ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rebuilding has finally resumed inside Reza Razavi’s rental on the water in St. Pete Beach.
“We were able to complete some of our baseboards,” he told us during a recent tour of the two-bedroom unit in Pass-A-Grille.
Razavi contacted us a few weeks ago when his mortgage lender, TD Bank, refused to cash an insurance check he received for $20,000 for damage caused by Hurricane Milton. The check is considered an advance and lets him begin making repairs and mitigate damage while his full claim is still being processed.
Related: Bank refuses to let some Florida homeowners cash hurricane insurance checks
“It’s terrible because you have the funds, but you can't have access to funds,” he said.
It’s not unusual for mortgage or lien holders to require proof of work before endorsing an insurance check, but in Razavi’s case, the notarized document he provided along with his contractor’s estimate wasn’t enough.
Razavi said TD Bank wanted a copy of his claim adjusters report, which is backlogged by at least a month because of Florida’s back-to-back storms this summer.
The bank’s refusal to hand over the money forced the property owner to take out another line of credit so he could make the needed repairs to the unit, which had extensive water damage after Milton.
Less than two hours after Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone contacted TD Bank for answers earlier this month, Razavi got the call he was hoping for.
“One of the managers contacted me and said they have endorsed the check and we can deposit it. So we got the money,” said Razavi.
In a recent statement, a spokesperson for TD didn’t explain why it delayed endorsing Razavi’s hurricane insurance check but stated they were “pleased” to reach “a positive resolution.”
Here's the full statement from TD bank:
"TD always works with customers experiencing hardships and anyone needing assistance should contact TD directly. Again, we're pleased that we reached a positive resolution for this isolated situation.”
Razavi said in addition to cashing his check, TD bank also sent him an apology letter.
“I was grateful for the apology,” he said.
For Razavi, the money helps him rebuild so his tenants can move back and everyone can move on.
“If it wasn't for you guys, our voice would have never been heard. That's just a plain truth,” he said.
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