Latest News…March 18, 2019

Where We Are

A number of claimants have recently inquired about the progress of their claim, even though they were among the first to apply in the days following January 10. I can confirm that ESIS is about ten days away from a complete review of the remaining 83 claimants in the first grouping of claims that came in within three weeks of CFSIC’s launch.

The review of individual applications is complex and involves sometimes as many as 150 pages of accompanying material. We are making progress. ESIS is adequately staffed. I and my team meet regularly with them. Unfortunately we don’t have enough engineers willing and able to examine foundations. We make no excuses. The process is working, and it’s working as quickly as due diligence requires with regard to the use of taxpayer funds.

We are cutting checks to contractors in fulfillment of deposits. We will be lifting homes on or before April 8. We are paying installments on Type 2 claims. The process is slow because it needs to be…but we are making progress.

Legacy Claimants

The Board of CFSIC has approved a “Legacy Claimant” re-imbursement program that will take effect on April 18, 2019.

First, a “Legacy Claimant” is defined as an otherwise eligible CFSIC Type 2 claimant who, using their own resources, replaced the affected foundation of an eligible residential building and subsequently sold the home, where both the replacement and the sale occurred during the date range January 1, 2000 to January 10, 2019.

Because the legacy claimant program is a substantive change to CFSIC’s Underwriting and Claims Management Guidelines, we are announcing this change today, but it will not take effect until April 18, 2019.

Please do not send ESIS an application until April 18, 2019.

If you have already applied as a Legacy Claimant and have been denied because of your legacy status, and where, as well, your application was not complete because of any missing points of evidence, please do not send any remaining points of evidence to ESIS until April 18, 2019.

Here are the rules that will apply to Legacy Claimants:

1) CFSIC will pay a total of ten active, valid legacy claims.

2) Legacy Claimants will be Type 2 claimants and subject to all terms and conditions applicable to Type 2 claimants.

3) Legacy Claimants will only be eligible for reimbursement assistance once their claims become active and in the order in which they become active (not in the order in which they have applied).

4) Legacy Claimants will be capped at a maximum of $100,000 of reimbursement, based on CFSIC’s Underwriting and Claims Management Guidelines, replacement cost parameters, and all other terms and conditions of the CFSIC program.

5) The Legacy Claimants program will end on October 18, 2019. No further legacy claimants will be accepted for payment.

6) Legacy Claimants will be paid, once their claims are deemed to be active, in quarterly installments.

7) If you have already applied to CFSIC as a Legacy Claimant and your claim has been denied because of your legacy status, you will be contacted by ESIS. Please do not send ESIS anything before April 18. Nothing will happen to your claim until April 18 or after.

CFSIC’s Underwriting and Claims Management Guidelines have been modified, and any change there and elsewhere on this site with regard to this change is noted, but does not take effect until April 18, 2019.

Please be aware that you cannot submit any missing points of evidence until April 18, 2019, because CFSIC’s enabling legislation requires a thirty-day notice period, from March 18, 2019, before any meaningful change can be made to the program.

Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) Clarification

After meeting with the board of directors of a planned unit development, we have modified CFSIC’s position with regard to PUDs, because of the special nature of the ownership of the PUD unit’s foundation as shown in the ownership structure of PUDs, and additionally because it appears that, contrary to earlier information, PUD associations do not have the same ability to enforce unit owner compliance on financial and related matters in the same way that condominium associations do.

As of March 11, nothing prevents the owner of a single PUD, who also owns the foundation, from applying, if the unit affected is a single unit existing on a single foundation (in other words, what is otherwise a single-family dwelling).  

However, we are modifying CFSIC’s Underwriting and Claims Management Guidelines to accommodate the needs of multiple PUD homeowner units existing on, what is otherwise clear to any observer, a single foundation platform.

Any substantive change to our Underwriting and Claims Management Guidelines requires thirty days’ notice. This notice runs from March 18, 2019.

As of April 18, 2019, a foundation platform containing more than one PUD living unit must adhere to the following protocol before applying to CFSIC:

1) Each individual PUD unit foundation must be inspected by a CT-licensed professional engineer and where that engineer’s written examination report has been done separately for each foundation found immediately below the living unit. (If there are four living units on the same platform…that’s four separate visual examinations.)

2) Each PUD homeowner must apply separately as a CFSIC Type 1 claimant. No association-signed applications will be required. (If there are four living units on the same platform…that’s four separate applications.)

3) HOWEVER, before applying to CFSIC, the homeowners sharing that platform must obtain a minimum of two contractor bids BEFORE these homeowners can individually apply.

This is a departure from CFSIC’s normal application protocol. We are making this departure from the protocol because of two important issues:

A) CFSIC believes it’s important that PUD owners do not apply until it is clear that it is possible to lift all applicable units sharing a foundation platform (or otherwise remediate the foundation through other means) without causing structural damage to a PUD unit owned by a homeowner who declines to participate.

B) The bids from contractors must be clear about how individual units get lifted and/or are otherwise treated if no lifting occurs if, for example, on a four-unit platform, three homeowners say “yes” and one says “no.” (CFSIC cannot become engaged in disputes among homeowners.) If the contractor indicates that it is possible to lift and/or otherwise replace a foundation by not disturbing any structural elements among the homeowners not applying, then individual claims can be made to CFSIC for that platform for those homeowners who want assistance. CFSIC will not accept a claim where a contractor has not represented that a homeowner who has said “no” to participation can remain unaffected by any part of the structural construction process. Said another way…CFSIC will not replace foundations for those who say “yes” if even one common shared platform unit owner says “no”…unless the contractor’s proposal specifically says that this can be done without adversely affecting a dissenting homeowner’s foundation structure.

We would encourage PUD owners, and more importantly PUD associations, to seek legal guidance concerning the subject of homeowners who opt out of replacement participation. This may require an individual release by the dissenting homeowner, for example, granting permission for work on surrounding units on the same platform to occur. CFSIC is not in the business of providing legal advice. CFSIC will not assume any responsibility of any kind, directly or indirectly, for disputes arising out of shared or quasi-shared foundation platforms.

Said simply: CFSIC is in the business of replacing eligible foundations affected by the crumbling foundations natural disaster. However, CFSIC is not in the business of replacing foundations for those who don’t want us to.

In summary:

1) PUD associations, as associations, will not be applying as previously stated.

2) Individual PUD owners must apply as individual owners under the terms and conditions of a Type 1 claim.

3) Unlike the usual Type 1 process…PUD homeowners must seek their minimum two contractor proposals before making application, and where the contractor indicates in the proposal that it is possible to fix the foundations for those applying without causing harm to the structural elements of any foundation remaining on the platform for a homeowner who has said “no.”

Again, the change noted with regard to multiple PUD units on the same platform will not take effect until April 18, 2019. All other terms and conditions of the CFSIC program will apply, including the current prohibition of more than four units on the same platform.

To learn more about the current application process for PUDs and condos, click here.

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If you have any questions about the operation of the program, ESIS is your best source of information on your claim, and their phone number and email are shown below.

Phone: 844-763-1207

Email: cfsic@esis.com

As you work through the information and application process, here’s how you can get help:

– Call ESIS (the claim adjuster) at: 844-763-1207

– Email ESIS at: cfsic@esis.com

– Email CFSIC at: info@crumblingfoundations.org

To view a video of how to complete an electronic application, go here.

To apply for a Type 1 claim, go here.

To apply for a Type 2 claim, go here.

To learn more about the program, if you are a homeowner, including application help, go here.

To learn more about the program, if you are a contractor, go here.

Michael Maglaras, Principal
Michael Maglaras & Company
Superintendent, CFSIC