Flood insurance impacted by unpermitted work post-Ian in SWFL

Some say one person can ruin it for others. In the case of building back after Hurricane Ian, hundreds of homeowners who didn’t take the time to get permits before working on their homes prompted FEMA to say no more discounts for thousands.

This week, WINK News has stayed on top of this developing story, showing not only the finger-pointing between local leaders and FEMA but also the impact it will have on you.

When doing work on your home, it’s better to ask for permission or, in this particular instance, a permit.

Fort Myers is a flood zone area. FEMA says homeowners got it right before other places weren’t so lucky.

Many homes in flood zones were damaged when Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida. Leaving homeowners with countless repairs to make.

Now that FEMA told Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, Estero, Bonita Springs and unincorporated Lee County are losing the 25% discount for flood insurance. FEMA says it is due to unpermitted work, lack of documentation, and failure to properly monitor activity in special flood hazard areas.

We wanted to know what are the other consequences of doing unpermitted work. So WINK News spoke with a real estate attorney to learn more about the widespread issue of unpermitted work.

“The fines are huge. If you would have done it right the first time through the permitting process than you would have done, you would have done yourself a favor. And a lot of times that’s where attorneys get involved where sometimes you can hire an attorney to go ahead and go to the city and work out the issues,” said Ryan Really, a real estate attorney.

Depending on which county or city you live in, the consequences of unpermitted work vary.

You can expect fines and violation notices from the area you live in. There are more consequences you can face from your insurance company.