ADA, Mich. — Andrea Arnold has lived in her Ada home for 14 years this September. During rainy months, her yard will sometimes flood. However, her home is built up the hill, and she said water has never reached it.
She said her home was never in a flood plain before, until now.
Last month, she received a letter from her mortgage lender saying FEMA added her home to a "special flood hazard area" (SFHA).
That means she is required to obtain flood insurance within 45 days.
"Okay, now I'm in a flood plain because the weather sucks and the climate is changing, why do I have to pay for it?" said Arnold, "I mean, grandfather me in or at least give me a little more time than what they've given us. I mean, they ambushed us."
If she does not obtain flood insurance in 45 days, her mortgage lender-placed flood insurance will go into effect.
"I would be subjected to their flood insurance, which can be predatory," said Arnold. "Not at their fault, but I just, I'm so stressed."
Arnold said her mortgage lender has been working with her, and "great." But she still is concerned about having to pay a few extra hundred dollars a month because of the new FEMA designation.
"There's a 30-day wait period for flood insurance to begin with," said Arnold, "And I didn't even find out about this until 28 days before it was supposed to be done. Just, it wasn't handled very well."
A representative with FEMA said, "When a Flood Insurance Rate Map or FIRM is updated, FEMA, in coordination with state and local partners, adhere to a standard adoption process, which includes a three-month appeal and comment period to allow municipalities to provide new information, and/or challenge any determinations."
If a homeowner believes their property was mistakenly shown in a high-risk area, they can request to change the flood hazard map.
However, Arnold also said that does not come cheap.
"I have to pay for my own surveyor to come out and survey the elevation and tell me where my house sits," said Arnold, "I'm not going to pay $1,200 to have a guy come tell me that I don't have to pay $4,000. It's unbelievable."
Arnold does plan to call her mortgage insurance agent and add flood insurance to her property while she contests the SFHA designation.
Arnold's mortgage lender said in a statement they were, "empathetic to any of our members being impacted by the recent flood map changes made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This past January, FEMA began remapping several areas in Michigan. For West Michigan communities, this was the first time FEMA flood maps had changed since 1982."
RELATED VIDEO: Here's Why: Knowing Your Flood Risk in West Michigan
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