Flood insurance

Bills to fix the National Flood Insurance Program and combat the money-laundering risks from shell companies enjoyed bipartisan support during a House Financial Services Committee debate.

Lenders are turning to the Farm Service Agency to backstop more loans as their Midwestern customers are beset by flooding in addition to the U.S. trade war with China and volatile crop prices. Can the FSA meet the increased demand?

Fitch Ratings is considering making adjustments to property valuations used in sizing up private residential mortgage securitizations to better account for possible exposure to uninsured, catastrophic risks.

Covius Holdings plans to buy several businesses from Chronos Solutions that support mortgage servicing and origination processes, including three delivery platforms that will increase the breadth of its technology offerings.

In the worst-case scenario, $1.8 trillion in reconstruction costs could result from coastal storms in 2019, even as hurricane experts predict a near-normal year for this season, according to CoreLogic.

Congress extended the National Flood Insurance Program through June 14, preventing the federal initiative from expiring on Saturday.

Hurricane Michael killed seven people and caused more than $6 billion in damage in Florida in October, a toll compounded by warmer, higher seas and wetter air, the signs of climate change scientists have long warned about.

The House Financial Services Committee debated legislation Wednesday to reform and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, but no clear solution emerged.

Real estate experts think homebuilders should prevent natural disasters with better strategies, but this could drive up already rising prices and hurt buyer affordability, according to Zillow.

Private flood insurance rules that go into effect this summer have a safe harbor for some policies, but determining whether others are compliant could be a time-consuming, imprecise and costly exercise.