How to get a LOMA and remove your property from a FEMA flood zone

A Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) is FEMA's official statement that your property was mapped into a flood zone it does not actually belong in. You get one by hiring a licensed land surveyor to certify your ground elevation, then submitting that certification to FEMA on form MT-EZ. FEMA charges no fee for a standard single lot, single structure LOMA. Your only real cost is the surveyor, usually $400 to $900. FEMA normally issues a determination within 60 days of receiving a complete package.

The reason this matters is money. If your structure sits in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area and you have a federally backed mortgage, your lender is required to make you carry flood insurance. A LOMA removes that federal requirement. For a lot of homeowners the surveyor's fee pays for itself inside one policy year.

What is a Letter of Map Amendment?

FEMA describes a LOMA as a letter stating that an existing structure or parcel of land that is on naturally high ground, and has not been elevated by fill, would not be inundated by the base flood. Read that sentence carefully, because two phrases in it decide whether you qualify.

"Naturally high ground" means the dirt was already there. If somebody trucked in fill to raise the building pad, you are not applying for a LOMA. "Would not be inundated by the base flood" means the 1% annual chance flood, the event the maps are drawn around. A LOMA does not change the flood map. It amends it, by saying your specific property was included in error.

Am I eligible for a LOMA?

The test is a comparison between two numbers. FEMA's rule for removing a structure is that the lowest adjacent grade, meaning the lowest point of ground touching the building, must be at or above the base flood elevation for your location. If you want the entire parcel removed rather than just the house, the lowest point anywhere on the lot has to clear the base flood elevation.

That distinction catches people out. A house on a knoll can qualify while the yard around it does not. Removing just the structure is enough to end the insurance requirement on your mortgage, so it is the version most homeowners actually want.

You cannot eyeball this. Ground elevation has to be measured against a vertical datum and certified by a licensed surveyor, engineer or architect. That certification is the entire substance of your application.

LOMA or LOMR-F: which one do you need?

These get confused constantly, and picking the wrong one costs you both time and money.

If a contractor brought in dirt to build up your pad, be honest about it on the application. FEMA compares your submission against its own mapping and against the community's records, and a LOMA request on filled ground gets denied rather than quietly approved.

What does a LOMA cost?

FEMA does not charge an application fee for a standard LOMA. Every dollar you spend goes to the professional who certifies your elevations.

An elevation certificate is the document that does the work here, and it is useful beyond the LOMA: it is also what prices your policy and what your building department wants for permits in a flood zone. Coastal counties sit at the top of that range, inland lots at the bottom. The wider context on survey pricing is in our land survey cost guide.

How to get a LOMA, step by step

1. Confirm you are actually in a mapped zone. Look up your address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and note the zone letter and the panel number. Zones beginning with A or V are Special Flood Hazard Areas. If you are in an X zone, you have nothing to amend and your lender should not be requiring coverage.
2. Hire a licensed surveyor. You need someone licensed in your state to shoot the lowest adjacent grade and, for many applications, the lowest floor. Verify the license before you pay a deposit; the how and why are in our guide to verifying a land surveyor license.
3. Get the elevation data certified. Most surveyors will deliver a full elevation certificate. FEMA accepts an elevation certificate containing the lowest adjacent grade in place of Section B of the MT-EZ form, which is why the certificate is the usual route.
4. Assemble the package. A completed MT-EZ (or MT-1 for multiple lots or structures), a copy of the deed or plat showing the recording information, the certified elevation data, and a map showing where the structure sits on the parcel.
5. Submit it to FEMA. Applications go in through FEMA's online Letter of Map Change portal or by mail. Submitting online is faster and gives you a case number you can track.
6. Wait for the determination, then send it to your lender and insurer. FEMA normally issues its determination within 60 days of receiving a complete package. Incomplete applications get returned, which restarts the clock, so the completeness of step 4 is what actually controls your timeline.

How long does a LOMA take?

Plan on about three months door to door. FEMA's own target is 60 days from receipt of a complete application, and getting a surveyor scheduled and the certificate drafted usually adds two to four weeks before that clock even starts. The single biggest cause of delay is a package missing a document, because FEMA returns it rather than requesting the missing piece and continuing.

Does a LOMA cancel my flood insurance?

Not automatically, and this is the part that surprises people. FEMA is explicit that issuing a LOMA eliminates the federal flood insurance purchase requirement as a condition of federally backed financing. But FEMA is equally explicit that lenders retain the prerogative to require flood insurance as a condition of any loan as part of their standard business practices, regardless of where the structure sits.

In practice most lenders do drop the requirement once you send them the letter, because the federal mandate was the reason they imposed it. Some do not. The requirement in your loan documents is contractual, and the LOMA removes the law behind it rather than the contract itself. Send the letter to your loan servicer in writing and ask them to remove the escrow requirement.

If you keep the policy voluntarily, and plenty of people should, a LOMA usually moves you into a much cheaper preferred rate. You can also ask your insurer for a refund of premium already paid for the current policy term once the LOMA is issued.

What a LOMA does not do

A LOMA is a statement about mapping, not about physics. Your house can hold a LOMA and still flood. Roughly a quarter of flood insurance claims come from outside high risk zones, and a LOMA says only that the base flood is not predicted to reach your lowest adjacent grade.

It also does not exempt you from your local floodplain ordinance. Communities set their own building requirements, and those can still apply to construction on your lot. And it does not travel automatically: if FEMA reissues the flood map for your area, the amendment is tied to the old map and may need to be revalidated.

Do I need a survey to get a LOMA?

Yes, in nearly every case. FEMA needs certified ground elevations, and in the United States only a licensed land surveyor, professional engineer or registered architect may certify them. A homeowner reading a phone app's elevation is not evidence FEMA will act on. This is the whole reason the process has a cost at all, and it is why hiring a properly licensed surveyor matters more than finding the cheapest quote: a certificate signed by someone outside those three professions will be rejected.

Common questions

Can I get a LOMA myself without a surveyor? You can file the paperwork yourself and save the package preparation fee, but you cannot supply the elevation data yourself. The certification has to come from a licensed surveyor, engineer or architect. Most people who file alone still pay a surveyor for the elevation certificate.

What is the difference between an elevation certificate and a LOMA? The elevation certificate is the measurement, prepared by a surveyor, showing how high your ground and floors sit. The LOMA is FEMA's decision, based on that measurement, to remove your property from the mapped flood zone. One is evidence, the other is the ruling. The full breakdown is on our elevation certificate page.

Is a LOMA permanent? It stays valid as long as the flood map it amends stays in force. When FEMA issues a new map for your community, LOMAs are reviewed and many are revalidated automatically, but you should confirm rather than assume.

What if my LOMA is denied? A denial usually means the lowest adjacent grade came in below the base flood elevation, which is a fact about your dirt and not a paperwork problem. If fill was involved, refile as a LOMR-F. If you believe FEMA used the wrong base flood elevation, you can submit additional technical data.

If you need certified elevations, describe the property and we will put up to three licensed surveyors in your area in front of you, with the quote in writing before anyone visits.