Did you know buyers and sellers of properties which REQUIRE flood insurance are at a standstill now until the legislature agrees to authorize and fund the National Flood Insurance program? They cannot close their sales if they are using mortgages. This is serious business in our area, and it affects buyers and sellers across the nation. The domino effect will be devastating if the program isn't funded quickly, but that's not the only bad news:

State Farm Opts Out of Flood Insurance Program
State Farm, the nation’s largest insurer of homes, is opting out of the National Flood Insurance program.

The company blamed severing its relationship with the flood insurance program on the government’s failure to fund the program consistently.

“Since 2002, there have been 11 last-minute reauthorizations of the National Flood Program, and on four occasions the program was allowed to lapse for extended periods of time. These ‘stop/start’ situations require a large company like State Farm to dedicate significant resources to address challenges and coordinate numerous communications with customers, employees and its more than 17,000 agents,” the company said in a statement.

State Farm reported that it currently has more than 800,000 flood insurance policies.

Source: Bankrate.com, Jay MacDonald (06/15/2010)