Title 12--Banks and Banking

CHAPTER II--FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

PART 339--LOANS IN AREAS HAVING SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARDS

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Sec. 339.1 Authority, purpose, and scope.
    

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    (a) Authority. This part is issued pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4012a, 
4104a, 4104b, 4106, and 4128.
    (b) Purpose. The purpose of this part is to implement the 
requirements of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood 
Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4001-4129).
    (c) Scope. This part, except for Secs. 339.6 and 339.8, applies to 
loans secured by buildings or mobile homes located or to be located in 
areas determined by the Director of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency to have special flood hazards. Sections 339.6 and 339.8 apply to 
loans secured by buildings or mobile homes, regardless of location.

Sec. 339.2 Definitions.
     

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    (a) Act means the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended 
(42 U.S.C. 4001-4129).
    (b) Bank means an insured state nonmember bank and an insured state 
branch of a foreign bank or any subsidiary of an insured state nonmember 
bank.
    (c) Building means a walled and roofed structure, other than a gas 
or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground and affixed to 
a permanent site, and a walled and roofed structure while in the course 
of construction, alteration, or repair.
    (d) Community means a State or a political subdivision of a State 
that has zoning and building code jurisdiction over a particular area 
having special flood hazards.
    (e) Designated loan means a loan secured by a building or mobile 
home that is located or to be located in a special flood hazard area in 
which flood insurance is available under the Act.
    (f) Director of FEMA means the Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency.
    (g) Mobile home means a structure, transportable in one or more 
sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and designed for use with 
or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required 
utilities. The term mobile home does not include a recreational vehicle. 
For purposes of this part, the term mobile home means a mobile home on a 
permanent foundation. The term mobile home includes a manufactured home 
as that term is used in the NFIP.
    (h) NFIP means the National Flood Insurance Program authorized under 
the Act.
    (i) Residential improved real estate means real estate upon which a 
home or other residential building is located or to be located.
    (j) Servicer means the person responsible for:
    (1) Receiving any scheduled, periodic payments from a borrower under 
the terms of a loan, including amounts for taxes, insurance premiums, 
and other charges with respect to the property securing the loan; and
    (2) Making payments of principal and interest and any other payments 
from the amounts received from the borrower as may be required under the 
terms of the loan.
    (k) Special flood hazard area means the land in the flood plain 
within a community having at least a one percent chance of flooding in 
any given year, as designated by the Director of FEMA.
    (l) Table funding means a settlement at which a loan is funded by a 
contemporaneous advance of loan funds and an

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assignment of the loan to the person advancing the funds.

Sec. 339.3 Requirement to purchase flood insurance where available.
     

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    (a) In general. A bank shall not make, increase, extend, or renew 
any designated loan unless the building or mobile home and any personal 
property securing the loan is covered by flood insurance for the term of 
the loan. The amount of insurance must be at least equal to the lesser 
of the outstanding principal balance of the designated loan or the 
maximum limit of coverage available for the particular type of property 
under the Act. Flood insurance coverage under the Act is limited to the 
overall value of the property securing the designated loan minus the 
value of the land on which the property is located.
    (b) Table funded loans. A bank that acquires a loan from a mortgage 
broker or other entity through table funding shall be considered to be 
making a loan for the purposes of this part.

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    The flood insurance requirement prescribed by Sec. 339.3 does not 
apply with respect to:
    (a) Any State-owned property covered under a policy of self-
insurance satisfactory to the Director of FEMA, who publishes and 
periodically revises the list of States falling within this exemption; 
or
    (b) Property securing any loan with an original principal balance of 
$5,000 or less and a repayment term of one year or less.

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    If a bank requires the escrow of taxes, insurance premiums, fees, or 
any other charges for a loan secured by residential improved real estate 
or a mobile home that is made, increased, extended, or renewed on or 
after October 1, 1996, the bank shall also require the escrow of all 
premiums and fees for any flood insurance required under Sec. 339.3. The 
bank, or a servicer acting on behalf of the bank, shall deposit the 
flood insurance premiums on behalf of the borrower in an escrow account. 
This escrow account will be subject to escrow requirements adopted 
pursuant to section 10 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 
1974 (12 U.S.C. 2609) (RESPA), which generally limits the amount that 
may be maintained in escrow accounts for certain types of loans and 
requires escrow account statements for those accounts, only if the loan 
is otherwise subject to RESPA. Following receipt of a notice from the 
Director of FEMA or other provider of flood insurance that premiums are 
due, the bank, or a servicer acting on behalf of the bank, shall pay the 
amount owed to the insurance provider from the escrow account by the 
date when such premiums are due.

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    (a) Use of form. A bank shall use the standard flood hazard 
determination form developed by the Director of FEMA when determining 
whether the building or mobile home offered as collateral security for a 
loan is or will be located in a special flood hazard area in which flood 
insurance is available under the Act. The standard flood hazard 
determination form may be used in a printed, computerized, or electronic 
manner. A non-member bank may obtain the standard flood hazard 
determination form by written request to FEMA, P.O. Box 2012, Jessup, MD 
20794-2012.
    (b) Retention of form. A bank shall retain a copy of the completed 
standard flood hazard determination form, in either hard copy or 
electronic form, for the period of time the bank owns the loan.

[61 FR 45706, Aug. 29, 1996, as amended at 64 FR 71274, Dec. 21, 1999]

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    If a bank, or a servicer acting on behalf of the bank, determines, 
at any time during the term of a designated loan, that the building or 
mobile home and any personal property securing the designated loan is 
not covered by flood insurance or is covered by flood insurance in an 
amount less than the amount required under Sec. 339.3, then the bank or 
its servicer shall notify the borrower that the borrower should obtain 
flood insurance, at the borrower's expense, in an amount at least equal 
to

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the amount required under Sec. 339.3, for the remaining term of the 
loan. If the borrower fails to obtain flood insurance within 45 days 
after notification, then the bank or its servicer shall purchase 
insurance on the borrower's behalf. The bank or its servicer may charge 
the borrower for the cost of premiums and fees incurred in purchasing 
the insurance.

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    (a) General. Notwithstanding any Federal or State law other than the 
Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4001-4129), 
any bank, or a servicer acting on behalf of the bank, may charge a 
reasonable fee for determining whether the building or mobile home 
securing the loan is located or will be located in a special flood 
hazard area. A determination fee may also include, but is not limited 
to, a fee for life-of-loan monitoring.
    (b) Borrower fee. The determination fee authorized by paragraph (a) 
of this section may be charged to the borrower if the determination:
    (1) Is made in connection with a making, increasing, extending, or 
renewing of the loan that is initiated by the borrower;
    (2) Reflects the Director of FEMA's revision or updating of 
floodplain areas or flood-risk zones;
    (3) Reflects the Director of FEMA's publication of a notice or 
compendium that:
    (i) Affects the area in which the building or mobile home securing 
the loan is located; or
    (ii) By determination of the Director of FEMA, may reasonably 
require a determination whether the building or mobile home securing the 
loan is located in a special flood hazard area; or
    (4) Results in the purchase of flood insurance coverage by the 
lender or its servicer on behalf of the borrower under Sec. 339.7.
    (c) Purchaser or transferee fee. The determination fee authorized by 
paragraph (a) of this section may be charged to the purchaser or 
transferee of a loan in the case of the sale or transfer of the loan.

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    (a) Notice requirement. When a bank makes, increases, extends, or 
renews a loan secured by a building or a mobile home located or to be 
located in a special flood hazard area, the bank shall mail or deliver a 
written notice to the borrower and to the servicer in all cases whether 
or not flood insurance is available under the Act for the collateral 
securing the loan.
    (b) Contents of notice. The written notice must include the 
following information:
    (1) A warning, in a form approved by the Director of FEMA, that the 
building or the mobile home is or will be located in a special flood 
hazard area;
    (2) A description of the flood insurance purchase requirements set 
forth in section 102(b) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4012a(b));
    (3) A statement, where applicable, that flood insurance coverage is 
available under the NFIP and may also be available from private 
insurers; and
    (4) A statement whether Federal disaster relief assistance may be 
available in the event of damage to the building or mobile home caused 
by flooding in a Federally-declared disaster.
    (c) Timing of notice. The bank shall provide the notice required by 
paragraph (a) of this section to the borrower within a reasonable time 
before the completion of the transaction, and to the servicer as 
promptly as practicable after the bank provides notice to the borrower 
and in any event no later than the time the bank provides other similar 
notices to the servicer concerning hazard insurance and taxes. Notice to 
the servicer may be made electronically or may take the form of a copy 
of the notice to the borrower.
    (d) Record of receipt. The bank shall retain a record of the receipt 
of the notices by the borrower and the servicer for the period of time 
the bank owns the loan.
    (e) Alternate method of notice. Instead of providing the notice to 
the borrower required by paragraph (a) of this section, a bank may 
obtain satisfactory

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written assurance from a seller or lessor that, within a reasonable time 
before the completion of the sale or lease transaction, the seller or 
lessor has provided such notice to the purchaser or lessee. The bank 
shall retain a record of the written assurance from the seller or lessor 
for the period of time the bank owns the loan.
    (f) Use of prescribed form of notice. A bank will be considered to 
be in compliance with the requirement for notice to the borrower of this 
section by providing written notice to the borrower containing the 
language presented in appendix A to this part within a reasonable time 
before the completion of the transaction. The notice presented in 
appendix A to this part satisfies the borrower notice requirements of 
the Act.

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    (a) Notice requirement. When a bank makes, increases, extends, 
renews, sells, or transfers a loan secured by a building or mobile home 
located or to be located in a special flood hazard area, the bank shall 
notify the Director of FEMA (or the Director of FEMA's designee) in 
writing of the identity of the servicer of the loan. The Director of 
FEMA has designated the insurance provider to receive the bank's notice 
of the servicer's identity. This notice may be provided electronically 
if electronic transmission is satisfactory to the Director of FEMA's 
designee.
    (b) Transfer of servicing rights. The bank shall notify the Director 
of FEMA (or the Director of FEMA's designee) of any change in the 
servicer of a loan described in paragraph (a) of this section within 60 
days after the effective date of the change. This notice may be provided 
electronically if electronic transmission is satisfactory to the 
Director of FEMA's designee. Upon any change in the servicing of a loan 
described in paragraph (a) of this section, the duty to provide notice 
under this paragraph (b) shall transfer to the transferee servicer.

 Appendix A to Part 339--Sample Form of Notice of Special Flood Hazards 
         and Availability of Federal Disaster Relief Assistance

    We are giving you this notice to inform you that:
    The building or mobile home securing the loan for which you have 
applied is or will be located in an area with special flood hazards.
    The area has been identified by the Director of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a special flood hazard area using 
FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Map or the Flood Hazard Boundary Map for the 
following community: ________________. This area has at least a one 
percent (1%) chance of a flood equal to or exceeding the base flood 
elevation (a 100-year flood) in any given year. During the life of a 30-
year mortgage loan, the risk of a 100-year flood in a special flood 
hazard area is 26 percent (26%).
    Federal law allows a lender and borrower jointly to request the 
Director of FEMA to review the determination of whether the property 
securing the loan is located in a special flood hazard area. If you 
would like to make such a request, please contact us for further 
information.
    ______ The community in which the property securing the loan is 
located participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). 
Federal law will not allow us to make you the loan that you have applied 
for if you do not purchase flood insurance. The flood insurance must be 
maintained for the life of the loan. If you fail to purchase or renew 
flood insurance on the property, Federal law authorizes and requires us 
to purchase the flood insurance for you at your expense.
     Flood insurance coverage under the NFIP may be purchased 
through an insurance agent who will obtain the policy either directly 
through the NFIP or through an insurance company that participates in 
the NFIP. Flood insurance also may be available from private insurers 
that do not participate in the NFIP.
     At a minimum, flood insurance purchased must cover the 
lesser of:
    (1) the outstanding principal balance of the loan; or
    (2) the maximum amount of coverage allowed for the type of property 
under the NFIP.
    Flood insurance coverage under the NFIP is limited to the overall 
value of the property securing the loan minus the value of the land on 
which the property is located.
     Federal disaster relief assistance (usually in the form of 
a low-interest loan) may be available for damages incurred in excess

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of your flood insurance if your community's participation in the NFIP is 
in accordance with NFIP requirements.
    ______ Flood insurance coverage under the NFIP is not available for 
the property securing the loan because the community in which the 
property is located does not participate in the NFIP. In addition, if 
the non-participating community has been identified for at least one 
year as containing a special flood hazard area, properties located in 
the community will not be eligible for Federal disaster relief 
assistance in the event of a Federally-declared flood disaster.

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