When a large company like Nationstar Mortgage LLC (dba Mr. Cooper) sends you a letter telling you flood insurance is required for your house, you likely assume they’re telling you the truth. Unfortunately they might not be telling the truth and by sharing my personal flood insurance nightmare, you might save a lot of money!
Letter Outlining My Flood Insurance Nightmare
Jay Bray, CEO Mr. Cooper
8950 Cypress Waters Blvd
Dallas, TX 75019
jay.bray@nationstarmail.com
Re: Flood Insurance Nightmare
Mr. Bray,
I’m writing to highlight what appear to be abusive practices by your company. While I’m a strong proponent of flood insurance (read: Flood Insurance Might be a Bargain), your company’s bully tactics and recent billing in excess of $2,000 for flood insurance for my property is unacceptable.
Here is a summary of the research I’ve done (read: Do You Really Need Flood Insurance?), leading to a letter from FEMA stating my home is in flood zone X which does not require flood insurance.
- Received 2 letters from Cenlar stating I needed to purchase flood insurance.
- Checked FEMA flood map which indicated zone X which doesn’t require flood insurance.
- Requested supporting documentation from Cenlar; told only a FEMA letter was acceptable proof.
- Began FEMA process to dispute claim that I needed flood insurance.
- Talked to surveyor who said no flood insurance needed and he sent me supporting documentation.
- Talked to county flood plain management who confirmed no flood insurance needed.
- Submitted extra documentation to FEMA (registered deed and tax records, really) to FEMA and finally received letter stating NO flood insurance needed!
The reason for listing all these activities is to show you that a 60 day deadline is inadequate to research and get documentation proving no flood insurance required.
What’s sad is I communicated what I was doing both verbally and in writing. You claim at Mr. Cooper “… we’re 100% committed to giving you a less worrisome and more rewarding mortgage experience. One that’s less complex and more caring. One where your problems are our problems …”?
Your 1/10/20 letter gave me 15 days to submit proof of insurance. As FEMA had not completed their review, I provided the following within your 15 day window (proof of delivery attached). My letter ended with “… request you wait until FEMA has concluded their research before purchasing flood insurance unnecessarily.”
Here are the documents included with my letter:
- FEMA flood map showing my house doesn’t require flood insurance.
- Builder’s surveyor documents showing my house doesn’t require flood insurance.
- County floodplain management letter stating my house doesn’t require flood insurance.
- Letter from FEMA asking for more documentation to research dispute about flood insurance.
Issues Identified During Flooded House Nightmare
Here are the issues I have with your company’s actions:
- You ignored my communications indicating no respect for customers.
- You failed to provide any documentation about the flood insurance policy you purchased on my behalf … so what exactly did I get?
- Pricing over $2,000 for your policy is outrageous! Previous policies I’ve had cost between $450 and $550. Even Cenlar’s policy was only $750.
- Pricing even more objectionable because it excludes coverage of $100,000 for personal property which is included in FEMA flood insurance pricing identified above.
- Policy written for $250,000 but that’s more than it would cost to rebuild my home.
- Amazingly you’ve also back dated the policy assigning an effective date of 12/6/19.
Together these actions look like a major industry scam is underway. Forcing homeowners to buy flood insurance when none is needed! Outrageous pricing for an undocumented unknown policy for the standard FEMA maximum coverage when half the coverage is excluded.
Trying to Resolve Flood Insurance Problems
Here is what I’m requesting to resolve these issues:
- Immediate refund of any money stolen from my escrow account, and documentation to prove this has been done.
- Letter of apology for mismanagement of this issue from inception.
- Letter explaining what changes are being made to your process so that other homeowners are not subjected to this abuse. I will publish this along with my letter at HomeTipsforWomen.com.
Following your lead, I’d like these actions to be completed within 30 days.
Sincerely,
… original signed (sent via snail mail and email)
Tina Gleisner, Home Expert & Homeowner Advocate at HomeTipsforWomen.com
Property Address: 999 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Florida 99999
Mr Cooper Loan Number: 9999999999
Attachments follow …
Copied:
- Mr. Cooper Shareholder Relations, Shareholders@mrcooper.com
- Mr. Cooper Media Relations, MediaRelations@mrcooper.com
- Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Public Affairs, jmechem@mba.org
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Media Relations, FEMA-News-Desk@fema.dhs.gov
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) using their consumer complaint process
List of attachments (download-letter-and-attachments):
- Proof of delivery, that my letter was received by your company before due date!
- Cover letter sent to your company with following information
- FEMA flood map showing my house doesn’t require flood insurance.
- Survey showing my house doesn’t require flood insurance.
- County floodplain management letter stating my house doesn’t require flood insurance.
- Letter from FEMA asking for more documentation to research dispute.
- Mr Cooper demand letter and …
- Mr Cooper’s ridiculous … proof of flood insurance ripoff!
- FEMA letter and proof … no flood insurance needed!
Research & Dispute Claim that You Need Flood Insurance
This process is easy once you figure out the quirks as originally I thought FEMA wanted $400 to request a review. This process though is absolutely free with possible exception that you’ll have to pay a few dollars for proof you own your property.
- FEMA flood map service center is easy to use – just plug in your address. If the map shows your home is not in a flood zone but your mortgage copy will only accept a letter from FEMA …
- Request a “Letter of Map Change” to prove your house doesn’t need flood insurance. Call if you get stuck as the people are very friendly and helpful. Start this process right away because it can take up to 90 days.
Irony of Dealing with Flood Insurance Nightmare
The irony here is that I had to fight false claims that I needed flood insurance … while dealing with a flooded house. If you’re not convinced, check out my article, Do You Really Need Flood Insurance.
I like to stress that insurance isn’t a waste of time and especially finance money. It is designed to help you deal with negative unforeseen circumstances. However, using this insurance package for a vicinity susceptible to flooding is an added advantage.
It’s valid when you need the insurance but in my case, there was no need … so if felt more like a scam to sell products homeowners don’t need.
I am having this same problem. They forced a $250,000 policy on me. We had them for three years and then refinanced with them. The refinancing went through when I provided proof of an elevation certificate. Then two months later they send me letters stating they will force flood insurance. I never needed it before. Nationstar/Mr. Cooper will not help me. I am sick to my stomach. I do not know how I will recoup the funds they took from me out of my escrow account to pay for regular home insurance and taxes by November.
Dawn, Have you looked at your home on the FEMA flood map? If your house is in an “X” zone, you don’t need insurance. Please read the article again and follow the steps at the very bottom of the page. Please write down each step you take & where you run into problems, so I can improve the 2 steps to fight unnecessary flood insurance (click here). Share what you’re doing here & ask questions which I’ll answer …
Our home is marked X zone but the metal building we have is marked in a flood area considered AE. The metal building is non livable, it is a oversized shed. But the land is well above the flood level as per the elevation certificate we have. The entire property the metal building is on is the same height the house sits on. I sent a request to FEMA to change the map including the required documents FEMA needs. I have to wait 30-60 days.
Dawn, It seems rather strange that a single property can be divided & fall into 2 different FEMA zones (would love to look at the map if you’re comfortable emailing your address). It’s good that you got the elevation certificate & I hope that FEMA corrects their map to reflect the information you’ve given them. I think lots of these problems are the result of builders pouring dirt to create level building lots … or maybe they know they’re in a flood zone & miraculously they raise the land a feet and they’re no longer building in a flood zone.
I’m not an expert on the details of flood insurance (a future article with more time to research). I know that regular homeowner insurance policies cover “other structures” so I was curious how flood insurance might handle your metal building. One article said structures other than the house are not covered while Consumer Reports said there is coverage for “A detached garage, used for limited storage or parking. You can use up to 10 percent of your total building coverage toward your garage, but that amount will be subtracted from the total amount of building coverage.”
I have found myself in the same situation. Did this resolve the issue for you?
Yes Jeff, It took about 2 months to get documentation back from FEMA. Once submitted to … in my case, Mr. Cooper, they refunded my money. This company is nothing more than a marketing machine (first time they bought my mortgage in Arizona) and now a scam artist (Florida mortgage) so it pushed me to refinance & escape them forever.
Thank you for your response. I took some different steps, let me summarize. I had refinanced with Better.com, who sold the mortgage and Mr. Cooper picked up the servicing. Four months after they got it, Mr. Cooper sent me a letter stating that the FEMA maps had recently changed – a false statement, they haven’t changed in my area in 3 years – and all the Mr. Cooper front line phone personnel said there was nothing I could do but dispute it with FEMA. I sent Mr Cooper maps from the county, from my insurance company, and from the FEMA web site. After many calls and long times on holds, and even some Mr. Cooper representatives saying “we can see your house is not in the flood zone” but they had no ability to do anything, I finally got a “supervisor” who “escalated” it and the response after a week or so was “we did not make a mistake” and that my house was in a flood zone, ignoring the fact that the flood zones haven’t changed. The supervisor didn’t answer the phone or call me back. Finally, I submitted letter of complaint to their insurance department, a complaint via Facebook messenger, and a complaint to https://complaint.consumerfinance.gov/. (It was at this point that I found your article as I was searching for other methods to push for a resolution. ) A few days later I got a response via Messenger and a call back from the supervisor that they’d take the insurance requirement off and refund the money they took out of my escrow … currently waiting on the money. Not sure which of my avenues prompted them to actually look at my case. Their story was that they use an agency to check flood zones and pointed the blame at them. This whole process has taken almost two months. I did submit a request to FEMA, don’t have it back yet, but also ended up not needing it.
Also, the FEMA zones don’t follow lot lines but follow the flood lines so it can easily include part of a lot, which is the case with my property as well with Dawns in the comments above.