contractor in Toms River for 30 years. We are working on a Helical design that will conform with FEMA's V Zone requirements, hopefully you are not in the V Zone. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
FYI I had to move out of my home on Silver Bay and now FEMA put me in the V ZONE
Karen M
4:22 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
There are a bunch of house raising/moving companies that I located. Spent many hours at the computer. LBI Houseraising, but he only works in LBI/BHW. There is Wolfe House Movers 610-488-1020. Their work was pretty impressive. There is also Expert House Movers out of VA, 1-800-669-7315. They are another large firm that goes all over the country. Just make sure before you use anyone that they are liscensed to work in NJ. Ask for it and their workman's comp certificate. These out of state companies are getting lots of calls from here because they already have info for Sandy victims from NJ.
4:51 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
You have not seen nutin yet. So how long so you all really think it will take , say just the folks of Toms River to hire, find, get estimates, permits and find the funds to lift how many thousand homes just in TR? Good guess, has to be in years. Throw in Brick, Point, Bay Head, Mantoloking, ORTLEY, Manahawkin etcv etc etc etc....
4:56 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
To Karen M,
Thank you for the house raising info. You have given a lot of great advice and information in your posts. Thank you.
Karen M
1:49 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
For everyone looking to raise their homes I was on the Governor's site and I came across some interesting information in regards to obtaining permits. From what I read it says that you don't need to obtain them. Maybe I have not read it correctly but here is the section that I copied and pasted here from the Governor's website I will post the link.... Emergency Regulations To Rebuild Faster, Stronger And Safer:
Common-sense provisions for rebuilding stronger structures, more quickly:
Adopts Advisory Base Elevation Maps: Adopts the height and construction
Permits by Rule: Allows property owners who rebuild to the ABFEs (plus one additional foot, as has been required by the New Jersey Flood Hazard Area Control Act since 2007) to do so via Permit By Rule (PBR). This eliminates the need for thousands of property owners to apply for permits, saving them at least $500 in permit fees plus the design and engineering costs associated with an application, and allowing them to begin reconstruction without waiting for review.
Missing Brick
10:18 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I'm fairly confident that every single house raising company in NJ is booked for 1 year +. I made calls before this governor ok'd FEMA's maps and it was already this way. Beware of any companies that start up now as "house raisers" ...I would not trust them to raise a dog house if they have not been doing it already for years.
10:24 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
To have a press conference and give no real infomation that will help homeowners is disgraceful. My parents are 87 and 82 years old have been living in the same home on a lagoon off of Fischer Blvd for 50 years. How can anyone make a decision on what to do with the rest of their life if you have to wait around for 18 to 24 months for the powers that be to make up their minds whether their gonna scr-w you or not?
I talked to people in New Orleans that were helped by the state to raise their home. They say they only had to pay $200 after aid. If you raise your home to the appropriate level why should the insurance companies be able to charge you $7000? Shouldn't raising your home prevent it from being flooded? I'll make a deal with the state and county. Give them back all of the taxes they had to pay and they can have the house.
ann marie houlis
10:51 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
this is the most rediculas thing i have ever heard...ive been paying too much money as it is for flood insurence..and what did i get in return??? 3 months of bull-shit, then when they decided they had to pay on a house that has almost 200,000 worth of damage?? they decided that 63,000 should be enough...really!!!! oh and lets not forget FEMA <what a joke they are> this is disgraceful!! "Mr Gov".....this is driving the middle class right out of this state and everyone else for that matter..i can only hope to get out of here as quickly as possible..but in case i dont...you have sooo lost my vote!!!
Sandy my ars
5:47 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
ann marie, did your insurance company/adjuster present you with an estimate? was it $200K? Was this a contractors estimate? I dont see how an adjuster could present damage of $200K and then the Insurance Company only pay $60K
Bob Alou
11:01 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Great job Gov....but I am just being insensitive, according to some. Thanks for ruining thousands of people's lives but by no means, should you ever investigate Kim Guadagno's triple dippping. Its all the unions' faults, its all the Democrats fault, its all the taxpayers fault but none of it is YOUR fault. Thanks a lot, now go to Washington and JOB the GOP nomination to Hillary in 2016, just like McCain and Romney and make your bones so we are rid of you. Good riddance.
peter festa
2:13 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
John Eric Mangino
1:59 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I sat was at Christies Town hall meeting . Smooth Talker . Then he said something I knew he be sorry for . I will decide the Flood heights and let Fema Adopt to us. His words I have them on Video . I will have a new plan for our state in Two weeks ..
Well guess what Ralph Cram-den couldn't have done it better BABABa Im adopting the Fema advisories. Really . ? Guess what these maps still aren't adopted and can still take Two years to get approved . So tell the people what they want to hear then do nothing , But the biggest Crime here yes crime is . Fema hiding behind the endless profiteering of the insurance industry , Where in the world not even oil companies get away with the Highway robbery going on here . Where can you raise the price of your product 1000 percent . Certainly not in a country like USA . We need a deep throat in the insurance business or lobbyist to come clean . Im sure the Washington post would anti up some pretty big numbers for the real story .
Even the one percents that just got taxed wont get there heads around this one .
Wipe out entire tax bases of Towns? Wipe out entire generations of neighborhoods,
Kill a entire generation of retirees , Why not take the 7.5 billion we made on AIG .
We bailed Banks and insurance company's out that committed more crimes than you can shake a stick at now our own government is following the same suit . Residents of New Jersey need a Class action suit and we need it now ..
Dentss Dunnagun
4:25 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I suggested something that seemed conspiratorial in 2008 that after the stock market crash people have no place left to put they're saving outside of a home .So I bet somehow banks will find a way to confiscate them as well ! I thought it would be through higher taxes and fees ...I was partially right it's through phony regulation and scare tactics ,with our Governors blessing .
7:14 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
FEMA, via the NFIP, IS the endless profiteer of this particular facet of the insurance industry. As an arm of the federal government, they write their own rules; charge usurious rates;and, in essence are a monopoly. Disgusting, albeit true.
John Eric Mangino
8:20 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
@TR Let say this The Mayor of Stafford Is actually the only one fighting for us . He put the Governor on Notice at this meeting . He showed me the email he received not hours before this Christie Town Hall Meeting that Fema was saying all bets are off back to ground Zero No Heights at all . There no where else to get Flood insurance , There is no where else to get reimbursed for this massive clean up , Towns are held hostage i dont care who's in office , Our Mayor told the EPA go to hell DEP get out of our town the only reason we can clean our Marsh and wetlands . Our Mayor has absolutely no control over the Federal Government .The has swayed alot relief to this town More Much more than any other . But without pressure continued pressure locally and state and fore most the president . This is going to go down as the single most botched Disaster and its going to be on Christie and Obama Not our Mayors .....
There being Ransomed into accepting it .
Karen M
4:47 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
You took the words right out of my mouth. I'm in. There are many towns in NJ and for that matter elsewhere, where, when it rains excessively the town floods. Pequannock, Lincoln Park, Wayne, and Pompton Plains are all towns that are adjacent to the Pequannock River. This river has flooded over on numerous occasions and it has flooded homes in those towns. Yet, when I drive through there, I don't see houses up on pilings, I see normal foundations. These towns have seen repetitive flooding and I never once heard anything about them rasing their homes. How can this be and why is the Jersey shore being singled out? In New Orleans were all those old houses in the French Quarter that were flooded raised on pilings? Where is the justice? There is none. The people of New Jersey are always getting screwed over.
John Eric Mangino
9:48 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
So the Mayor Toms river hes also to blame the mayor of Tuckerton hes also to blame If you had one second of and idea of what your selling here . Were talking about the Fema and Goverment polices that have been adopted by State . Yes the the Governor and Our Mayor Had to tell EPA And DEP to back off .. Or we would still be sitting in debris ridden streets Who got those cleaned YOU the Epa? DEP? no our Mayor and help from the Governor did . Here you go TR you show me a town that had a faster response a better evacuation a better emergency plan and results .
The night the opened the recover center in manahawkin for all towns to use the EPA and DEP showed up trying to shut it down . Now you tell me where was all this Junk going . this action alone probably saved more lives than anything else . Post the town that out performed this one taht got its residents back in faster got them into shelters hot food clothing you post the Town that did a better job or is at this very minute .
Creditability you scream then prove me wrong . Every Mayor on the east coast is screaming Foul powerless , Perhaps we should back to corruption leadership pay to play days of Block . Is that your idea.
John Eric Mangino
1:07 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
This isn't my first event ive lived here threw countless nor easters , And let me tell you the past administrations in this town where a Joke . I now have a road I now get my road plowed . We have a team of DPW and administers that get the job done.
The state ignoring towns like Toms river Tucker ton , Little egg harbor well i suspect well see little egg being taken over by the state the corruption going on there .You cant simply replace people because you dont like them . And most mayors aren't paid . I stand by our current administration and the leadership and peeking order that starts at the State level and trickles down just like the money .
10:00 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
maybe a public rally will get us noticed , a gathering of all the towns that will be affected by these new rates. our stories may be heard when we light this town up with protest ...we need to be heard for more than gold chains and guinea tees, we now need to be heard about the new Federal Extortion of Middleclass America.
Karen M
1:52 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
That would be a great idea. They can have million men march and other protest marches, why not this. If enough people come together we can make a difference. There is always strength in numbers.
12:00 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I understand your emotions are running high so I'll "fuggettabout" the stereotype and speak to the point you make which is a good one. We need to get names of property owners and dwellers on a petition. We can also consider running candidates in the local elections as let's say members of the "Elevation Party." This is a classic example of a government gone wild. This is what will occur and the exact opposite of a Laissez-faire society. Insurance companies lost now they want to recoup which is fine but they are the only game in town and that's not fine. No competition creates a breeding ground for what we are experiencing now. Hopefully, their is not a government takeover of the house raising business.
3:30 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
im there, someone should start a facebook page just to get names....
4:42 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I'll tell you what else. There are a lot of us on these pages who are grateful that we were not directly impacted by Sandy or the new elevation maps, but we just kinda don't like the idea of how the insurance companies are pushing people around. We feel kinda duped for paying premiums all of these years, now knowing that it is all a fraudulent scam. We also realize that although we weren't yet directly affected the indirect tax ramifications of this situation are very real and is making us "mad as hell". Yah got that Governor Crispie Creme? We are mad as hell. I will join any protest that I can get to, or sign any petition against this insanity.
12:31 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
"New Jersey will adopt the Federal Emergency Management's (FEMA) Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps, clearing the way for residents and business owners along the Jersey Shore to rebuild better and stronger, Gov. Chris Christie announced during a press conference in Seaside Heights Thursday afternoon"
I live 100 feet from a tributary of the bay and yes I was flooded and out for several weeks and am still repairing, I can't see what the complaints are? I guess you all want the state and the fed to do all your repairs and the lifting of your homes for free! Well it's not going to happen we pay a price for living near the bay and the ocean we got away whit it for what seems for ever but now it's time to pay the piper or get out! I am not rich by any means I get by check to check but I have to do what needs to be done If I wish to continue to live near the shore! Fortuity I am able to do much of what needs to be done and my wife insured us wisely so the cash for most of the necessary repairs are there. But as for raising my home it remains to be seen what we will have to do to reach code height. But that is my problem not the state or the feds as it is yours.
Missing Brick
12:39 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
^^^so they had no culpability in getting the codes WRONG the first time? 5.5-6' off the first time around? The builders do not arbitrarily decide where to build and how high...
Also, making someone's insurance 10-20x the multiple it used to be is extortion. You should realize this if you are trying to make a claim now.
The flooding may be our problem, but lumping this new expense on at this particular time (even for buildings not substantially damaged) is pure sadism.
John Eric Mangino
12:57 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sounds to me like you really aren't up to date what is coming at you the second storm . If you thing a second mortgage payment is the price for living near the shore perhaps you should be living in Palm Beach , No ones asking for the government to pay were asking for Fair pricing Fair insurance ..And a Straight answer . perhaps your unaware of the thousand with insurance that are not getting the Cash as you say> enjoy the 10.000 a year membership fee your so proud of to live here.
1:13 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Just to keep you up on Palm Beach codes, if you live within 50 feet of the ocean you can't get flood insurance and the property insurance is astronomical! I also agree that insurance and banking are the only legal organized crime in this country, but last I will sound nasty, did any one force you to live here? Than there are things that we have to except, not like but except, life in general is a gamble some times we win most times we loose!
bobby chez
12:49 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
v zone can you give us a run down on a helical design , for a house approx. size of 30' by 30' built on a concrete slab, and a ball park estimate of the cost.........
6:18 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Hi Bobby Chez, There are two deferent designs, one for the v zone (that is in the design stage) and another for the other zones that we have been using for the past 13 years on shore homes. Not to get into to much detail would have me typing for hours. I am in Fla getting some R&R since the storm hit my home. I will be back in town this Tuesday and if you would like to call me please do so I will meet with you and give you all your options. My cell is 908-600-0976. Thanks, Andy
Missing Brick
1:04 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
The more I think about this situation, the more I think it will play out to be a numbers game. Someone is going to get screwed over and seems like the homeowners are the smallest group with the least lobbying power.
Does anyone know how many homes are effected by the new FEMA maps in NJ?
Being there are only about 340 posts here...I have a feeling it is not going to be enough to make a political statement.
(I am one of this group.)
It isn't about fairness in the end, it is about power. We only have power as a group if our group is big enough. I wonder if an expert surveyor can figure out the likely number of homes impacted?
2:12 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I think it's something like 10,000 homes in toms river alone , 350,000 statewide , I think alot of people read the patch ,it's just us loonies that comment :)
Missing Brick
2:17 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
^^^ 350,000 is quite a few. What is this not making the front page of the times or the nightly news for more than a second or two mention? I think we need a rally and SOON, before we are too far down the path to change a thing.
I'm fairly certain that MOST of the people this effects don't know it yet. It is only we who were effected by Sandy that are pre-occupied by it. For any counter movement to gain traction, we need to get the information out to ALL who these new maps would cause home-raising. $50k bills tend to get folks attention...many will be blind sided later because they think they are too far inland to be effected.
Karen M
2:02 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Missing brick, I have just written Mark Dionno of the Star Ledger and he does alot of human interest stories. I actually spoke to him face to face some time back in December. Mark and my husband make the rounds at wrestling events in the state and I will keep on him to write this story. His father actually taught me in the 6th grade so he knows me personally. I really stressed the gravity of the situation and the simple fact that it wasn't being overplayed. He told me back in December that he would be writing something in the near future and I plan on calling him tomorrow. If we get enough people emailing him he will see that this is a story that needs to make the front page. I will post his email for anyone wishing to contact him directly because the more people who reach out to him and make their point known, then the likelihood of him putting this story in print. Let our voices be heard. Please write him and express your views to him.
firstname.lastname@example.com (Mark Di ionno writer at the star ledger)
3:07 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
My friend is a couple of thousand feet inland and just asked me what a Flood elevation certificate is ,and that he is apparently in a flood zone now ,,,and get this ,with the SAME BFE as me and I'm on a lagoon 9' and 13' lol.
Missing Brick
4:57 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I'm a lagoon and it's the same. I tried an address 3 blocks inland and it was also 9/13 and in baywood I saw it was even 14' in areas.
I'm all for safety on new structures and make it high as you like there, but in the case of existing structures that were standing for 30+ years without a flood...what the hell?
To me, such a move should come with a change in the mortgage laws. It should be that if someone wants to take the risk to be, say, 8'...when the highest flood was ever 5', then they should be able to get the mortgage without flood insurance if they choose. Since I'm finding that flood insurance does not cover much anyway...I'd be willing to live without it at these new premiums. Even if they give me the high end of what it is looking like what they will pay, it will be less than 1/3 of my rebuilding costs anyway.
Why should we be forced to carry such a policy? The banks are going to get screwed when people walk away from these homes anyway. Let the risks be taken on a case by case basis and let the buyer beware...none of this forced useless overpriced insurance foisted on us!
3:27 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Our Governer, Chris Christie, who i have loved up until now just sold us all out. FEMA's new maps are a freaking JOKE. many of us who live on the water and have higher elevations which did not flood are being screwed and it sucks. I am a real estate appraiser. Last week i had to go appraise a home in Midway Beach, South Seaside Park. 300+ 500-800 square foot, pieces of crap, probably built using 1 x 2's for studs, no heat, sitting on cinder blocks on the beach and beach block. I was AMAZED as i drove around, all i saw were a few missing shingles and some siding blown off....after speaking with the woman who owns the real estate office there, i found out NONE of those homes flooded...why....DUNES. There is also an area comprised of trailers several blocks away, beach block, not a one moved off its cinder blocks...why DUNES. rather then turn our areas into ghost towns, ruins, rubble and foreclosures can they not just build dunes for us on the barrier island??? would that not be too easy??? Such an easy solution and these idiots, including our sell out governor, can't figure out another way aside from forcing us to raise our homes?????
I have spoken
5:00 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
If Our Governor didn't accept the FEMA maps, then NO $ would come. Don't blame CC, blame YOUR president.
Karen M
2:17 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The same thing happened to my friend's house in Lavalette. Everyone around her who wasn't protected by a dune got decimated, but her tiny A-frame withstood the hurricane and she's about 5 houses from the beach. So yes, they do work. They are idiots, and thats putting it mildly.
4:38 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Curious to how the Jersey Shore compares to New Orleans which is below sea level. One piece I read is: "Every substantially damaged (residential) structure,substantially improved structure, and new construction, no matter where in the city of New Orleans will have to be a minimum of 3 feet above the Highest Existing Adjacent Grade (HEAG) edge of the property whether this grade is natural or man made." 3 feet ??? And what heights do that want in New Jersey ??? Hmmmm ???
I have spoken
4:58 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
@Sharkey-Images you're comparing apples to oranges. In New Orleans The Army Corp of Engineers built and fortified a levee/pump out system because they're in a bowl (below sea level), people there where happy to sign easements. Here we need dunes, people better get with the program and sign the easements. I am directly accross the bay from Ortley. Two blocks behind me went underwater, had there been appropriate dunes in Ortley my neighborhood would possibly stayed dry. They in OB are risking many just to keep their beach sacred. That's BS!
Karen M
1:41 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Yes, and I just read a great article by a woman who went back to New Orleans 7 years later and she did an entire piece on New Orleans recovery after Katrina. She talked about that levee/pump system and what she said i found to be interesting. The army corps of engineers has put this huge system in place, but guess what, they don't even know if it will work, its never been tested. Really, you construct something and its never been tested.
Paul Ryan
4:53 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
and what are banks and insurance co there Frank?
peter festa
5:02 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I have spoken
5:07 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I'm all for the dunes....It's the selfish associations who are fighting against the dunes because they want to keep their private beaches sacred.
Karen M
10:12 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Peter, you're absolutely right because I have a really good friend who owns a home that is about 4 houses from the beach. She has a tiny home that is nestled among other homes. In fron of her house is an area where there are 10 foot dunes. She does not have a view of the ocean, unless you go up to her second floor. But you know what, she didn't sustain one ounce of damage. Everyone else around her who was not protected by the dune was decimated. So yes, dunes work and that proves it.
John Eric Mangino
5:56 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Yea the right to have a View supersedes the right to life home and happiness . You have more rights in Russia
6:21 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Hi Bobby Chez, There are two deferent designs, one for the v zone (that is in the design stage) and another for the other zones that we have been using for the past 13 years on shore homes. Not to get into to much detail would have me typing for hours. I am in Fla getting some R&R since the storm hit my home. I will be back in town this Tuesday and if you would like to call me please do so I will meet with you and give you all your options. My cell is 908-600-0976. Thanks, Andy
6:30 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Can someone post a link/way of voicing our thoughts to Chirstie? I'm not sure how to do this.
Dolores Calicchio
9:16 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I sent letters to everyone, including Christie a couple weeks ago and have not heard from anyone. I also sent them to all the news stations and nothing. Called the Governor's office yesterday spoke to an aid who did not even understand the 50 percent rule on funding to lift.
We still can't get the Senate to approve funding! This is a disgrace.
John Eric Mangino
6:52 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
$51 billion effort to reconstruct Iraq has estimated that $6 billion to $8 billion of that amount was lost to waste, fraud and abuse. wonder how much there insurance went up ?
Bob Alou
12:33 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
My question is why were we there to begin with? There seems to be so much money for foreign aid but no money for us. They piss the money away anyway. I have an idea, take the foreign welfare budget and give it to the Sandy victims.
7:27 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I already started a facebook page - please jump on and click "Like." Strength in numbers. We need to get organized or at least have a meeting place.
Please post comments and information.
Paul Ryan
9:50 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
1 officer killed, 2 wounded near La. casino
Loading... Share No Thanks Must Read?Thank YouYes 8 Email Story Print By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, AP
17 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS — Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after allegedly setting fire to a mobile home in south Louisiana, where an elderly man's body was found.
A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings in Charenton, while two St. Mary Parish sheriff's deputies were critically wounded and taken to local hospitals, said Louisiana State Police Trooper Stephen Hammons.
Hammons said the officers were responding to a report of an armed man walking down a road near the Cypress Bayou Casino when Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48, of Charenton allegedly shot them.
"Thibodeaux fired at the Chitimacha Officer, fatally wounding him," state police said in a news release. "As two St. Mary Deputies, who were in the same car, arrived at the scene Thibodeaux fired multiple shots hitting the deputies. During the encounter, Thibodeaux was shot."
10:31 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
What are you talking about? This article is about flood elevations. Do you and all of your sign in personas drink a bit to much?
Bob Alou
10:02 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
The giant sucking sound you hear is the Middle Class exiting the Jersey Shore due to idiotic government regulations that were poorly thought out, along with a bit of back room collusion with the banks and insurance industry. But the priority that we have tacky, overpriced amusements for the bennies by this summer will make us all feel good.
Karen M
10:06 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Just read this article and it speaks volumes about Fema and why New Jersey is getting screwed over. It states in this article that the residents of New Orleans filed a class action lawsuit against Fema to stop them from trying to recoup money that Fema claims alleged hurricane Katrina, Rita and Wilma victims took knowing that the did so by fraudulent means. Interesting that they were able to file a class action lawsuit against Fema and actually have a judge agree with them. Fema employees made mistakes and expects these people to pay now for something that happened 7 years ago. So you can see how f "d' up this agency is. Read the article.
Karen M
11:37 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
TonySoprano_62 I followed in your footsteps and have created a facebook page for stafford twp residents to sound off and to maybe discuss some positive ways that we may find a solution out of this mess. Please spread the word and lets get the dialogue moving forward. http://www.facebook.com/StaffordTwpResidentsUnited
6:20 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
hey Karen, instead of making seperate fb pages, lets make one...we are all effected at the state level...so far i see one for stafford and toms river, lets keep the numbers volume together....and i too think a class action law suit is in order....
Karen M
1:36 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Not a problem. And yes we can present a class action lawsuit because it has already been done by victims of Katrina. In an earlier post I posted an article where the victims of Katrina were being forced to pay back money that was given to them in error by their own employees. They sued and a judge agreed that they didn't have to pay back the money, especially given the fact it was 6 years later. How do we begin. I for one am disgusted by this entire debacle. Fema is going to tell me that they've been working on these maps and that these changes were going to be implemented in 2013 regardless if Sandy had hit. So I am to believe that my home on the second to last lagoon in Village Harbor was going to change from an AE zone to a V zone because of the fact that I could be susceptible to a 3 foot wave and a house that is about 100 yards away is not? I for one would like to know how they came up with this conclusion if in fact they are saying that these map changes were put in place before the hurricane struck.
8:06 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
http://www.facebook.com/StopFemaNow. This is the one I chose to go with (i didnt create the page) simple , to the point and can involve any town in any state....even though its just New Jersey dealing with this for the most part ...like it ,share it,pass it on
Its over!
8:42 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The American Association of Justice compiles a list of the 10 worst insurance companies in the United States. These companies are not only using the "deny, delay, defend" tactic but they are known for their shameful treatment of policyholders.
1: Allstate
2: Unum
4: State Farm
5: Conseco
Its over!
8:45 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
For more than 65 years, the American Association for Justice, also known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA®), has supported plaintiff trial lawyers—as the collective voice of the trial bar on Capitol Hill and in courthouses across the nation and by providing exclusive services designed for trial lawyers.
9:02 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Here's a petition I found online ,we just need someone to create it and put in words our issues,someone with good journalism ,,that is not me :)
wrong doesn't make right
9:20 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I cant speak for everyone,But Just a observation ... nothing is being done in my neighborhood, have seen NO help at all to homes that where destroyed, It seem that C.Chistie is admit about getting Seaside back up & running... I get it, its a tourist site, which brings in $$, think about all the people that are year round residents, I bet within 3 years at least 30-40% of them will be moving, because their homes will still not be back to the way they where pre-storm,,,,,, within 5 years Seaside will become another AC that it will be all ghetto areas( not to far from it now) small business will never get back up & running & banks are going to take over all these homes that are going to get foreclosed on because whose paying a mortgage on a home that they cant even live in...??? Think of the larger picture the complete future NOT just the summer tourist...
Holiday City
12:28 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Well there are many other problems here also. I just moved to a rental in Toms River after losing my home to the bank. The entire process from start to finish took almost four years. with postponements, attorneys involved and a half azzed bankrupcy. The point I am making is if there is going to be many folk's walking away, considering the condition of most of these homes now. What in the world will they look like in three or four years if they just neglect them?
Karen M
2:24 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Yes, and is this going to create another housing crisis here in the state? What is this going to do to the adjacent properties surrounding all of these foreclosures and these homes being sold "as is" ? There are so many now springing up on Trullia and Zillow. There are more to come if he doesn't act soon.
wrong doesn't make right
9:24 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
did however see an enormous amount of money spent on the prez inauguration
Bob Alou
12:31 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Don't forget all the money blowing up buildings in Iraq and mountain tops in Afghanistan. The nation has squandered hundreds of billions of dollars and they say they don't have the money to help. BS.
11:43 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
In Shore Acres this AM and FEMA is doing house to house visits. They have credentials, are taking photos and reviewing the water height reached in each specific area. This is a section that was an AE and now a V. Not to bring up any political BS but maybe Christie called a bluff and is getting the reaction he expected from our strong commitment knowing we do not fall easy. Before his address to take on these maps all we heard was rumors and seen not much at all. FEMA is now the one that has to back up their claims and reasons for changes as now we take on their codes to comply.
12:32 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Free Time- maybe you should start an insurance company specializing in flood insurance... and for your first order of business: how you would go about gauging and assessing risk, so as to make your insured hold on claims and at the same time not bankrupt your insurance group. Your telling me: here I(the insured) comes and tells FEMA, I don't agree with your risk assessment as it pertains to the increased premium. Now if there was a market for this type of insurance you could look for a lower premium...but there isn't!
Currently FEMA is in the red, meaning that if it was a private insurance company, it would be bankrupt. If you had a choice: would you put your money(take out a flood policy) with a company that has to borrow money because it has under rated risk or/and allowed higher claims causing negative equity(bankruptcy)? Flood insurance is a high risk casino game...that's why no private insurance company will touch it with a ten foot pole.
Missing Brick
2:27 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The real crazy thing was, why did they let the homeowners folks separate out flood and natural disasters in the first place?
Those policies collect money forever and quite often never have a single claim put against them, and show themselves to be QUITE profitable. Even if something does happen, they have more loopholes than Six Flags and they depreciate the heck out of everything.
If you offer insurance on something, like a HOME, you should be forced to insure that home against ANYTHING that happens to it. Yes, this midwest pays for some floods, and maybe we pay for some fires in CA, and perhaps a giant earthquake effects rates across the nation, but at least it doesn't stick the insured with the very bill they were paying to avoid. How about some fairness in this insurance scam?!?
Karen M
2:37 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Spooner, did you also realize that after Katrina that they paid out over $ 385 million dollars in error. They tried in 2011 to recoup the money, but they are out of luck. I can see why they are having issues, because the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. When you leave the patients to run the asylum this is what happens.
2:48 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
...so where's your syndicate 'Missing Brick'...File with the state insurance dept and start writing flood insurance, along with property and causality, and your group could collect all that money, and either reduce premiums or add dividends to share owners...
Missing Brick
2:55 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
It can't be done because the government already let the big guys out of their responsibilities.
Instead of creating the useless FEMA gov organization, that seems more likely to destroy neighborhoods than save them, they should have simply created laws that keep the insurance companies from squirreling out of the very service they claim to provide. If they can force us to BUY the insurance to get the mortgage, they can certainly force the companies to honor the insurance if they want to.
The insurance co's don't have the money when it all goes wrong? Well, neither do I...that's why I purchased the damn insurance in the first place! FEMA has been absolutely NO solution to this problem. Not after Katrina and not for us.
10:43 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Missing Brick- I mean you got to be kidding: "useless FEMA" and...keep insurance companies from squirreling out the services they claim to provide. . .they don't provide the flood insurance service...the gov't does! They are agents for the government. Now maybe you want to rewrite the 1968 Act and create a whopping bureaucracy made up of local government insurance offices and agents? Obama would love you.
10:56 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Karen- I read your your link and others regarding paying back FEMA from Katrina & Rita claims I believe. But you have to add the political component...remember "brownie" That was a political embarrassment to say the least for the Bush administration, causing the West wing to go into damage control. FEMA was in the red, meaning they were financing expenditures after things got back to some semblance...Now(2010-Tea Party) with the focus on deficit reduction, you saw the attempt to go after that money, along with extending the program(Biggert-Waters Flood Act)
Missing Brick
10:58 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
No Spooner...I want to go the OTHER direction.
Instead of FEMA taking over (poorly) what the private industry could do...make the private companies live up to their commitments. I have not received cent one from my HomeOwners or Flood Insurers and they sure know how to cash a check fast.
Yes, flood is backed by the government, but my adjuster hasn't even processed my claim (Selective Flood) and then I have another level of wait while the government reviews her work I suppose
...but if they can change the act to penalize the homeowners who have been paying all along, why can't they put the burden back on the insurance companies? History is being re-written here obviously as never before have hundreds of thousands of homeowners been asked to pick up the tab to raise their homes??? At least not in my adult life.
Is it because the insurance companies have lobbyists and apply pressure to squirrel out of their obligations? Is it because of global warming and rising tides? Is it because of actuarial mistakes in just how much risk is involved. I don't know, but it is fishy that they are pushing this all through right now!
BTW, I still am not sure why Obama is being brought into this? He may have signed Biggerts Water, but the act was sponsored by republicans as our Governor is a republican. It is about the system not the parties. That's a red herring in what's happening here, both sides sold us out.
Chief Wahoo
1:10 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
In the crosshairs, the Fed.
If the stored value of money as the world's medium of exchange for labor and saleable goods could not be changed at will by the central banks, then the bankers would not now have complete and unquestioned control over each man's possessions, liberty and economic destiny. In short, the money power would not now be entrenched as the undisputed ruler of the world.
The power to designate the value of money as "what we say it is" is the power to shortchange the world's people of their wealth, and worse, their freedom and justice.
If we continue to discuss how to tweak this economic model rather than how to destroy it, we are only hastening the day when no tweaking will be necessary because we will not be free to suggest changes.
Money as an artificial wealth, as a convenience of exchange invented by man for barter, ought to be stable in its value as property, else, as is happening now, it becomes a weapon in the hands of those who control and wield it.
This endless string of economic crises and injustices would never have been possible if the definition of coining money had been followed as anticipated by the Founders of America.
Chief Wahoo
1:10 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Had every State a right to regulate the value of its coin, there might be as many different currencies as States, and thus the intercourse among them would be impeded; retrospective alterations in its value might be made, and thus the citizens of other States be injured, and animosities be kindled among the States themselves. The subjects of foreign powers might suffer from the same cause and hence the Union would be discredited and embroiled by the indiscretion of a single member.
Had not banker-bought congressmen clandestinely moved the Fed creation through Congress in late 1913 and had not a banker-bought president signed it, the government of this nation would no longer be in the hands of the international bankers. And Anonymous would not have to be performing Congress's job.
peter festa
1:36 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
1:37 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Daniel if you are keeping an eye on this article it has morphed into something other than the stated article, I know it might be healthy to give people a place to vent but as usual it's the same old gang spinning all kinds of conspiracies and BS, I think is past time to close it down!
John Eric Mangino
11:15 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Who elected you the moderator, People lives are being turned upside down there footing sweep away by Sandy and once back on land they find there own government creating a second worst storm . I say dont pay your taxes dont pay your your insurance dont pay your property taxs, till this is all put on hold and a fair and legitimate plan is put in place . Why one insurance companies fronting for the Government are not paying . Two then list your house for One Million dollars every house effected list your home for one million dollars . We will collapse the Market and they will have no other choice but to ACT . Every one effected by Sandy list your homes for one million dollars . Those worth more than one million list them for 10 million . Reason cost and effect you just had a huge lose and need to make it up Exactly the reasoning behind the 1000 percent Insurance premium rate changes If you do this you will see action and action fast . List your homes for one million dollars .
Missing Brick
11:22 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
John: funny but I had the thought of asking the home owners association in my neighborhood to ask every effected property to put themselves up for sale.
It might do nothing actually, but it might also get some media attention as a protest of sorts.
The biggest problem is the disparate needs of thousands of home owners in respect to the one need of FEMA ...to pass the expense of floods to us...the insured.
Chief Wahoo
11:35 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I like your style. Hope you are able to do a better job than Chief Wahoo , at waking the sheep up from their slumber.
Property tax revolt + strategic default = Free
Debt = Slavery
peter festa
1:46 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
1:55 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Hey Free Time , you may be on to something, send them my way,i got some footages for them to measure
1:56 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Important information from the Toms River meeting yesterday. I met with the Engineering Department because I needed clarity on the fact that although my insurance settlement is just over 50% of my land improvement value or the house only value on my 2012 taxes my insurance company did not declare my house as substantially damaged. The reason being is the estimated total cost to rebuild my house is hig...her than that of the assessment value from the township putting me under 50% according to my flood insurance carrier. Therefore I would not be eligible for the 30K or so I thought. They said, "As long as you have a letter from us saying you are substantially damaged you qualify for the ICC monies." I just didn't want to get caught in the middle. I would like to verify this from another source to be sure. This is extremely important to many.
2:07 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Spooner,The sarcasm always helps in understanding a point! We all have different situations with what we are left with. In Shore Acres there are many slab houses that should have been dozed over long ago with flooding every year (high risk). Some of the new homes on grade beam/piling have a different fight as many did not reach the 50% (lower risk) and most have the mortages on these higher valued homes (mandatory insurance). This leaves us with the entire cost to comply along with the original higher investment than the older dwellings on slabs. I do agree the height needs to be changed but as for the zoning, not too convinced. The FEMA550 foundation plan along with our zones can mean either a minimal cost or the higher 70k plus cost to move the house, demo foundation and re pile. It has to be done smart to what the requirements are and some may be able to column on their grade beam/pile existing construction. Our town/s have to become more educated in what can be done as a first step and the second being to work with certified contractors. The houses at the end of Drun Point were not blown off their foundations by waves. The walls damage by debris, most likely. These homes though some very nice were added onto, patched up time and time again. The newer, on grade beam or 100% pile houses are for the most part being lived in now. So for my family, insurance costs and investment I want to lower my risk while staying in my neighborhood.
3:07 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The problem regarding wave velocity is that it existed west of the barrier islands the night of Oct 29th. When the winds shifted I"m told from NE to E, the surge came in over the barrier islands and waves in Barnegat Bay that were blowing southward, shift westerly right into the mainland...combining with the surge and later that evening the astronomical tides. But to say that waves of 3-6+ ft(combined) weren't present in Brick pegs the question. And I believe that debris damage caused by wave action(velocity) cannot be ignored and must be separated.
Christina Weaver
6:41 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I am of the same mind Free Time. Before a house can be lifted, it has to be fortified so the house stays firm during the actual lifting, that is, so the act of lifting the house doesn't cause the house to buckle: steel beams along the perimeter of the house, for example. Then another thing to consider during the sinking of the pilings is the damage caused to the house by having the enormous reverberations so close to the it. Lastly, IF flood waters actually surround the house, what's the effect of waters swirling around those sunken pilings? Should a flying buttress be included in order to shield everything else? I have zero confidence that FEMA did anything more than paint broad strokes when creating this new map. I am not on a lagoon but am across the street from one.Does anyone know if FEMA was on Alameda Dr at the intersection of Granada looking at flood water marks on houses today, Sunday Jan 27th?
2:29 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
So does anyone have a timeline for let's say a few thousand homes just here in Toms River to be raised? Timeline, as far as how long it would take contractors to actualy finish the job of raising all of these homes? I was told yesterday, year's AND years.
Missing Brick
2:37 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The home mover I spoke to said "decades" for that amount of work with everyone in that business down on through VA working 365.
Don't forget the dozens of fly-by-night companies that will appear and use your home as a guinea pig while they learn their craft. Lots of repair work afterwards. Don't forget the hundreds of homes that can not be done and must be torn down. Then there also homes (like mine) where it can be done but there is no where to put the house while you extend the pilings. Front yard is not big enough and back yard is a lagoon. What then?
Unless something changes, the neighborhoods we know and love around the shore will be destroyed.
6:51 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
YES, You are correct, at this time there is no solid design for the use of Helica's in the V ZONE. Keep your eyes open we are working on one that should be approved and accepted to conform with FEMA and your local Township's within a month or so (I have my fingers crossed).
peter festa
2:39 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The businesses get help first because they create new money for the state well the houses are second in line but they are also important for TAX revenue.
Its over!
4:08 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
YEAH OK I'll raise my house. After they pull me out of it dead, they can do whatever they like with it. F that!
4:52 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
If one were to think that New Jersey(especially the shore region),had a high foreclosure rate before, just wait and see what happens when homes that have already been severely devalued , take another sharp spike downward. Short sale is about to take on a new meaning. Why the local "leaders" aren't jumping up and down is beyond me. Whatever that little reserve that is budgeted for uncollected taxes is; DOUBLE it. People-- often not by their own choice-- are going to be walking away in droves.
Karen M
6:11 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I have gone onto the Fema website and I have pulled info with regards to appealing their designationof a V zone. I would have to hire a surveyor to prove that a scientific or mathematical error was made in regards to the elevation. Any resident can appeal you just need to show proof. It may be worth it for neighbors to come together and jointly hire a surveyor to give them an elevation that may dispute Fema's findings.
67.5 Right of appeal.
(a) Any owner or lessee of real property,
within a community where a proposed
flood elevation determination
has been made pursuant to section 1363
of the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968, as amended, who believes his
property rights to be adversely affected
by the Administrator's proposed determination,
may file a written appeal of
such determination with the CEO, or
such agency as he shall publicly designate,
within ninety days of the second
newspaper publication of the Administrator's
proposed determination
6:19 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Meanwhile it probably took a team of their best interns 15 minutes, and a box of crayons to add 3 to 5 feet to the old maps and named them ABFE
6:51 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Ok interns ,stay between the lines ,don't touch New York or Delaware ....
8:22 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
@Karen-Lets hope that appeal is nothing like the current appeals so many people are waiting for.
10:34 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Karen, you are correct. The first thing that must be done, if you intend to attempt to appeal, is get a surveyor in to get your elevations. Please, DO NOT just accept what was used as base elevations (existing ground topography) for the new advisory maps. That info used was very old for ocean county, and existing dwellings were not considered on the model run, and if included, would most likely reduce the penetration that the new V zone goes inland.
Karen M
6:24 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Also the community, such as Stafford Twp has every right to appeal the flood maps. It clearly states that in the appeal process that a community is entitled to appeal Fema's recommendations, but they do have to show scientific and technical data. They would have to pay for a study on their own to discount Fema's findings and I highly doubt they would do that. However, Christie could most definitely could have appealed those findings. Before rushing to judgement, he should have looked at the scope of what he was about to do and how this was going to financially impact so many people. He's quick to say that it will take some time before the shore is restored, yet I question his motives. Is his rush to judgement based upon the fact that NJ will lose out on valuable tourist dollars? Is that how he weighed his decision to just go ahead and adopt these flood maps? Not sure of the motives here, but I'm guessing he played the wrong hand, because you already see what is happening with the real estate market. People will walk away and what's left will be a ghost town.
10:36 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
I think that some people who are commenting don't understand there are companies and entrepreneurs out there waiting to scoop up your houses for fire-sale prices. They will fix them up and make large profits as they sell them.
6:51 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Just so sick of this crap, ready to walk away, even though we have started getting the house back in order, another 3 weeks then should be done. Then what happens? yep, ready to walk away........
Bill Cooper
10:35 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Barbara, I am with you. I think there could be 100's if not 1000's of homeowners thru out the state that are going to walk away. I owe $160,000 on a 600 sq. ft. condo and don't think I could afford to putt $100,000 or more into raising and repairing the storm damage. This is just crazy.
8:43 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
There is such a disconnect with the news media and we have to change this. Has everyone already forgotten? I tried to find christie's 3pm announcement the other day on tv but never did. Couldn't find updates on app.com either. Only place I found something was here on the patch. Over the next few days following the announcement I figured we would start hearing stuff at a larger level but NOTHING. Friends in other counties of NJ having no idea what was becoming our reality. On app.com Saturday one of their top stories to click on was how "Snookie said childbirth was not painful"???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
peter festa
10:08 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Brooke you will never see anything published in the newspaper or on TVCBS NBC OR ABC on any republican this has been going on since 2008. enough said??????
Bill Cooper
10:40 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
We in the affected counties should stop paying our taxes and let the counties place liens on the properties and if they want these damaged homes that they can do nothing with they can have them. No tax base = nothing but ghost towns.
10:30 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Why didn't you just go down to the town or Borough Hall and fill out the paperwork for a re-assessment? You would then be paying taxes on what your home is actually worth after Storm Sandy. I sure wouldn't want to be paying pre-Sandy taxes, if my home was severely damaged.
7:57 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
@Laura, the deadlne for Sandy assessments is over, but it was only a temporary ( band aid) anyway. The municipality was going to bring you back to their assessed after repairs, anyway. The real answer to the town fathers (see: Lacey) and governor, is to appeal your taxes based on the true fair market value of the property required by LAW. And, all this time we thought you were fighting for us and not just a vote. Liars. . Get yourself a good appraisal factoring in the magnificent devaluation of your property due to the government selling you out at every level. The assessment is a sham anyway. Even before the storm, property owners were being taken. Thanks for nothing Mssrs. Most, Christie and Obama.
Danny FIsher
10:44 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
60 TO 80 grand was the estimated we got to raise and shore up the foundation for my home. Not gonna happen , no way, no how and to boot the wait is about a year for this group to do it. My home is a frekin mess and needs tons of work inside. I already owe more then the thing is worth. I called our mortgage company a few weeks ago cause we got a few dollars to start work. They could care less, they want me to put it back in shape and not walk, abandon or whatever. Guess what, we are putting it back exactly the way it was. Down the road if all of this nonsense comes to fruition, we will let the bank have this mess. As from what I hear and been told it will be years for them to get my home and at that point they can have it! Also how can I sell this hot mess right now, Its three quarters destroyed, lost half of its value at least. Forget it.
John Eric Mangino
11:34 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
List it for a Million Dollars dont pay your mortgage and when all these banks have to come up with the extra tax money and the extra flood insurance I thing something magical will happen . Dont walk away folk list your homes for a Million Dollars and stop paying everything . Its the smartest thing you can do if the Government can do it why cant we.
Chief Wahoo
11:23 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Property taxes are due this Friday , February 1..... Do not be late !!!!!!! How else would our great public leaders pay their bills without our money. That's why they use the threat of force , that what takers do.
John Eric Mangino
11:43 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
What the worst part of all this schools teachers fireman dpw workers police secretares etc Not only effected as well as everyone else Face unemployment city services will be cut . These unions need to get involved and start lobbying now in Washington because lets face it you will never get even with tax increases meet the payrolls . And lets face it every elected official in every county that doesn't fight this well you where in government service I would start looking for you golden parachutes now because lets face it you not getting reelected . Heros to Zero in one swift signing of a Flood agencys policy.
Lincoln Osiris
12:23 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Mr Mangina, It certainly seems you are very passionate about this and your heart is in the right place. If you want to go headhunting local officials I suggest starting with your mayor. He has lied to every citizen for years about being a SEAL, and serving in Vietnam for many years and continues to do so (he did neither). He has lied about his supposed cancer for years and continues to do so. Ask him how his "numbers" are next time you see him. He voted for massive bonding debt for many years as a councilman and then as mayor while telling everyone he is fiscally responsible. He doesn't have an honest bone in his body. He only tells you what you want to hear, as a true con-man does. Do thw words "I'm just like you" or "We share the same passion" ring a bell?? He is lying to you every time he speaks to you. If you think he is going to stand up to anyone you are sadly mistaken. He is a true coward, and will gladly let others fight his battle for him because he has no spine to do so. I'm sure you don't want to believe me but ask yourself one question... why do all his former council members, those formerly closest to him, and most of his own family want nothing to do with him??? Think about it.
John Eric Mangino
9:14 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
I dont know about any that and my dealing with him he has come threw 100 percent so I have no basis . The Mayors in ocean county all need to relise one thing ,If this is allowed to continue there all looking a defaulting municipalities, Regardless
of whos in office . This is a State Federal level mess . They may get threw this year but next year ? Wheres there taxs coming from Banks? Local leaders are being held ransom by the Federal Government they cant fight it because they all need the fema money .Still I dont hold anyones hand you live up to word after shaking my hand is enough for me . I sat threw the Governors meeting he shook my hand and guess what he did the biggest 360 ive ever seen . Almost as read my lips......
he told some 800 people he would decide a fair and Just Flood plan Guess what he did nothing . Bashing local government isnt the answer . The answer is getting the message to Washington . We wont be hel Hostage to Profiteering we are not the answer to funding the current war rebuilding other countries until we rebuild our own .
Lincoln Osiris
11:25 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Fair enough Mr Mangino, there is enough blame to go around. What I am trying to make you realize is this mayor is not an honest person by any definition. Please don't be an apologist for him. It will only damage your own credibility. In the near future you will see him make Sandy the scapegoat and excuse for all of this towns problems because nothing could ever be his fault (in his mind). The truth is that years of mismanagement and bad decisions are the root cause of most problems here and he was part of that for a long long time. The massive water and sewer hikes on the near future are merely one prime example. If you are disappointed in the governors 360, be prepared to be very let down by the mayor. All I'm saying is don't get sucked into his lies and become yet another victim of his by helping to spread his lies. Like i said before he told everyone on his campaign handouts and even on the town website that he fought in Vietnam and was a navy diver/SEAL. He only changed it recently because he was caught in the lie. If he continued to lie about something from 40 years ago do you think for one second he wouldnt lie to cover his butt in the present? Once a liar always a liar.
6:54 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Missing Brick, YES, You are correct, at this time there is no solid design for the use of Helica's in the V ZONE. Keep your eyes open we are working on one that should be approved and accepted to conform with FEMA and your local Township's within a month or so (I have my fingers crossed).
1:49 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
We may have to face the stark reality we will be required and that it is in our best interest to raise our homes. We cannot brush aside the fact this did happen, we were impacted and it could happen again. That being said we are a major part of the present and future tax base of our municipalities. The enforcement of the new ABFE'S to the letter will no doubt place emotional and financial strai...ns on all of us. I am calling on the elected officials of the affected municipalities or counties to put forth a proposal for the issuance of a "Bond" to cover any out of pocket expenses incurred by its citizens/homeowners in the effort to comply with the newly established elevations. These funds will be distributed after all other insurance and grant options have been exhausted. No one should have to get a loan or dig into their child's college fund. Many residents in these communities have little or no equity in their homes and may even be in an upside down situation. Why would they add another thirty to seventy thousand dollars on top of it? The argument for walking away is a strong one under these circumstances. We want to stay and it is in the best interest of all parties involved that we do. Help us stay.
John Eric Mangino
2:54 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Not only that whos going to give you a loan now ..
Karen M
4:18 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
But Tonysoprano_62 didn't you hear the naysayers who say that its not the governments responsibility to bail us out. I say, if they are going to change the game halfway through then they need to pay for those changes. They are forcing us and I mean forcing us to comply with the elevating our house, so why shouldn't they pay.
Eric Sauder
4:49 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I don't know where you live Soprano but it may not neccessarily be in the best interests of muncipalities to help out. I mean if you sell your property whoever buys it will pay the property tax. The municipality won't miss a beat. And if it's sold as a vacation property all the better. They will only have to provide services 3 months out of the year. A developer will make money off it, a realtor will make money off of it, the municiplaity will make money off of it, but you, alas, will lose your innvestment. This is a win win for everyone involved but the propety owner.
Karen M
2:56 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Just saw this article, I guess we are all doomed for sure. Make sure you all read it if you haven't already. It pertains to rebuilding.
3:20 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
the co. that helped us was advance home improvement llc
they will help with the lift also
they are from neptune nj
give them a try
4:09 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Isn't there an attorney out there that wants to organize a class action suit?
Paul Ryans a tool
7:30 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
proud your a republicon sue for what?
Fema is immoral
S. Bar
12:01 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Sue FEMA for telling me my house was 1 foot above the advised elevation 4 years ago and now saying that was inaccurate and even though I had no damage inside I have to raise my house 2 feet or pay crazy high rates I can't afford. I relied on them for their expertise in this. Prior to making an offer I looked into flood insurance and it fit my budget. NOW they say the maps were not up to date so I'm getting punished?
Karen M
4:14 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I actually contacted the attorney who filed the class action lawsuit against Fema on behalf of Katrina victims. She couldn't necessarily help me but she did give me advice on how to proceed. She told me to contact Seton hall Law School as well as Fordham. She said you can also contact the NJ Bar Association for help. I heard back from Mark Di ionno and hopefully he will write a story about this in the Star Ledger. I will keep at him. Call these people. Keep calling every day until they get sick of hearing from you.
Senator Menendez 202-224-4744 http://menendez.senate.gov/contact/
Senator Lautenberg 202-224-3224 http://lautenberg.senate.gov/
Governor Christie 609-292-6000 http://nj.gov/governor/
Congressman Runyan 202-225-4765 runyan.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Congressman Smith 202-225-3765 http://chrissmith.house.gov/contact/
4:20 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
none of you crackers is dark enough for the federal government to give a damn about
Bob Alou
4:23 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Don't forget Paul Mulshine of the Star Ledger. Che also has blog on NJ.com. He lives in Bay Head too
6:08 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
A little what if scenario. lets say a property owner is two inches below the ABFE, and elevates the building because he or she is scared after being strongarmed by FEMA and Christie, with the threat of unaffordable insurance rates, or the possibility that the property would lose any equity it may have in it. So the owner invests a boat load of money to adhere to the advised level which really amounts to nothing, as Fema has described the high hazard areas as wave action regions. Then in two years-- or however long it takes to get their act together-- FEMA decides that this property on the fringe of the zone will have it's zone adjusted down one foot This property owner has just wasted their hard money to appease a bunch of beaurocrats that cant figure out if the preliminary maps that they have spent millions on are accurate in the first place. Thanks Governor for tagging on to this. You just sold out the people who believe in you.Go to Washington where you really want to be and belong.
The following excerpt from this article supports my suggestions herein:
{"FEMA has maintained since introducing the new maps that while they are advisory, they are expected to be very similar to those adopted as the new insurance maps. FEMA officials have stated publicly that while the flood maps could go down in some areas, they will not increase."}
Karen M
10:01 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
This is why I am not rushing to run and spend money I don't have just for that very reason. Lets face it, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. So, why then, should everybody rush to raise their homes based upon advisory maps when they in fact say that they may be adjusted? Wouldn't they rather get it right then have people spend their hard earned money for nothing? My new term that I've come up with what their doing is" legal blackmail". They want to force you into making a decision in haste so has to help them out because they don't want to pay out any more Fema aid. I get it, but in their rush to judgement, wouldn't they want to first make sure that what they are telling New jersey Shore residents, si in fact correct, and not a guessestimate. We need a finalized map, not one based upon what they think it might be. I for one am looking into what the cost would be to get a survey done so that I can better decide my course of action and this way I can appeal Fema's decision to change my flood zone from an AE to a V, which be the way is completely bogus.
Paul Ryans a tool
7:28 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Proud aka Frank the retired school teacher loves and voted for Gov Christie along with mitt who said fema is immoral
Lee Garrett
8:20 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Here is the reality as I see it. My house was 2.8 feet above base flood elevation prior to Sandy. I put in flood vents when I purchased my home to lower my flood insurance rates to an affordable level. Now post Sandy with the new elevation map my home is 0.2 feet below the new ABFE. During Sandy my garage, which was 0.5 feet below the pre-Sandy BFE did flood with about 20 inches of water. So I had some personal property loss for which I will be lucky to see a few cents on the dollar. However if I do not raise my home my monthly mortgage payment will likely more than double, With my flood premium increasing somewhere between 15 and 65 times what I am currently paying. Best case if I raise my house according to the article I will see an increase of roughly 8 times my current rate.
The real disaster was not Sandy it is the new flood map. What Sandy did not take the new map will. Several of my neighbors who have lived in my town for many years and owe very little on their homes are tearing them down and do not plan to rebuild. So my home which was essentially undamaged by the storm will be one of a few left on my block.
When the housing bubble burst my home lost significant value but I could afford it so I stayed because I bought it to live in. However this new flood map and the potential increase in in the flood rates will probably force me to walk away.
S. Bar
11:53 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Fema was working on changing the maps prior to Sandy. I say class-action law suit. I just purchased my home a few years ago and prior to buying trusted FEMA and their maps. My house was 1 foot over advised elevation. I checked to be sure I could afford my flood insurance and moved forward. Now FEMA says they maps and advised elevation were not accurate and I need to raise my house 4 feet to pay $3,500/year. Since I did not get water in my house I don't qualify for any grants. I live in a small ranch, not on the water and can't afford to raise, pay $31,000 or even half of that in insurance and certainly can't sell. FEMA is the one who put my in this situation.
I trusted them and their "expertise" prior to making an offer on my home....I say we all sue.
Lee Garrett
8:46 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Just to clarify my previous comment regarding walking away from my mortgage, there are several opptions. I can try to sell, however if I don't raise the house the value is seriously degraded. If I do raise it my property value still decreases by some indeterminate amount due to the increase in the flood insurance rates. In that situation I could not pay off my mortgage with the proceeds of the sale. That situation is called a short sale and I would have to have bank and VA concurrance to complete the sale. I would most likely not owe the difference between the reduced amount and my mortgage value. However I would have to claim this "loss" as income and pay income tax on it. Given the number of people in this boat I am reasonably certain that a short sale in this climate would result in very significant increased "income". To be clear this "income" really represents significant loss all the way around would have significant tax liability. So as much as I would hate to, walking away makes the most sense.
I am not sure that Governor Christy or any of the politicians involved have thought this through thoroughly. People like me qualify for nothing because we are insured and we sustained relatively little or no damage from the storm. However the political aftermath will destroy us.
Lee Garrett
8:46 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Just to clarify my previous comment regarding walking away from my mortgage, there are several opptions. I can try to sell, however if I don't raise the house the value is seriously degraded. If I do raise it my property value still decreases by some indeterminate amount due to the increase in the flood insurance rates. In that situation I could not pay off my mortgage with the proceeds of the sale. That situation is called a short sale and I would have to have bank and VA concurrance to complete the sale. I would most likely not owe the difference between the reduced amount and my mortgage value. However I would have to claim this "loss" as income and pay income tax on it. Given the number of people in this boat I am reasonably certain that a short sale in this climate would result in very significant increased "income". To be clear this "income" really represents significant loss all the way around would have significant tax liability. So as much as I would hate to, walking away makes the most sense.
I am not sure that Governor Christy or any of the politicians involved have thought this through thoroughly. People like me qualify for nothing because we are insured and we sustained relatively little or no damage from the storm. However the political aftermath will destroy us.
9:54 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
ok, here's a question. My in-laws, elderly, in seaside heights. House is paid off, they had no flood ins. Have always paid their taxes on time. They do have money to repair. Their foundation is good, just need to renovate inside of home. If they renovate without raising (they considered V zone) and don't pay the 31,000 flood insurance, what happens? does the town take the house away? the gov't? they ready to walk away, just curious. will try to make some calls and get answers today, but will probably get the run around.
Karen M
11:26 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Barbara, I own my home at the shore, and we do have flood insurance and unfortunately, they lumped us into V zone. After I get my elevation certificate done I am going to challenge Fema's findings. I am going to appeal the V zone designation. You are entitled to do that. I spoke with my surveyor's office today and she said I just need to present my elevation certificate as evidence to dispute the V zone. I don't have extra income without the insurance in order to fix my home in the event that something does happen again. I wouldn't mind raising my home on a block foundation, but to have to go up on pilings, which is far more costlier, is just ridiculous. Especially, given the fact that I am the second to last lagoon in Village Harbor. Makes no sense whatsoever. But, if you own your home outright, you don't need insurance, unless you go for a home equity loan, then you have to have or else you won't get the loan.
12:01 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
If they have no insurance, they can do whatever they please. Only downside would be that if another storm were to occur, they would be disqualified for any FEMA aid. As long as they are current on property taxes, the town can't do a thing to them.
12:25 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Why am I in a 'V' zone...because water from waves compound flooding, causing more damage by carrying debris up against structures for one, and two: they exert greater pressure(force) on the structures they impact. Most likely your live near the bay. And remember these maps are just what they say: "advisory" They will need to be examined by experts from various localities to dispute and question FEMA's advisory elevations. Now to make a "blanket" statement: if your home was flooded, where it's not livable, wouldn't it make sense to attempt to raise the home and not go thru that again?
10:04 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
My impression is that they do not have to get flood insurance.
Karen M
1:38 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Yes, if there is no mortgage on the property, then they are not required to carry it. the mortgage companies are the ones that require flood insurance. @Spooner, my home was flooded 12" inches and if I had to raise my home, I would do so to the standards of an AE zone plus the 2 feet suggested by Christie. The difference between raising in an AE and a V zone is a big deal, because if you're in a V zone, you cannot go up on a block foundation, you can only do pilings or cement columns. The cost is more, and the necessary work involved to do pilings is much more extensive. This is why people are getting outrageous estimates. This is why because of my location and the fact that the lagoon one street over from me didn't see a drop of water, I am appealing. I don't want to spend a crazy amount of money to raise my home, especially given the fact of where its located. Now if I were on the barrier island that would be a different story. And by the way, has anyone seen those maps because they are a joke. I will post the links so everyone can take a look just how ridiculous the zone designations are. If you punch up the map on a close up you will see Bruce drive and its the last street visible on the map. What a joke. To see the designations for A-V click on the details tab on the left hand side and you can use the button there to get a closer view.
4:46 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Karen M- did you read this: "The resulting elevations were grouped into zones with similar values for cartographic presentation. The ABFE procedure does not account for wave attenuation due to dense vegetation, buildings, or other obstructions. Nor does it account for wave growth and regeneration across flooded upland areas... The final flood elevations on the revised FIRMs may differ from the ABFEs; however, flood elevations are expected to be comparable. Until detailed analyses are completed, the ABFEs are considered the best available data...
That's why towns need to review these map advisories...
Lee Garrett
11:56 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Barbara your in-laws situation is a code official question. If they have to secure permits they may not be able to without a plan to raise the home depending on local code requirements. If they own the property outright they do not need flood insurance unless they took money from FEMA. If they did that money had as a condition a requirement to secure flood insurance. As long as they can get the permits required to make their repairs, they have no mortgage, they took no money from FEMA, and don't need a mortgage for any other reason no one can make them buy flood insurance. As long as they pay their property taxes and any other municipal assesments no one can take the property without compensation.
1:20 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
i am a new residenent to brick and i am disguted by the way this mayor has not cared a damn about his people. for years i fought for my dream of owming the the water. a small little bungalow is all i needed. after taking a home equity and my permanent home i thought i had finally achieved it and brick was my new home. a month after signing i was hit with sandy! no time for flood to take effect and there for no coverage. i have always admired christie but this is shit! we are not a 'v' zone! we are no where in danger of 3 ft waves! u are killing the middle class! the ones that keep this country going! i cannot rebuild up to new fema codes since i did not get any help from fema or flood. how am i now suppose to elevate my house? i already have to repair and rebuild out of pocket!! and i wont be able to affors flood ins now! and im left with a mortage that i cant just walk away from since i would loose my main home> so thank you mayor for not helping and fighting for the people you are suppose to represent and care about! i see a local resident fighting and caring for the township of brick (thank you ron!!!!) than this sorry ass mayor! with out a doubt i will b voting in the near future in brick and this mayor and our governor have lost my vote. to all suffering in all of the jersey shore stay strong and god bless!!
Karen M
1:52 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Linda, if you have no insurance and no Fema you can call Ameriacorps they will come and help you. They are a non-profit organiztion in the US. You can call them and make an appointment with them and they will com out to your home to help you. 609-508-2189
5:13 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
hi linda,
im in the "exact" same boat as you....also, took out a home equity...no flood, second
home my blue collar husband worked very hard for, no fema. im not complaining about
having to do the repairs ourselves but the thought of putting "more money" into a
home not worth 1/2 the cost....Unbelievable! was thinking of renting it for some income to one day be able to rebuild...what are your thoughts? of course the sacrifice is not
getting to enjoy of course.
4:25 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
barbara- I agree with you when you cite particulars. Yes 88yrs old would be an issue. There are people that I know up in that age bracket, who are going through that right now. On one hand they don't have a mortgage, so will not be forced to pay higher flood insurance...but on the other hand if another storm like Sandy occurs, they will have to bear the full cost or walk away. The other issue is when they or their family goes to sell, raising dwelling will be taken into consideration by the buyers...Kind of a "catch22" As I said: these and other issues will have to be discussed and adjudicated when these map proposals come up for review.
2:47 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Getting too old for this shit........seriously, thought retirement years were coming soon, not..........sad, loved that house, so far looking good with renovations and all but cannot afford to raise it and pay that outrageous flood ins. my kids rent this house, well, time to walk............
2:53 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
thanks karen, got alot on my mind with the toms river house i rent to my kids, who are now with me in retirement village, almost done with renovations, but no way can i afford to raise that home and pay that flood ins. now pay 1200 a year. time to walk. we in the A zone. my in laws on the other hand, elderly, saved all their life for mortgage free home, was worth about $750,000 now, nothing. They too old dont want to deal with it and want to walk away....so friggin sad. just got off the phone with the councilman from Seaside where they live. their home is structurally sound, but if they dont pay to raise and pay flood ins, the screwed. oh God, help Us!!! not to mention my daughter and granddaughter here also cant get back into seaside yet. this is a friggin nightmare....so there go me and hubbys plans to sell the t.r. house next year and get a condo in fla and become snowbirds. Yea, life is a bitch. We not raising our t.r. house, the bank can take it or hopefully we can selll the land. shame, cause past few months alot of work went back into getting it in order......ugh
Karen M
9:12 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
You need to really investigate that because if you have no mortgage on a home you are not required to have flood insurance. The only way the town could require that is if the entire structure had to be demolished and rebuilt, then you would have to comply with the new building standards. But our house is paid off and if we can't get our zone changed, I will not carry flood ins. Can't afford it. I would rather put that money into an account and in the event somehting happens it'll be there. I was told if my house is paid for they cannot force me to have flood ins. They can make you raise because of the 50% damage, but I would get an elevation certificate and challenge the zone change. its a lot less expensive to raise on block than pilings. But don't rush into anything just yet because I think things will change, too many people making noise.
3:06 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thanks Lee, just got off the phone with councilman Vaz from seaside, he called me right back. The $ they got from FEMA wont even cover the flood ins premium. such a frigging mess. so sad, they worked so hard, home was worth at least $750,000 now nothing........they too old to go thru this and want to walk........breaks my heart. not to mention i also have big problems with toms river house we own and was destroyed. almost done renovating, but for what? hope someone comes along and makes us an offer.
George Kasimos
1:48 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Dear Press, Public Officials and Flood Insurance Property Owners:
What we want are our Politicians to change;
1) A thorough re-evaluation of the flood zones, in a timely fashion.
2) Evaluating if we raise the dunes a few feet if it will significantly reduce all our flood levels and insurance premiums.
3) Getting quick answers as to who gets the mitigation grants, when they get the grant and for how much.
4) Creative ways to lower our flood insurance premiums
5) Grace period of a few years before the rise in flood insurance premiums
6) FEMA to notify all homeowners of the impending new flood insurance rates and elevation requirements
What we want from all Flood Insurance homeowners to do;
1) Copy and paste this email and send to your local, state, federal politicians and members of Press.
2) Form Coalition to protect our interests.
3) Spread the word to your neighbors
George Kasimos
Karen M
2:32 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Just told by National Flood Insurance program that you can appeal your flood zone change with your town. She told me that your " Town has the last word over Fema" those were her exact words. Bring your elevation certificate to the town engineer and fight the change.
8:41 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
hear ya spooner, so sad, such proud people, they had a great piece of property and small house on the bay on bayside terrace but they so discouraged. spoke to the councilman yesterday in ss hts, he was a great help an very caring. their options not too good. i also had alot of damage to our toms river house, which we rent to our son. we are almost one renovating, just waiting for the bank to release the final payment. it will happen again...we dont want to raise, nor do they, so guess we gonna take a loss. so friggin sad. i had three families living with me, shirts on their back, now down to two. mom and pop luckily were able to rent my snowbirds home till april or may. we renovating the toms river house, already sunk in close to 50k. we cannot afford to raise. nervous tonight about flooding tomorrow. i did get money from flood ins, fema, nothing. my son who rents lost all his furniture and fema, nothing, says he has to take a sbl. not looking for handouts but some help would be appreciated. i live in retiremen village and all still have 2 families here with us. not easy, very sad.......just dont know anymore......what is is.......inlaws will probably walk away and we might too. just dont know, cant think anymore/
Karen M
9:02 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Barbara, stay strong, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I just saw that Senator Whelan has sent Gov. Christie a letter requesting a meeting with him in regards to this issue of the flood maps. Don't make any decisions yet because frankly, when you're this stressed you don't always make good decisions. I know that no matter what takes place I will fight the V zone designation with my town, as everybody else can also do. Yes, it may be a daunting task, but I think that these towns are beginning to see that people are getting ready to walk away. What will this do to their beloved towns? It will alomost certainly do them in. They're not stupid individuals and they have ears, because as we know, people talk and news spreads. We are in the same boat as you.
Karen M
9:04 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Barbara, My husband and I bought our house in Manahawkin for our retirement and although we only received 12" of water, we are substantially damaged. Our claim came in at more than 50% of our assessed value of our home. Thank god back in Feb of 2012 my husband befriended a man who owns a small bank in NJ and he was grascious enough to help us refinance our mortgages. At that time we had a mortgage at the shore and one up north, to say the least, we were choking. We thought about selling, but instead decided to rent it. We rented it in Sept and Sandy came in Oct. This gentleman, who I will be forever indebted to, had the hindsight to tell us to pay off the shore and just have one mortgage. I thank the god's everyday for him. We ended up sinking $50,000 into the house already and I am not going to raise it on pilings. I will however, raise it up on block if I have to. Its only about 40,000 to do that and that is more doable but only if the icc comes through. We'll just have to scrimp on things on the inside thats all. If you need help please let me know because I have the names of groups that will come in and do work for you. Nothing is hopeless.
9:07 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
thanks karen, yes, we very stressed, but not making a decision yet.....but know we are not going to raise our home, nothing wrong with the foundation. we almost done with renovations, just need a little more work, maybe a month or so then gotta find furniture for my kids who rent it. but scary, it will happen again.....but hear ya
Karen M
9:16 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
I understand. We are in the same predicament. We're ready to pull our hair out. We have a meeting on Friday with the head of Community Development so I will see what she has to tell me. I'm just looking for answers. If I find anything out I will post them here and on the Stop Fema Now facebook page. Good luck to you, keep the faith, it'll get better.
9:17 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
lol karen, yes, we do have a mortgage, wish we did not. it's my elderly in laws who dont have a mtg things have to open up and get better. this is insane. they renting in my retirement community till april/may. they dont want to rebuild or renovate. so sad, all their lives they worked so hard, now all gone same with us......we were hoping to put our home up for sale this year, we rent to our son for past five years. wanted to dumpt the toms river house and be snowbirds, well guess that not happening now...
9:34 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
This is a GREAT Facebook page. It's full of information and proves that the economic impact of the new FEMA regulations and the willingness of the once great State of New Jersey and the municipalities that don't don't fight for their constituencies will destroy the shore..The ramifications will affect all citizens, not just those directly affected:
[Stop FEMA now | Facebook
facebook/StopFemaNow. Flood-elevation maps will destroy the Shore. www.app.com. Gov. Christie's adoption of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's ...]
S. Bar
11:47 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Fema was working on changing the maps prior to Sandy. I say class-action law suit. I just purchased my home a few years ago and prior to buying trusted FEMA and their maps. My house was 1 foot over advised elevation. I checked to be sure I could afford my flood insurance and moved forward. Now FEMA says they maps and advised elevation were not accurate and I need to raise my house 4 feet to pay $3,500/year. Since I did not get water in my house I don't qualify for any grants. I live in a small ranch, not on the water and can't afford to raise, pay $31,000 or even half of that in insurance and certainly can't sell. FEMA is the one who put my in this situation.
I trusted them and their "expertise" prior to making an offer on my home....I say we all sue.
Karen M
1:22 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
2nd part of letter continued from Senetor Menendez:
These ABFEs represent a dramatic increase over the current base flood elevations and are putting significant burdens on homeowners at a time when they can least afford it. For example, some areas of the state will see up to an eight-foot increase in their base flood elevation. This change will require homeowners to spend tens of thousands of dollars to elevate their home or be subjected to skyrocketing flood insurance premiums.
For many middle-class homeowners, especially those who just lost everything to Sandy, these additional costs will simply be too much to bear. Families would be forced from their homes, resulting in gutted neighborhoods and threatening the existence of some communities. These maps will undoubtedly have a real and direct impact on people's lives, which is why it is so important that FEMA gets this process right.
Karen M
1:24 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
3rd part of letter from Senetor Menendez:
That's why I sent a letter to FEMA urging the agency to review the ABFEs it issued in New Jersey. Specifically, I called on FEMA to allow communities and homeowners who believe they were inaccurately placed in a high flood risk area to challenge such rulings. Homeowners cannot afford to wait until the FEMA releases its final maps that are eligible for appeal. In addition, the federal government can provide financial assistance for those homeowners who concur with the ABFEs and want to elevate their homes. The Sandy Emergency Relief bill allocated $17 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which can be used to elevate homes. In order to ensure New Jerseyans would have access to this funding, I sent a letter to Secretary Donovan urging him to make this funding available. Additionally, FEMA's hazard mitigation assistance programs provide direct assistance to local governments and communities to help cover some costs associated with rebuilding to reduce disaster losses. To ask questions and receive more information about flood insurance and the ABFEs, I encourage you to call the National Flood Insurance Program Help Center at 1-800-427-4661 or visit http://www.region2coastal.com/sandy/abfe.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.