WELCOME DOUG WEISSENGER

We are pleased to introduce to you the latest addition to our banking team. Doug Weissenger joined Butler Snow in March. Doug comes to us from a boutique banking law firm in Austin, TX where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securities law, and regulatory compliance. He is a native Mississippian, grew up in the Delta and comes from a banking family. At the moment, Doug is temporarily located in our Austin, TX office, but he and his family will be moving to Memphis later this summer. Doug will be at the May quarterly meetings in Jackson and Memphis. We've told him what a special group you all are, and he is looking forward to the chance to get to know and work with you all. We're excited to have him on board. Welcome, Doug!

Cliff Harrison

PRIVATE FLOOD INSURANCE

As you know, under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), financial institutions are prohibited from making loans secured by improved real property located in special flood hazard areas unless the property has adequate flood insurance coverage. Federal regulators recently issued a joint final rule to implement provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Biggert-Waters), which was enacted in part to stimulate the private flood insurance market by requiring lenders to accept private flood insurance that provides adequate flood coverage under the NFIP. The final rule takes effect July 1, 2019, so from that day forward, financial institutions must accept private flood insurance policies that satisfy certain criteria on loans secured by property located in flood zones.

Mandatory Acceptance. To qualify as a valid private flood insurance policy, the policy must meet the statutory definition of "private flood insurance". The final rule defines "private flood insurance" as a policy that:

  1. is issued by an insurance company that is licensed, admitted, or otherwise approved to engage in the business of insurance in the State or jurisdiction in which the property to be insured is located, by the insurance a regulator of that State or jurisdiction or, in the case of a policy of difference in conditions, multiple peril, all risk, or other blanket coverage insuring non-residential commercial property, is recognized, or not disapproved, as a surplus lines insurer by the State Insurance regulator of the State or jurisdiction where the property to be insured is located;
  2. provides flood insurance coverage that is at least as broad as the coverage provided under a standard flood insurance policy (SFIP) issued under the NFIP, including when considering deductibles, exclusions, and conditions offered by the insurer;
  3. includes a requirement for the insurer to give written notice 45 days before cancellation or non-renewal of flood insurance coverage to the insured and the regulated lending institution, or a servicer acting on the institution's behalf;
  4. includes information about the availability of flood insurance coverage under the NFIP;
  5. includes a mortgage interest clause similar to the clause contained in an SFIP;
  6. includes a provision requiring an insured to file suit not later than one year after the date of a written denial for all or part of a claim under a policy; and
  7. contains cancellation provisions that are as restrictive as the provisions contained in an SFIP.

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