CSFI member, Joe Uzee, who serves as the President of the Mortgage Lending Division at Gulf Coast Bank and Trust, has discussed CSFI’s work and explained the need for insurance reform in recent Daily Mortgage News pieces.

In a Mortgage News Daily opinion piece, “Broker Education, Reverse Mortgage, Credit Report, Warehouse Products; Disaster News,” Uzee considers sentiment of the mortgage industry, given recent catastrophes.  Uzee writes, “In Louisiana we have been navigating high insurance premiums for well over a decade. Now that higher insurance premiums are becoming an issue nationwide due to widespread disasters, I am often contacted by peers across the country asking how to navigate.  Over the last several years, as I attended national mortgage conferences, my peers were always talking about the negative effects of higher interest rates. I always said the rate is the rate now, but that high insurance premiums are killing home affordability in Louisiana. It is now becoming a national issue suddenly. I am proud of what we started in our little old state of Louisiana. GNO Inc., headed by Michael Hecht, is not only a driver of economic development for our region, but also on the forefront of insurance reform. Since 2013 GNO Inc. has led the Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance (CSFI). Back in 2013 it was just the voices of Louisiana’s lawmakers and the voices of Louisiana’s lenders speaking out. Is the nation finally listening?”

In Daily Mortgage News’s Chrisman Commentary podcast, Uzee talks about national catastrophe insurance as an idea whose time has come: “I don’t think anyone is truly immune from any disaster…We’re starting to see different things happen across our country, and because of that, there’s a timing that I think has the attention of everyone.  Uzee elaborates on the policy: “This is a way from everyone together and spread the risk.  We’ll still have private insurance, but if we already have supplemental insurance (flood), why can’t we incorporate other disasters into that policy?”