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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 54 February 2025 J O U R N A L expand programs for people experi- encing homelessness. • Awarded $5 billion in funding through HOME-ARP to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability across the country. • Invested nearly $5 billion in Tribal communities through targeted housing and community devel- opment programs, including the Indian Housing Block Grant, Indian Community Development Block Grant, and Native Hawaiian Hous- ing Block Grant. • Took action to address racial bias in homeownership through the first-of-its-kind Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) Task Force, including new updated FHA Reconsideration of Value policies that enable borrowers to request a re-assessment of the appraised val- ue of their property if they believe their appraisal was inaccurate or biased. Collectively, these actions contributed to a 40% reduction in the home appraisal gap since the Biden-Harris administration took action. • Secured a clean audit opinion for five consecutive years, underscor- ing its unwavering commitment to financial transparency, accountabil- ity, and the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. • Modernized all 50 states, territories, and the District of Columbia on HUD.gov, reducing pages from 2,500 to 100, featuring a streamlined, trau- ma-informed design that enhances accessibility to vital resources like affordable housing services, disaster recovery assistance, and homeown- ership support, empowering commu- nities nationwide. "I want to thank the dedicated pub- lic servants at HUD and our communi- ty partners who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people to ensure we have a housing system that works for all families," Todman said. CFPB FINDS MANY UNDERINSURED AGAINST FLOODING T he Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a new report that found significant differences in the likelihood that homeowners with a mortgage are adequately insured against f looding, based both on location and on income and assets. According to findings, homeowners in coastal areas were most likely to have f lood insurance and gen- erally had higher incomes and assets, suggesting that they were the best posi- tioned to recover from f looding. Home- owners living near inland streams and rivers, however, were less likely to have f lood insurance and less likely to have other financial resources to draw on to recover from a f lood. The report uses a sample of mortgage applications from 2018-2022. The CFPB's report examines f lood risk in the southeast and central southwest census regions of the United States, as measured by f lood risk data from both the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency (FEMA) and the First Street Foundation. FEMA's assessment of f lood risk is retrospective and focuses mostly on coastal f looding, while the First Street Foundation data better identifies inland f looding as well as having a forward-looking measure of f lood risk. The analysis shows that the f lood risk exposure of the mortgage market is more extensive and more geographical- ly dispersed than previously under- stood. Homeowners can have signifi- cantly different access to insurance and therefore sharply different financial outcomes based on whether their risk of f looding comes from the coast or inland rivers, streams, rainfall, and stormwater f looding. Key Findings: • Current f lood insurance maps may not capture accurate f lood risk exposure. FEMA f lood insurance maps rate f lood risk highest in coastal areas, while First Street's estimates predict significantly more exposure in inland areas as well as broader exposure in coastal regions. • More than 400,000 homes may be underinsured for f looding events in the southeast and central south- western parts of the country alone. The majority of f lood insurance is provided through the federally subsidized National Flood Insur- ance Program (NFIP), which uses the FEMA f lood insurance maps to identify properties eligible for f lood insurance. Homeowners with a mortgage are therefore likely to be underinsured for f looding if the FEMA f lood insurance maps do not accurately measure future f lood risk. • Homeowners who may be under- insured for f lood risk also are least likely to be able to self-insure and recover from f looding. Borrowers in inland areas at risk of f lood- ing, as identified using the First Street f lood risk model, had lower incomes, and put less money down to purchase their homes compared to homeowners not in inland f lood areas. This included both borrow- ers living in areas at elevated risk of coastal f looding and borrowers whose homes are not in an area of high f lood risk, as identified either by FEMA or First Street. This suggests that these borrowers have the fewest financial resources to re- cover from f looding and are most at risk of suffering catastrophic losses after a f lood.