"The trial presented a classic court battle between expert witnesses." "Smith brought impeccable credentials to the Court, Cross-examination did not result in the least impeachment of his testimony, In addition, the nature and extent of his background work, both in the field and with title records, was very impressive. Smith displayed superior knowledge; by virtue of his experience and training with the interrelationship of title and surveying issues. His explanation of how and why the Defendants' claim to ownership of the overlap lands was compelling. The Court accepts his testimony without exception and incorporates the same herein by reference and without iteration."
In all likelihood, the number of requests you will receive from me for consideration of an applicant for governmental office will be small, as I reserve my endorsements for those who warrant my enthusiastic support. Mr. Smith is one of those rare individuals. Some people undertake their professions competently, even brilliantly. Mr. Smith approaches surveying with an almost unimaginable passion. Posing a question about the minutiae of surveying lore constitutes an invitation to a fascinating and comprehensive dissertation on the subject. I know that Mr. Smith has testified as an expert on numerous occasions, as well as taught, and he has been instrumental in providing me with the information I need to address surveying related questions as they have arisen before the Assembly.
Rich is a dedicated individual of high intelligence and strong character. He has been licensed to practice Land Surveying in New Jersey since 1978 specializing in boundary conflicts, title insurance claims, surveys, consulting and expert testimony in lawsuits. Among his colleagues, Rich is a highly respected professional.
When purchasing my home in Morris Township in December 1997, the mortgage lender required evidence of flood insurance since the property was located in a Flood Zone “A”, or Special Flood Hazard Area as determined by FEMA maps produced in the 1960’s. We didn’t think too much about it at the time – the insurance cost around $1,200 per year for $250,000 building coverage ($20,000 contents) and we loved the house. The price increased every year over the next fifteen years, but even the worst storms never came close to flooding the property. Once the premium hit $3,200 each year and having already given over $30,000 in pure profits to our Insurer with no claims, it became important to look at all alternatives.
When a new neighbor purchased the home next door (and was required by his lender to buy flood insurance), he contacted a local Surveyor to look at the property and see if the FEMA flood maps were accurate. The surveyor determined the elevation of the property, got in touch with FEMA, and was successful in getting them to amend the flood maps. We got in touch with Brian Brennan at Richard Smith Surveyor in Morristown (www.smithsurveyor.com) After performing technical work to determine elevations and submitting a request to FEMA for an amendment to their flood maps, our entire property was removed from the flood map. Shortly thereafter our Insurer advised they had received the amendment, so we informed the mortgage lender and cancelled the flood coverage. I’d estimate the cost savings at $40,000 over the next ten years, at a cost of less than $1,000. Brian’s team handled the entire process, they were a pleasure to work with, and the result was excellent.
Lessons learned: being lazy can cost money, it’s always better to research your options, and above all deal with professionals who can deliver.
The core principle behind insurance is that risks are shared across groups of similar exposures. Individual risks which have a loss are “subsidized” by those which don’t. While Insurers price their product in many ways, one constant is that it’s unlikely you can predict whether any single policy will or won’t have a loss in a given year. So companies use actuarial models to predict the probability of loss across a large number of similar risks, and price at the portfolio level. Individual risk characteristics drive surcharges or discounts off a “base rate” applicable to all risks in the portfolio. This makes sense mathematically but also causes problems: if a given portfolio has more losses than the insurer’s model predicted, the price across the entire portfolio tends to go up. The result can be that a home in the mountains which is not subject to high windstorms or flood bears a portion of the increased cost of insuring a home on the beach. On the other hand, the beachfront property premium may be subsidizing increased landslide or wildfire exposures of the house in the mountains!
