Many municipalities are using federal funds to buyout properties that are experience chronic sea level rise flooding. Buyout programs are initiated under the Federal Flood Insurance Program when officials estimate it’s costing more to the program to cover the costs of repair and rebuilding than to just purchase the properties and tear them down.
As with most sea level rise solutions, buyouts have their limits. In this excellent opinion piece published in Florida Today, Thomas Ruppert, Esq., a coastal planning specialists, discusses the problems faced by buyout programs, including an enormous expense to taxpayers, potential lawsuits from owners when cities and towns decide it’s too expensive to defend their property, and the risk that buyers and owners in coastal communities will come to rely on buyouts as a guaranteed solutions when their properties are inundated, when such a promise could actually bankrupt governments.
Sea Level Rise Flooding Information for Buyers, Sellers, Owners, and Real Estate Agents 