New Flood Risk Database for Homeowners Lacks Reliability: UMD Risk Expert

Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business can comment on the implications of First Street Foundation’s new, interactive website providing flood risk data on U.S. homes and properties.

He says: “We have a firm providing scores affecting housing values for which we have no idea the reliability of the models.  This is similar to how models have failed to pinpoint, with anything near accuracy, how fast and how far COVID-19  spreads under various isolating scenarios (See Rossi’s recent op-ed at The Hill: The coronavirus is a problem data models cannot comprehend). [First Street] does claim to have had substantial peer review. However, the validation remains an open issue given that the potential negative effect that such scores could have on millions of borrowers' home values.”

Rossi also can discuss the impending effects of Hurricane Laura, related to his soon to be published study on ‘Hurricane season and mortgage default risk.’

Rossi, prior to entering academia, had nearly 25 years’ experience in banking and government, having held senior executive roles in risk management at several of the largest financial services companies.