The Florida Keys are made up of 120 islands that are all subject to flooding and are in a coastal floodplain. Homes that were built prior to January 1, 1975 need to be out of the flood plain. The flood elevation can be found on an elevation certificate.
On September 9, 2005 the US District Court issued an order affecting flood insurance in Monroe county Florida. FEMA will not issue a flood insurance policy for a structure built after September 9, 2005 if the parcel is on the FEMA list. You will need to look up the real estate number for the parcel on the tax assessors web site to see if a parcel is on the list. Then go to the FEMA list and look for the real estate number.
If a property you are considering purchasing is on the FEMA list you can contact Monroe county for additional information at 305 289 2500. Or, you can contact your favorite insurance broker to get more information about the FEMA list.
There is a process for removing some parcels from the FEMA list. If the property cannot be removed from the FEMA list you will need cash to purchase the property if you can not obtain flood insurance.
If your property is on the FEMA list and you cannot get a loan to begin building because you can not get insurance talk to the county. Monroe county will allow a homeowner to write a letter to the county asking that the lot be "tolled" (put on hold) so that the building permit does not expire.
As long as the lots are "tolled" the building permit will remain active (as long as the tier designation is not invalidated). It is extremely valuable to have a permit that can be exercised at any time in Monroe county. It allows an owner to start building at any time without going through the waiting list of properties over a 1 to 2 year period to get the right to build.
If you are considering purchasing a property with an enclosure under the home that has an apartment it is important to check with the county to make sure that the apartment is properly permitted. If the home was built prior to January 1, 1975 it is considered pre-firm.
An apartment below a pre-firm stilt home may be legal. Improvements to the property may be limited to 49% of the assessed value of the structure. This limit to improvements could affect additions or improvements that you may want to make to the property. Check with the county to make sure that your plans for the home are possible. Enclosures are supposed to hold only items that would be found in a garage. An enclosure should be used for storage and parking. Anything that could be damaged by salt water are not permitted to be stored in an enclosure.
If an enclosure is being used as living space Section 1316 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 will mean that you are denied flood insurance. You have 1 year to bring the property into compliance and have the property inspected by Monroe county. The inspection is $180. If you don't bring the property into compliance your property will be put on a list of properties that are not eligible for flood insurance which can affect your mortgage. You can call Diane Bair if you have questions about a property that you are considering purchasing at 305 289 2518.
You can hire a county approved inspector or you can call Monroe county to schedule the Community Inspection. The original report must be filed with the county within 10 days of the sale of the property. If the property is not inspected or the report is not submitted to the county a homeowner may not be able to get a building permit for other than a life safety issue until the homeowner gets the Community Inspection Report. Your insurance agent may ask for a copy of this report.
Monroe County would not be permitted to have flood insurance in the entire county if the county allowed homeowners to have enclosures that were used for living space. To control illegal apartments and illegal use of enclosures Monroe county created an inspection process in March 2002. All stilt homes with an enclosure that is below the base flood elevation (how much water may rise during a flood) must have an inspection by Monroe county 180 days prior to the sale of any property that was built after January 1, 1975.
Photo credit Patrick Hoesly.
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