So, yesterday, my husband and I received some bad news - news that we had heard was coming, but until 11am yesterday, was only speculation.
We received a certified letter from our mortgage company, stating the FEMA had randomly and arbitrarily decided that our street is now located in a flood zone. Mind you, the propery was built in he early 1970s and has NEVER, not once, EVER had a drop of water standing on it, but FEMA considers this just insignificant detail and has given us 30 days to pony up flood insurance to the tune of $1200 year.
More than the extra $99/month added onto our expenses after a nearly 8% paycut from my job, we are devastated by the fact that the odds of our home selling at a decent price are now slim to none. Let's face it- who is going to buy our home at a fair rate, knowing they ALSO have to shell out an extra Benjamin in totally unneccesary flood protection? They arent.
We had a 3 year plan that included waiting for the market to turn slightly and getting out of our house and into a new one. Now, for that to happen, we will almost certainly have to sell our home for LESS than we owe and take a total hit, thereby severely limiting our options, as far as a newer, better home.
From the moment we both saw the letter, we were outraged. I did what I do best and cried. Sean did what he does best and flew completely off the irrational deep end, cursing the government as crooked and demanding we move to Mexico. For real.
We both fell into a pity party that lasted a good hour and included the following:
*further discussion about moving to Mexico
*disgust at the totally brazen way the "good guy" always gets screwed
*FEMA bashing
*consideration of the option of just saying "Screw our great credit history" and walking away from the house altogether, just to stick it to FEMA
AND FINALLY....
*my suggestion that we fight back and dispute the sudden change in requirements. Sean quickly refuted this, saying that it was impossible to win against a huge corporation like FEMA. "It will never work," he said. "They are in the hole after what happened with Katrina, so they changed their guidelines to force more people to have to pay them." I suggested we gather our whole block and try to host a group effort to contest the ridiculous changes, and again, Sean reiterated how futile it all would be, the money it might cost to fight back and ultimately, how FEMA would still win anyway because the government always wins.
During all of this, we had been unaware that Quinn was listening to every word. All of a sudden, a little voice said, "Daddy, can I say something?"
Surprised, Sean told him to ahead, and Quinn said,
"Well, it's just that David fought Goliath. And Goliath was way bigger and stronger. But David still won, because when you have God on your side, you always win. Right?"
Right, buddy. My sweet little boy.
We have a land surveyor coming out this week to have our own assessment done... because what does it hurt to fight Goliath when God is on your side?