LOMR-F Application: Eligibility, Filing, and Approval Benefits

A LOMR-F application asks FEMA to redraw the Flood Insurance Rate Map around your property after engineered fill has raised it above the Base Flood Elevation. You submit the MT-1 form package with a surveyor-certified Elevation Certificate, a signed community acknowledgment, and a processing fee of $425 online or $525 by mail. FEMA’s target turnaround is 60 days from a complete submission, and an approved Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill removes the property from the Special Flood Hazard Area and lifts the federal flood insurance mandate on a federally backed mortgage.¹

Confirm Your Property Is Eligible Before You Apply

A LOMR-F only works for areas of special flood hazard outside the regulatory floodway.² If your parcel sits in the floodway, or in a coastal V zone where wave action makes structural fill unreliable, the application is a dead end regardless of how much soil you place.³ The LOMR-F is also the wrong tool if the natural ground was already above the BFE and no fill was placed; that situation calls for a Letter of Map Amendment instead.¹

Elevation Thresholds

FEMA compares your property’s measured elevation against the Base Flood Elevation, the water level expected during a flood with a one-percent chance of occurring in any given year.⁴ For a request covering a structure, the controlling measurement is the Lowest Adjacent Grade, meaning the elevation of the lowest ground touching the building, including attached patios, stairs, window wells, deck supports, and garages. If that grade is at or above the BFE, the structure may qualify.⁵ For a lot-only request with no structure, the lowest point anywhere on the legally defined parcel must be at or above the BFE.⁶ A single low spot below the line will sink the application.

Fill and Drainage Standards

The fill has to hold up under flood conditions. FEMA’s Technical Bulletin 10-01 requires compaction to at least 95 percent of the Standard Laboratory Maximum Dry Density (Standard Proctor) under ASTM D-698, with fine-grained soils of low permeability, extending at least five feet below the bottom of any basement floor slab.³ A geotechnical engineer typically performs the soil testing and certifies compaction, at a cost that generally runs from about $200 to $5,000 depending on the site.

Under 44 CFR 65.5, the work also cannot encroach on the regulatory floodway, and local officials must confirm the site complies with community floodplain management ordinances before FEMA will act.⁶ That local review is where the “reasonably safe from flooding” finding gets made, covering drainage, slope stability, and effects on surrounding properties.

Assemble the MT-1 Application Package

The application runs on FEMA’s MT-1 form package, which consists of three core forms plus supporting documents.⁷

Form 1 collects property identifying information. You will need a copy of the recorded deed bearing the recorder’s seal, along with a tax assessor’s map or plat showing the property’s location.
Form 2 records elevation data and must be completed by a licensed land surveyor or registered professional engineer. If a current NFIP Elevation Certificate exists for the property, it can substitute for Form 2.
Form 3 is the community acknowledgment, signed by the local floodplain administrator, building inspector, or equivalent official. The signature confirms the fill complies with local zoning and floodplain ordinances and does not increase hazards for others.

The Elevation Certificate is the technical heart of the package. A licensed surveyor measures the site and records the lowest floor elevation, the Lowest Adjacent Grade, and surrounding grade elevations, and those numbers get compared directly against the BFE. Surveyor fees for the certificate typically fall between $175 and $2,000, depending on parcel size and access.

Partial Lot Requests

If the removal covers only a portion of a recorded parcel, add a metes and bounds description of the area being removed from the SFHA, tied to an identifiable starting point and beginning at a lot or parcel corner. A map of that area must accompany the description, and both documents must be certified by a licensed land surveyor or registered professional engineer. The boundary cannot intersect or coincide with the footprint of an existing structure.⁷

Submit the Application and Pay the Fee

FEMA accepts submissions two ways. The Online LOMC tool lets you upload scanned copies of the forms, Elevation Certificate, and deed through FEMA’s mapping portal, at a fee of $425 for a single-lot, single-structure LOMR-F. Paper submissions go by mail to the LOMC Clearinghouse and cost $525.⁸ The online route saves $100 and generally means faster processing and easier status tracking. Once payment clears, FEMA assigns a case number you can follow through the portal.

For technical questions while assembling the package, the FEMA Mapping and Insurance eXchange offers free support at 1-877-336-2627 or FEMA-FMIX@fema.dhs.gov, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.⁹

What Happens During Review

FEMA aims to issue a determination within 60 days of receiving a complete application.¹ The clock only starts once FEMA confirms every required document is in hand and the fee has cleared.

When reviewers find gaps, they issue a request for additional information, and the clock pauses until the applicant responds. Missing the response window can close the case and forfeit the fee. Most delays trace to incomplete elevation data or a missing community acknowledgment signature, so verify Form 3 and the surveyor certification before you send anything.

Approval produces a formal determination letter, sent to both the property owner and the community, stating that the structure or parcel is removed from the SFHA. Denial is not necessarily final: you can correct the deficiencies and resubmit, though the processing fee applies again.

What Approval Actually Gets You

Dropping the Flood Insurance Requirement

Federal law requires flood insurance on any improved property in an SFHA that secures a loan from a federally regulated lender.¹⁰ Once the LOMR-F removes your property from the SFHA, the federal mandate no longer applies. To actually stop paying, forward the determination letter to your mortgage servicer and ask them to lift the flood insurance requirement. The escrow obligation continues until the lender confirms the change in writing.

One caveat: the lender keeps the right to require flood insurance regardless of the SFHA status.¹ Most servicers drop the requirement on receipt of the letter; some do not, as a matter of internal risk policy.

Refund of NFIP Premiums

If you have been paying for an NFIP policy, you may qualify for a refund of premiums for the current policy term and one prior term. The LOMR-F must have been issued within 60 days before the current policy’s effective date, your lender must confirm in writing that flood insurance is no longer required, and there can be no paid or pending claims for the terms being refunded.¹¹ The refund covers the premium, the Reserve Fund Assessment, and the HFIAA Surcharge, but not the Federal Policy Fee. The cancellation request must reach the insurer during the current policy term or within six months of the policy expiration date; miss that window and the refund is gone.

Future Map Updates

A LOMR-F is not necessarily permanent. When FEMA issues a revised FIRM panel for your area, it reviews existing letters of map change for that panel. If a new study produces a higher BFE or shifts the floodplain boundaries, FEMA can determine that your original data no longer supports removal, and the property reverts to the SFHA on the new map. Watch FEMA’s map update activity for your community so a reclassification does not catch you off guard.

Consider a Conditional LOMR-F Before You Break Ground

If the fill has not been placed yet, a Conditional Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (CLOMR-F) is FEMA’s written opinion on whether your proposed project, if built as designed, would qualify for a full LOMR-F.¹² It does not change the map; it tells you the plan will work before you commit to earthwork and engineering costs. The fee is $500 through the Online LOMC tool or $600 on paper for a single-lot, single-structure request, and a full LOMR-F application with as-built data and its own fee still has to follow construction.⁸

A CLOMR-F also carries a step the post-construction LOMR-F does not: FEMA requires documentation of Endangered Species Act compliance before it will process the request. A signed statement from the community floodplain official confirming no listed species are present will satisfy this in most cases; if listed species could be affected, the applicant must coordinate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, and an incidental take permit may be required.¹³ For a standard LOMR-F filed after construction, ESA compliance remains the owner’s independent legal obligation, but FEMA does not check it as a prerequisite to processing.¹⁴

1
FEMA. Letter of Map Amendment and Letter of Map Revision-Based on Fill Process
2
eCFR. 44 CFR 72.2 – Definitions
3
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Technical Bulletin 10-01 – Ensuring That Structures Built on Fill In or Near Special Flood Hazard Areas Are Reasonably Safe From Flooding
4
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Flood Zones
5
Federal Emergency Management Agency. MT-1 Technical Guidance
6
eCFR. 44 CFR 65.5 – Revision to Special Hazard Area Boundaries With No Change to Base Flood Elevation Determinations
7
Federal Emergency Management Agency. MT-1 Instructions – Instructions for Completing the MT-1 Application Forms
8
FEMA. Flood Map-Related Fees
9
FEMA.gov. FEMA Mapping and Insurance eXchange (FMIX)
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4012a – Flood Insurance Purchase and Compliance Requirements and Escrow Accounts
11
FEMA. NFIP Flood Insurance Manual – How to Cancel
12
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Letters of Map Revision and Conditional Letters of Map Revision
13
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Documentation of Endangered Species Act Compliance for Conditional Letters of Map Change
14
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Required Endangered Species Act Compliance Documentation for Conditional Letter of Map Revision Requests