Read about it in the Fort Worth Weekly. WHO's next?
The first change occurred just four months after they moved in, when Devon Energy built a gas well pad next to their fence line, ruining the view for months and sending toxic residue into their backyard every time it rained (“Paradise Lost”, June 18, 2008).
One month after the pad appeared, said Annette, “We got slammed by a flash flood that nearly entered the house. A neighbor called to ask if we were all right, and then she told us we might be in a flood plain.”
The flood plain question “had come up once — that some of the land but not the house was in a flood plain” during discussions before the sale, Annette said, “but when it did, the realtors produced several reports showing that the property was not in the flood plain.”
“We never would have purchased the house if there were any flood issues,” said Michael. The couple did know that runoff from heavy rains had washed into their pool and come close to the house.
People involved in the sale of the property to the couple disagree. They later maintained in court that the Daniels were or should have been aware that the property they were purchasing was in a flood plain.
After the neighbor’s comment, the Daniels began to look into the issue and eventually got in touch with Parker County flood plain director Kirk Fuqua.
“He told us that he didn’t understand why the house was sold as not being in a flood plain when it had always been in the FEMA 100-year flood plain,” said Annette. Fuqua confirmed that information for Fort Worth Weekly and said his records showed no remedial action that would have removed the house from the flood plain.
“Not only that, but it turned out our house was built right on top of a drainage easement, a platted stream,” said Michael. The unnamed stream is a tributary of nearby Silver Creek.
Worse was coming. In 2008, a new FEMA study came out, again showing the Daniels’ house in the middle of a flood plain. As usual, FEMA alerted lenders, and three months after the first flash flood, Chase Home Mortgage Finance LLC, wrote to tell the Daniels they would need to acquire flood insurance.
The insurance added $500 a month to a steep mortgage that was already beginning to pinch, as the recession slowed the income from their travel business.
Unfortunately, the couple soon discovered that the Parker County appraiser had reduced the appraised value of their home to zero after the new FEMA study, and you can’t refinance a house valued at zero. Their land dropped in value from $75,000 to $25,000.
“So we owed $300,000 on a house that was valued at zero,” said Annette. “And with business slowing down we couldn’t even get at our equity. Who could have dreamt this was going to happen?”
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