FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — A letter from FEMA about the 50% rule is causing confusion among homeowners looking to rebuild after Ian. FEMA claimed in a letter there was an error with the Lee County Property Appraiser's market value numbers calling it a "wide disparity."
FEMA has now somewhat retracted that in another letter, stating municipalities have the authority to make sure values from the appraiser are correct. The confusion caused a lot of mixed feelings from homeowners in the rebuilding stages.
"If you walked into my house right this second you can see from one end to the other," said Anita Cereceda, former Fort Myers Beach mayor and homeowner. "It got about 6 1/2 feet of water in it."
The letter put homeowners in a tizzy, she said. Before diving into the letter more, we're going to explain the 50% rule.
Cereceda's home has a structure value of around $250,000. This is determined by the Lee County Property Appraiser and only includes the building, not the fence, pool or other additions.
To fall under the 50% rule, the cost to rebuild it as it was before the storm must be $125,000 or less — hence 50%. If it's more than that, the homeowner will have to either demolish the home and build up to all codes, or rebuild it up to the correct flood elevation.
A letter from FEMA on Feb. 13 to municipalities questioned whether or not the numbers used by the Lee County Property Appraiser is correct. Claiming a wide disparity, FEMA said it "cannot determine if these values are acceptable." Cities and towns using incorrect numbers in order to issue permits could have consequences.
"Again, not the best news in the world. I just wanted to make sure you heard it from me," said Fort Myers Beach mayor Dan Allers in a Facebook video.
Once the letter came into the town of Fort Myers Beach, the town said it was going to use the "cost value" through the county property appraiser. This would hurt homeowners looking to rebuild, like Cereceda.
"Which was $83,000 and that cost value means I could spend $41,000 to fix my home, which I couldn’t do," Cereceda said.
On Feb. 17, FEMA sent another letter with clarification. It stated municipalities have the authority to look at the values from the property appraiser to make sure they're sound and use consistent methodology, which is what FEMA questioned in the first place.
"The repercussions of that letter were far reaching and it really sent a lot a lot of folks into a tailspin, and apparently unnecessarily," Cereceda said. "A huge sigh of relief, but still a bit of apprehension."
We reached out to Matthew Caldwell, the Lee County Property Appraiser, who provided Fox 4 with a statement.
Our focus throughout, this hurricane recovery has been the well-being of our property owners. As always, we stand ready to assist anyone, including FEMA, in ensuring this recovery is as swift and painless as possible. Thankfully, they have recognized the error they made and have committed to work with us going forward to avoid any future complications.
Despite multiple requests, FEMA would not state whether or not they misunderstood the methodology prior to sending the first letter. A spokesperson would only state they're working to better understand it and are sending teams to work with local floodplain administrators.
A Fort Myers Beach spokesperson said it will go back to the structure values released by the appraiser's office in October 2022. The numbers in the report were calculated prior to the hurricane, which is what is required under the program regulations.
With a piece of confusion out of the way for homeowners, Cereceda waits for her permit.
"I can't imagine living anywhere else," she said. "Thing thing I'm looking most forward to is being back in my place, back where I belong."
Many city leaders are suggesting a private appraisal, if you're looking to rebuild.
