Legislative UpdatesRegulatory UpdatesRaze OrdersRaze Order Co-Sponsor Memo LRB-3050/1On Thursday, May 20th, Senator Rob Stafsholt, Senator Lena Taylor, and Representative Magnafici sent out the following memo asking for co-sponsors for LRB-3050-1. This legislation would help to significantly curb the abuse of raze orders by public adjusters, attorneys, and contractors. Please contact your state senator and representatives and ask them to co-sponsor and support this legislation. WIA Raze Order Legislation memo You can find out who your state senator and representative is here. CO-SPONSORSHIP MEMORANDUM To: All Legislators From: Senator Rob Stafsholt and Senator Lena Taylor Date: May 20, 2021 RE: Co-Sponsorship of LRB-3050/1, relating to: municipal raze orders for certain insured dwellings. Deadline: Thursday, May 27th at 5:00pm. There are many hurdles individuals and families can face when living in older homes in rural and urban Wisconsin. Unfortunately, for a very small number of citizens, dilapidated homes with unsafe living conditions can become a blight on neighborhoods and municipalities. Natural disasters, such as fires, severe storms, and tornados can leave dwellings damaged, or even worse, destroyed. In some instances, these homes can result in a total loss to the homeowner. However, there are situations where repairs are a more cost-effective manner to return a dwelling to a safe living environment for a family. In cases like this, expensive raze orders can lead to higher insurance premiums and deductibles for homeowners across the state. Under current law, municipalities may issue a raze order on a dilapidated home or out-of-repair and consequently dangerous, unsafe, or unfit for human habitation if it determines repair is unreasonable. Current law creates a presumption that repair is unreasonable if the cost of repair exceeds 50% of the equalized value of the home. This legislation creates a separate process for owner-occupied homes that suffer a loss covered by the insurance policy. In these situations, before issuing a raze order the municipality would have to provide notice to the owner of the dwelling, conduct an on-site inspection, consider materials establishing the damage and cost of repairs, and conclude it is not reasonable to repair the building. Additionally under the bill, repairs are considered reasonable if they are less than 70% of the insurance policy coverage limits. In what may seem like a complicated bill, we are simply working to keep insurance premiums low in urban and rural communities where there may be large discrepancies between equalized assessed value and replacement value costs. If you would like to co-sponsor this legislation, please respond to this email or contact Senator Stafsholt’s office at 6-7745 or Representative Gae Magnafici’s office at 7-2365. A copy of this legislation is attached for your review. Co-sponsors will be automatically added to both bills. Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau This bill limits the authority of a municipality to order the razing of certain insured dwellings. Under current law, a municipality may issue an order to raze a building that is unfit for human habitation and unreasonable to repair. Current law specifies that if the municipality determines that the cost of repairs of a building would exceed 50 percent of the adjusted assessed value of the building, the repairs are presumed unreasonable. A raze order is issued to the building's owner and, if the owner does not comply with the order within the prescribed time, the municipality may raze the building. The cost of razing may be charged against the real estate upon which the building is located. The bill limits the authority of a municipality to issue a raze order for an insured dwelling that has incurred damage that is covered under the insurance policy (covered damage). Under the bill, no later than 30 days after real property has incurred damage, an insurer may provide certification to a municipality that the insurer reasonably believes the real property may qualify as an insured dwelling and that a claim has been filed and the insurer reasonably believes the claim may qualify as covered damage. If a municipality receives such a certification, it may not issue a raze order unless the municipality does all of the following: 1. Provides notice of intent to issue a raze order to the owner of record of the dwelling, the holder of any encumbrance on the dwelling, and the insurer of the dwelling. 2. Accepts and considers certain materials submitted to it that assist in establishing the extent of the damage or the reasonable cost of repairs to the dwelling. 3. Conducts an on-site inspection of the dwelling to assess the extent of covered damage. 4. Determines the estimated cost of repairs for the dwelling. 5. Determines that repair of the dwelling is not reasonable. The bill also specifies that, for an insured dwelling, if the municipality determines that the estimated cost of repairs of the dwelling does not exceed 70 percent of the insurance policy limits of the dwelling, the repairs are presumed reasonable. BackgroundSeveral WAMIC members have reported significant issues with the application of Wisconsin's Valued Policy law (§ 632.05). This law applies only to real property as defined by state law (§ 70.03). Real property is typically considered to be owner-occupied dwellings, structures, and land. Mobile or manufactured homes are not considered real property unless it is set upon a foundation located on land owned by the mobile or manufactured homeowner. Valued policy law states that in the event of a total loss the amount of the loss will be the policy limits. Valued policy law does not extend to personal property. Wisconsin statute § 66.0413(1)(c) governs the issuance of raze orders. The statute states: Reasonableness of repair; presumption. Except as provided in sub. (3), if a municipal governing body, building inspector or designated officer determines that the cost of repairs of a building described in par. (b) 1. would exceed 50 percent of the assessed value of the building divided by the ratio of the assessed value to the recommended value as last published by the department of revenue for the municipality within which the building is located, the repairs are presumed unreasonable. BackgroundBusinesses in every sector of the economy need access to high speed, reliable broadband. This is especially true in rural Wisconsin where the need is critical for agricultural production, rural healthcare, education, commerce and jobs in today’s economy. Access to high-speed internet is a catalyst for rural prosperity, enabling efficient, modern communications between rural American households, schools, and healthcare centers, as well as markets and customers around the world. While we are thankful for all recent efforts to expand broadband, it still has not reached every farm and every rural Wisconsinite.
The last biennial state budget included funding of $48 million in the last budget for Wisconsin Broadband Expansion Grants. This is a great step toward meeting Wisconsin’s goal to provide all homes and businesses in the state with high-speed internet by 2025. However, more funding will be necessary to extend Wisconsin's broadband internet infrastructure to rural communities. Specific InitiativesTo reach that “last mile” and provide high-speed internet access to all of Wisconsin, WAMIC urges support for the following bills and initiatives:
BackgroundIn 2017, the U.S. Treasury Department urged states to adopt the NAIC model within five years or the Department would ask Congress to adopt a federal cyber security law, which would preempt state insurance regulation. In response to the threat of federal regulation of insurance, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) began the process of drafting the Insurance Data Security Model Law in 2016. In 2017, the NAIC model was adopted. To date, eight U.S. states have adopted the model regulation. UpdatesState Senate The Senate Committee on Insurance, Licensing, and Forestry passed SB-160 out of committee on 5/13/2021. The bill is currently waiting to be scheduled for on the Senate floor. State Assembly AB-147 is currently in the Assembly Committee on Science, Technology and Broadband where Representative Petersen has offered two amendments for consideration. A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for Thursday, May 27th. The bill contains three main requirements:
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