FEMA LOMA — when your home is wrongly in a flood zone (and how to appeal)

What a LOMA does

A LOMA is FEMA's official statement that a specific structure (or specific portion of a parcel) is NOT in the Special Flood Hazard Area, despite what the FIRM panel shows.

Once issued, a LOMA exempts the property from mandatory flood insurance for federally-backed mortgages. It also typically reduces voluntary flood insurance premiums significantly.

How to file

Required: an Elevation Certificate from a licensed surveyor or engineer ($500–$2,000 typical). It documents the lowest adjacent grade vs. base flood elevation.

Submit FEMA Form MT-1 with the EC, parcel deed, and property survey to FEMA's Map Information eXchange (FMIX). No fee from FEMA itself.

Processing time: 60–90 days typical. Complex appeals can take 6+ months.

Success rates

FEMA reports ~60% of complete LOMA applications are issued. Of the 40% denied, most are because the surveyor's elevation showed the structure WAS below BFE — appeals cannot rewrite physical reality.

Properties on slopes or elevated lots are most likely to succeed. Properties in coastal AE/VE zones rarely succeed unless the structure is genuinely above the wave-action elevation.

LOMR vs. LOMA

A Letter of Map REVISION (LOMR) updates the underlying FIRM panel itself — typically used after engineering changes (built a levee, raised a road) or after a community-wide remapping.

A LOMA only updates ONE property's status. Same form, but different scope.

LOMR-based revisions can take 1+ year. LOMAs are individual.

What zipradar shows

ZIP-level FEMA NFHL flood-zone summary, plus a deep-link to FEMA Map Service Center where users can search by exact address. We don't surface LOMA status per parcel because that data is not in the public NFHL feed.

If your address shows AE/A/AO/VE on FEMA's site but you suspect it's wrong, the LOMA path is documented at fema.gov/floodplain-management/manage-risk/loma.