Latest Homeowners Headlines
All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Commentary: Will HUD’s Disparate Impact Rule Have Say in Ratemaking?
Apr 10 2013 // Despite the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which reserved the regulation of the “business of insurance” to the states, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has given itself the ability to upset and...
Bills Target Nevada’s Construction Defect Law
Apr 9 2013 // Construction defect laws intended to protect consumers have morphed into a trial lawyer’s dream and a nightmare for Nevada’s building trades, putting many out of business and sending the cost of insurance...
New Rules Announced for Homeowners Using Sandy Disaster Aid to Rebuild
Apr 8 2013 // Homeowners and businesses using federal disaster aid to rebuild from Superstorm Sandy will have to take additional flood protection measures, top federal officials announced last week. The new standard, announced on April...
Personal Touch
Apr 8 2013 // Agents appear to be winning the race in home insurance — at least when it comes to claims. Home insurance claimants who file through agents show greater satisfaction levels — 50 points higher — than those who file...
Nearly 40% of Texans Admit Being Scared by Texas Weather: Survey
Apr 2 2013 // Thirty-seven percent of Texans say Lone Star State spring storms scare them, and more than a third say they feel the weather is getting worse year after year, according to a new survey by Allstate Insurance Co. The number...
More Than 300K Homes Are Foreclosed ‘Zombies’
Apr 2 2013 // A national survey found 301,874 “zombie” properties dotting the U.S. landscape in which homeowners in foreclosure have moved out, leaving vacant property susceptible to vandalism and degradation. Florida tops...
Home Insurance Claimants Who Use Agents Happier Than Those Who Don’t
Apr 1 2013 // Satisfaction among home insurance claimants who file through agents is 50 points higher than it is for those who file claims directly. However, the percentage of customers filing through direct channels continues to...
Louisiana’s St. Bernard Parish Gets $10M to Elevate Homes
Mar 26 2013 // St. Bernard Parish officials say the suburban New Orleans, La., community has $10 million in federal grants available to help residents elevate their houses and ease the danger from flooding. The Times-Picayune reports the...
NYC Sandy Home Repair Program Wraps Up After Fixing 20K Homes
Mar 26 2013 // A novel endeavor to make flooded homes habitable after Superstorm Sandy is wrapping up after repairs to more than 20,000 houses and apartments, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said last Friday, March 22. As officials faced the...
North Carolina Approves 7% Home Insurance Rate Increase
Mar 25 2013 // North Carolina is allowing companies to raise homeowners’ insurance rates by a statewide average of seven percent a year starting in July. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin agreed to the increase for less than the...
N.Y. Reaches Settlement With Assurant, Largest ‘Force-Placed’ Insurer in U.S.
Mar 21 2013 // The New York State Department of Financial Services investigation has produced a settlement with the country’s largest “force-placed” insurer, Assurant Inc. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced the...
N.J. Gov. Christie Seeks $250M to Buy Out Homes in Flood-Prone Areas
Mar 21 2013 // New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Tuesday, March 19, that he is asking the federal government to let the state use $250 million in Sandy aid to help New Jersey buy out homeowners in flood-prone areas, but he does not...
N.Y. Regulators Identify 10 Banks With Worst Sandy Aid Statistics
Mar 20 2013 // New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state’s Department of Financial Services announced the “bottom 10” banks with the worst statistics for paying out insurance claims to Superstorm Sandy victims. Officials...
Alabama, Georgia Homes, Businesses Still Without Power Following Storms
Mar 19 2013 // About 130,000 homes and businesses were still without power early Tuesday in Alabama and Georgia following severe thunderstorms on Monday. Alabama Power, a unit of Southern Co., said on Tuesday that it had about 98,200...
FEMA Buying Out 90 Flood Damaged Vermont Homes, So Far
Mar 18 2013 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to buy out a total of 90 properties across Vermont that were damaged by Tropical Storm Irene and other 2011 flooding. Eight structures were deemed ineligible for the...
New Maps Put 33K More New Jersey Homes in Flood Zones
Mar 18 2013 // New Jersey’s adoption of expanded flood maps in the wake of Superstorm Sandy has put more than 33,000 additional residential buildings in flood zones, a nearly 15 percent increase.Destroyed homes and washed away...
Oklahoma Bill Allows for Electronic Monitoring in Nursing Homes
Mar 13 2013 // A measure passed by the Oklahoma Senate would allow residents in nursing homes to install electronic monitoring devices in their private rooms. Senate Bill 587 also prohibits nursing facilities from refusing to admit any...
Florida Senate Bill Would Depopulate Citizens, Raise Rates, Create Clearinghouse
Mar 13 2013 // Lawmakers in the Florida Senate have taken steps to return the state-backed insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to its original purpose of being a market of last resort by requiring it to charge actuarially sound...
N.J. Commissioner Commends Banks for Accelerating Payments of Insurance Proceeds
Mar 12 2013 // New Jersey’s top insurance regulator this week commended the actions of New Jersey community banks, national banks and servicers — including Wells Fargo Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and CitiMortgage....
Sandy-Damaged Homes Hit Market at Bargain Prices
Mar 11 2013 // It sounds like the premise for a new reality TV series: “Hurricane House” — people scouring waterside communities looking to buy homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy at a deep discount. While there are...
