The image on the left is how some of the neighborhood looked after the flooding during Hurricane Harvey.
Well, actually, it is not the bank per se, but rather the fact that any insurance money must include the mortgage holder. I found that out during Hurricane Harvey; my house flooded. The insurance money check was made out to the mortgage company and me. The bank’s requirements would have slowed down the process and raised the cost of quickly repairing my home. Those people doing the work were not going to sit around and go unpaid. I decided to pay off the remaining home improvement loan rather than deal with the bank.
Chris and Analia DeHayes lost their Ruskin, Florida home to flooding during Hurricane Helene two years ago. What followed was a nightmare that had nothing to do with the storm, but everything to do with their bank.
The couple had flood insurance through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, which caps payouts at $250,000 for residential structures (1). Tampa Bay 28 reports the couple received nearly that amount, but because they had a mortgage, their insurer made the check out to both them and their lender, Chase Bank (2).
This standard industry practice (3) gave Chase significant control over the money, and though the bank released $141,000 to the couple, it withheld nearly $100,000 for more than a year.
In the meantime, with construction on the damaged home underway and costs elevated because the home had to be raised under FEMA’s 50% rule, the couple had to find a way to keep the project moving.
“Chase has made this an absolute nightmare,” Chris DeHayes told Tampa Bay 28 (2).
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