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Letter of Map Amendment / Letter of Map Revision - Based on Fill Tutorials

This page provides tutorials on how to submit a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) using the MT-EZ form and Letter of Map Revision - Based on Fill (LOMR-F) using the MT-1 form. These tutorials walk through the application and information-gathering processes that you must follow to request removal of a property and/or structure from a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), for a single residential lot or structure (MT-EZ) and for requests involving multiple residential lots or structures and for all LOMR-F requests (MT-1). This page is intended for home, property and business owners who wish to submit an MT-EZ or an MT-1 paper form application.

Access the MT-EZ, MT-1 and MT-2 Forms

Choose a Tutorial

Click on the appropriate icon or text link below to launch the tutorial that best suits your needs. If you are not sure which tutorial to select, review the purpose and background information.

Your device must meet the online tutorial system requirements in order to optimally run the tutorial. If your system meets the requirements, you are ready to start the tutorial.

Purpose

If you are a homeowner and believe your property is not located in the designated 100-year floodplain, also known as a 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain or Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), as shown on the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for your community and you would like FEMA to make an official determination regarding the location of your property relative to the SFHA, you may request a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revision - Based on Fill (LOMR-F).

The tutorials in this series were designed to walk you through the application and information-gathering processes that you must follow to request removal of a property and/or structure from the SFHA, for a single residential lot or structure (MT-EZ) and for requests involving multiple residential lots or structures and for all LOMR-F requests (MT-1).

The tutorials provide you with online tools to complete portions of the MT-EZ form (used for single-lot/single-structure LOMAs) and MT-1 forms (used for LOMR-Fs), which you may then print and mail to FEMA at the address provided in the form instructions with all required supporting information, signatures and review and processing fees (only for LOMR-Fs).

Additional information about the LOMA and LOMR-F request processes follows. If you have not already done so, we encourage you to download copies of the MT-EZ and MT-1 forms before launching the tutorials.

Background

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations require flood insurance for insurable structures located in SFHAs that carry a mortgage loan backed by a federally regulated lender or servicer. The SFHAs are the areas subject to inundation by the 1-percent-annual-chance) flood, which is also referred to as the base or 100-year flood.

For a LOMA to be issued to remove a structure from the SFHA, NFIP regulations require that the lowest adjacent grade (the lowest ground touching the structure) be at or above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). To remove an entire lot from the SFHA, NFIP regulations require that the lowest point on the lot be at or above the BFE.

A LOMR-F is submitted for properties on which fill has been placed to raise a structure or lot to or above the BFE. NFIP regulations require that the lowest adjacent grade of the structure be at or above the BFE for a LOMR-F to be issued to remove the structure from the SFHA. The participating community must also determine that the land and any existing or proposed structures to be removed from the SFHA are "reasonably safe from flooding." To remove an entire lot and structure, both the lowest point on the lot and the lowest adjacent grade of the structure must be at or above the BFE.

The issuance of a LOMA or LOMR-F by FEMA eliminates the federal flood insurance purchase requirement as a condition of federal or federally backed financing. However, lenders retain the prerogative to require flood insurance as a condition of any loan as part of their standard business practices, regardless of the location of the structure.

Certain sections of the LOMA and LOMR-F application forms must be certified by a Registered Professional Engineer or Licensed Land Surveyor. Therefore, requesters may incur certain fees associated with obtaining data and hiring a Registered Professional Engineer or Licensed Land Surveyor to provide and certify certain information that must be submitted with LOMA and LOMR-F requests. Information about the required supporting information and FEMA review and processing fees (only for LOMR-Fs) is provided in the MT-EZ and MT-1 Forms Packages, available in the forms section of this site and in the LOMA and LOMR-F modules of this tutorial series.

If your house was built on natural ground and its lowest adjacent grade is at or above the BFE and you would like to request a LOMA, please go to the LOMA Tutorial.

If your house was built on fill (or has been elevated by the placement of earthen fill) and you would like to request a LOMR-F, please go to the LOMR-F Tutorial. Fill is defined as material from any source placed to raise the ground to or above the BFE. The common construction practice of removing unsuitable existing material (topsoil) and backfilling with select structural material is not considered the placement of fill if the practice does not alter the existing (natural grade or ground) elevation, which is at or above the BFE. Fill that is placed before the date of the first NFIP map showing the area in an SFHA is considered natural grade.