Servicing

Californians have paid relatively less for coverage than homeowners in the storm-stricken Midwest and Southeast regions, according to Intercontinental Exchange.

Only 5% of homeowners in designated disaster-assistance areas were required to hold flood insurance, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's dashboard.

Litigation filed by the company points to a total of $30 million losses that have yet to be covered by its insurance partners, including Berkshire Hathaway.

Private mortgage insurers are having a strong year so far, although most had flat business in the third quarter, industry results show.

Losses related to natural disasters and other perils rose for the seventh year, and that costs both insurers and consumers more money, LexisNexis said.

As this year's natural disasters bring heightened attention to the cost and availability of homeowners insurance, servicers often find themselves caught in the middle when customers see premium hikes.

Total insured wind and flood losses are predicted to be between $10.5 billion and $17.5 billion, according to CoreLogic. Earlier estimates placed the cost of insured damages between $3 billion and $5 billion.

The 13 largest homeowners insurance underwriters denied almost half of their climate-related claims last year, adding to property owner and mortgage servicer woes.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has agreed to more regular checks on the government-sponsored enterprises' flood compliance, which impacts mortgage companies.

A Billings, Montana-based First Interstate Bank agreed to a five-figure penalty to resolve charges it engaged in National Flood Insurance Act violations.

Risks include pushing debt-to-income ratios too high for qualifying and rising costs leading to defaults, all of which affect the secondary markets.

Borrowers are reacting to more media coverage of wider windstorm activity and events like a Tri-State earthquake, experts said.

The Congressional Budget Office acknowledged limitations in its research of expected flood damage data.

The total insured wind and storm surge losses in Texas will be between $700 million and $1.5 billion, Corelogic estimates.

In the three years since the Surfside condo collapse, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made policy changes intended to address safety concerns.

There's temporary leeway on formal compliance with replacement-cost value requirements in order to sort out insurer concerns with a recent re-emphasis on them.

"Lax regulation and monitoring of property insurers makes Florida mortgage markets far more exposed to climate risk than people might think," said Parinitha Sastry, an author of a working paper by researchers at Harvard University, Columbia University and the Federal Reserve.

Cost of property coverage rose more than 55% over the last five years and it'll likely keep rising through 2024, a report from Guaranteed Rate found.

More borrowers are taking action but lack good information, Fannie Mae finds. Meanwhile, premiums are up yet insurers struggle to profit, a separate KBRA study shows.

The market could find out next year how well foreclosure prevention innovations and home equity protect borrowers from growing strains on affordability.