OUR STORY Part 8: "NOT IN A FLOOD HAZARD ZONE"

During our escrow process we were provided two seller disclosures.  The first disclosure provided on 9/11/07 has a box checked noting that the property was “Not In 100 Year Flood Plain.”  The second revised disclosure received on 09/15/07 left this same box blank.  Neither we nor our professional Realtor ever picked up on this.

During the process of discovery on our civil case, were became aware of the fact that our mortgage company had requested a flood determination on the property on 9/13/2007 which stated that the property we were purchasing was in Flood Zone A.  No one told us of this information or provided us with the documentation.  Instead, the mortgage company and Realtors proceeded to take measures to have the property pulled out of the flood zone in subsequent flood determinations done by other companies.  Again, none of these flood determinations were ever brought to our attention or provided to us.

At the closing of escrow, November 9, 2007, my husband was given a packet HUD Settlement documents to sign; including page sixty-six (66), entitled "Flood Hazard Certification."  This is apparently a standard HUD document in the state of Texas, prepared before hand by the Title Company for signature by the buyer.  This document is generated reflecting information obtained from a flood determination requested by the mortgage lender. 

The document prepared for signature had three possible areas to "XX". The choices were "IS WITHIN", "IS WITHIN A MINIMAL" or "IS NOT WITHIN."  The paragraph section marked "XX" in our HUD packet was:

Had the results of the first flood determination being used, this document would have reflected that the property "IS WITHIN" a Flood Hazard Zone and we would not have purchased it.  Moreover, had we known that the escrow process was being peppered with flood determinations, and that mortgage fraud was taking place to approve financing on this property, we would not have merely walked away from escrow, we would have run!

In May 2008, following the flash flooding on our property; an engineering report confirmed what the professional Realtors, Brokers and Mortgage Lender already knew; that our property was located within a FEMA designated "Flood Hazard Zone" (Zone A).  Records show that this property has been designated as being in the flood zone since at least 1997.

In addition to our property being located in a Flood Hazard Zone; is the matter of it being illegally built on a designated drainage easement.  Documents and emails produced during the discover process confirm that Realtors and the mortgage company knew this, and proceeded to use an illegible unrecorded "Release of Drainage Easement" in order to have the lender approve our loan and close escrow. 

The interesting thing about this release document is that the signature on the document is that of the County Flood Plain Administrator.  It just so happened that; at the recommendation of a neighbor, we contacted this gentleman and had been in communication with him as a result of the flash flooding on our property.  Last September he testified to the following under oath during our first trial:

1. The "Release of Drainage Easement" used during our escrow was not even related to the drainage easement on our property.
2. The county department would not be involved in the issuance and release of a drainage easement on a residential property.
3. In order to move a drainage easement there would have to be a LOMR engineering study to determine the Base Flood Elevations (BFE), and engineering remedy in compliance with FEMA regulations.

Approximately mid September 2008 we were beginning to recover from the initial shock of our situation with the property, as well as the disruption of the natural gas well site behind our home.  The economy was taking a dive across our nation and business began to slow down in the hotel travel industry for which we brokered online radio and television advertising.  We were getting by like most hard working Americans but things were tight, and we now had the addition of a monthly tractor payment when things began to get even worse and the big hammer dropped square down on our already throbbing heads. 

On October 28, 2008, Chase Home Finance sent us a letter stating that a new FEMA Map Revision had been done on our area.  The map revision affirmed that our home and entire property were located in a Flood Hazard Zone (Flood Zone A).  The letter went on to inform us that we had forty-five (45) days to provide either proof of flood insurance or a LOMR (Letter of Map Revision) proving that we were not located in the flood zone. 

Please note that the cost of a LOMR is estimated at anywhere between $50,000 and $75,000.

So we set out to prove that our home was not in a flood zone as presented to us during escrow.  And what we would find out in this process was corruption within corruption . . .

If you are thinking to yourself "well, there is always two sides to a story", consider this; defense counsel for our Realtor rested during trial WITHOUT putting on a defense, because they had none!