Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/23/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  First Street’s untrue flood risk assessment, which appears on numerous realty websites is hampering the sale of our house. First Street assigned our property at ** ******** ***** ********** **, a 10/10 Extreme Flood Risk factor. This is absurd for at least three reasons:
  1. It is physically impossible for our property to flood. It’s located above 2500 feet on sloping terrain. Water cannot collect on it. During Helene and the three days preceding the storm, an estimated 18 to 22 inches of rain fell where we live. There was no flooding on our property—none. Rainwater that fell at high elevations drained down the mountainsides and flooded valleys. Mountain tops and mountain sides did not flood, not even during Helene.
  2. First Street’s 10/10, 99.90% flood risk designation for our property is completely at odds with FEMA’s and that of the North Carolina Emergency Management Flood Risk Information System (NCEM FRIS). Both of which rate our property as Zone X (unshaded): an area of minimal risk outside the 500-year flood and protected by levee from 100- year flood zones. So, while First Street gives our property their highest flood risk designation, FEMA and NCEM FRIS give it their lowest.
  3. The flood risk designations First Street’s has assigned to our property and to our next-door neighbors’ defy the laws of physics and logic. First Street says our property has a 10/10 Extreme flood risk, while the adjacent property and the one next to it have a 1/10 Minimal flood risk. It’s not possible for adjacent properties to have polar opposite flood risks. Water doesn’t stay within property lines. Moreover, our house is at the highest elevation among the three, and water flows downhill.
  
  First Street’s methodology, at least for assessing flood risks, is clearly flawed, and its widespread use is causing great harm to many people.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/16/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by First Street Technology, Inc. regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** *******
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/01/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  First Street is a third party contributor with online home sale companies like ****** or *******. I am a realtor with a client selling a home. First Street has this property listed as at Severe risk for flooding. This has been shown to be incorrect. The property is not in the flood area on their maps but yet the will not change the risk factor. We have provided proof with photos, elevation maps, neighboring properties, etc and they refused to help or fix the issues. They will not converse to help fix the issue after initially agreeing their assessment was incorrect. This is damaging to the marketability of the property and upsetting to my clients.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2025

  There is no address provided in this complaint. Therefore we are unable to review and respond accordingly.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/18/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

   

  They provided no solution. They gave no effort to remedy the issue. They simply stated they had no way of knowing what address it was. The address is ********************************************. I am happy to provide any other documentation they may need to resolve the issues. They have not asked or communicated at all.  What are you doing to fix the erroneous information on your website? Many properties are affected by your misinformation.

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/11/2025

  Thank you for sharing the address of the property in question. Our support team did review and respond to the complainant's emails regarding this property and feel that our risk model is accurate. Our maps show 1.6 feet of water accumulating to the property in a 1-in-100 year flood event. Screen shot is attached. The support team previously responded to the complainant to this effect and I have pasted the email below. I understand that Zillow may have been using a different map point for the property that shows it is not in the flood zone, but that is different from our maps and therefore we cannot speak to that particular issue.

  Product Team (First Street) 
  Mar 10, 2025, 7:24?PM EDT 
  Hi ******,
   
  We have reviewed the property, and the flood risk score appears to be accurate. First Street's assessment indicates that the primary flood risk is due to pluvial flooding (caused by rainfall).
   
  The pluvial flooding footprint impacting ****************************;aligns with the surrounding elevation. During a 1-in-100-year storm event, pluvial flooding could result in up to 1.6 feet of water. Heavy rainfall tends to accumulate in low-lying areas, with a large collection of water pooling east of the Scioto River, as illustrated in the attached image.
   
  Additionally, weve included an image that shows the flood layer in the surrounding community, along with the flood scores for nearby properties at risk. The attached image illustrates that the properties at risk of flooding in the surrounding neighborhood will see water pooling due to pluvial flooding during a 1-in-100-year event.
   
  Please let us know if we can answer anything else.
   
  Thank you,
  First Street Support

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/31/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We are trying to sell our property at ********************************************************************************. The property is listed on ****** and has a 8/10 flood risk ranking from First Street. It lists that the last flood at our home occurred in 2001. We moved into our home in 2000 and it did not flood in 2001. This information is not correct. We have lived here 25 years and never had flooding on our property. We believe the lack of interest in our property is the high flood ranking listed by First Street which is inaccurate. If our property would ever flood, our whole city would be flooded. There is a house for sale on Zillow, 2 miles lower than our house right across from the river. The flood risk on this home is 1/10. If our house would flood, the house by the river would be washed away.I have contacted Zillow several times and unfortunately Zillow cannot edit any information they obtain from First Street. Even if First Street maintains control of the climate risk data listed on Zillow, I do think they need to take some responsibility for false and inaccurate information listed on their site.Our issue is similar to a complaint already made against this company. We have 50 wooded acres that is up on a hill surrounded by a state forest. The First Street information states that map and scientific information studied by many professionals is used to calculate this data and is projected 30 years into the future depending on climate change. Anyone who sees our house can see there is not a risk of flooding anytime in the future and if it does the whole topology of our area will be changed which I'm not sure anyone can predict at this ********* the first complaint, we would like an individual, personal response for our particular property, not a canned response or form letter. I have already read that information from the First Street website. I have contacted First Street 5 times and never received a response, except to say they received my email and would respond, which never happened.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/17/2025

  Flood score looks correct based on the property, there is a lake near the home that matches the collection and flow of water, the depth reaches the attached garage but clearly violates the footprint of the building. I've attached some supporting images for our position.  The user's primary confusion from their communication was actually driven by how Zillow lists the risk as they say 'No flooding since 2001' because that is as far back as First Street data goes. It does not imply that flooding occurred in 2001. Zillow will be updating this language in their next release. 

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/18/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  We do not have a lake, we have a small pond on our property that has never been out of its banks. This is the first mention of a lake. You did not mention the lake on your first response.

  Unfortunately it looks like this issue will not be resolved. We have not had any interest in the house we are selling after 21 years. I hope its not because your company has put inaccurate information on our listing. 

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******
  
  
  
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/14/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  First Street rated our flood risk as 9 out of ************************************************ 2001. We have a dry creek bed behind our house. We have owned the property 7 years, and have never seen water accumulated or flowing in that time. Two neighbors have seen a trickle of water twice in 26 years with the worst of monsoonal rains.First Street states that they use high resolution data, but they don't say what that resolution is. We believe it is crude, coarse data that is inappropriate for estimating risk and publishing data on ****** that can affect a home sale. We ask that the rating be changed from 9 to 2.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/19/2025

  Dear *. ********:
  I am writing on behalf of First Street Technology, Inc. (First Street) in response to your March 14, 2025 notice regarding a consumer complaint submitted to your office by **** ******** regarding the property located at *****************************************************************************.

  In the complaint, ** ******** takes issue with the Flood Factor score for the property generated by our Flood models. First Streets mission is to connect climate risk to financial risk. To that end, First Street provides users with free and paid access to otherwise proprietary flood risk data in order to democratize access to that information so users can protect their most valuable asset - their home. Flood Factor is a tool that identifies: (1) if a property has flood from major events in the past; (2) is currently at risk of flooding; and (3) how that risk changes over time because of a changing environment. Flood Factor simplifies flood risk data so people can identify their risk, understand the science, and make informed decisions to prepare for the future, including taking actions to better protect themselves, their homes, their businesses, and their families.

  All properties Flood Factors are based on an extensively peer-reviewed flood model. This model was created thanks to an unprecedented partnership of more than 80 world-renowned scientists, technologists and analysts, who used the best available science and data to build the model. The model allows Flood Factor to incorporate risk from all major types of flooding, including high intensity rainfall, overflowing rivers and streams, high tides, and coastal storm surge. Because these different flood types are often interconnected, they are analyzed independently, then coupled together where appropriate. Flood Factor also takes into account how flood risks will change over time with sea level rise and atmospheric changes over the next ************************************************************************************************************ the future. Our flood models are at the very high resolution of 3 meters. Additional information regarding the data behind Flood Factor is available on our technical methodology page (****************************************************************). 

  
  As we understand *. ********** complaint, they believe that the Flood Factor for the property is incorrect due to the fact that it has not flooded in the past. Our Customer Support team takes user feedback very seriously and passes additional information provided by users regarding their properties to our internal data team for further review. After reviewing this complaint, our data team found that the Flood Factor for the property was accurate based on our model and all available information. Our model estimates the probability that, due to a changing climate, even a property that has not flooded in the past may have a relatively high Flood Factor if it is in an area where heavy rain events are expected to become worse, and more frequent, over the next 30 years, like this one. This is why homes that fall outside of a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area may still have high Flood Factors indicating high risk of flood exposure. More information on the differences between FEMA and Flood Factor can be found here:****************************************************************************************************************************;

  
  We hope that our response indicates our commitment to taking customer feedback seriously as we strive to provide a high quality tool for the assessment of flood risk. 
  Please let us know if you have any questions.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******
  ******* *******
  ********************************************************************************************** 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/30/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  First Street has rate the home I am selling as being in a flood zone . They will not respond as I have sent information from fema that shows it is not in flood zone. This is causing the house not to sell.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/10/2025

  Regarding complainant's concerns, we would like to clarify that FEMA zones and First Street Flood Factor are two independent risk assessments. FEMA flood maps are used to determine insurance and building code requirements, whereas Flood Factor can be used to determine flood risk to the specific home today and 30 years into the future. First Street recognizes the importance of FEMA zones as part of risk considerations, and references it within the *************** & FEMA Zone section of our reports. For this property, First Street lists Zone X (unshaded) which is consistent with the complainant's assessment and documentation (screenshot is attached).  Flood Factor shows more flood risk than FEMA, because of differences in the methodologies employed. Flood Factor calculates flood probabilities on the property-level, accounts for changing climate conditions and includes pluvial (rainfall) events as probabilistic flood risks. Pluvial flooding is the source for the up to 1.7 ft. of flooding that could occur in a 1 in 100 event for this property. We encourage complainant and any potential buyers to review the detailed report on ********************************************** for the property to understand the risk and learn more about First Street's Methodology (************************************************).

  The First Street support team has responded to complainant, in contract to the assertion here. Our data team found that the Flood Factor for his property was accurate based on our model and all available information. 

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/11/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:first street has not shown any data as to why they would rate my property as a major flood area, vs the **** map that shows my property is at low risk of flooding. Would like to have the data not just we can see what the world will be in next 30 years. 
  

  thank you for your help

   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *****
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/24/2025

  Per Complainants request, the attached screenshot shows the modeled flood risk for this property in the current year. Model methodology can be found at ************************************************************************************************************ to understand the underlying data. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/12/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  They have the **** ******* listing as   Rare chance of flooding information provided. But listed on *** listing as high-chance of flooding.This has caused me loss of sale of my property. I am going to reach out to Attorney General of Ohio to get this resolved, if they don't change the listing in next 7 days. 
   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *****
  
  
  
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/01/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Our home has been marked as severe on your risk assessment. Our property is 1.66 acres and the land is hilly with the house sitting at the uppermost point (elevated) There is a low point on one edge of the property that runs into a creek bed. According to our neighbors this property has never flooded even when a substantial hurricane came through and the creek bed has never had an issue. We are selling our home due to health reasons and we have had no showings because of this inaccurate rating. Please at least remove this as you cannot see the topography of our land and it is rated incorrectly. Please call us at ************ for any questions. **********************************, ***************************************

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2024

  To Whom it May Concern:

  I am writing on behalf of First Street Technology, Inc. (First Street) in response to the complaint identified as ID ********.

  In the complaint, the complainant takes issue with the risk assessment for the property located at ***************************************, as generated by our Flood Factor tool. First Streets mission is to connect climate risk to financial risk. To that end, First Street provides users with free and paid access to otherwise proprietary flood risk data in order to democratize access to that information so users can protect their most valuable asset - their home. Flood Factor is a tool that identifies: (1) if a property has flood from major events in the past; (2) is currently at risk of flooding; and (3) how that risk changes over time because of a changing environment. Flood Factor simplifies flood risk data so people can identify their risk, understand the science, and make informed decisions to prepare for the future, including taking actions to better protect themselves, their homes, their businesses, and their families.

  All properties Flood Factors are based on an extensively peer-reviewed flood model. This model was created thanks to an unprecedented partnership of more than 80 world-renowned scientists, technologists and analysts, who used the best available science and data to build the model. The model allows Flood Factor to incorporate risk from all major types of flooding, including high intensity rainfall, overflowing rivers and streams, high tides, and coastal storm surge. Because these different flood types are often interconnected, they are analyzed independently, then coupled together where appropriate. Flood Factor also takes into account how flood risks will change over time with sea level rise and atmospheric changes over the next ************************************************************************************************************ the future. Additional information regarding the data behind Flood Factor is available on our technical methodology page (****************************************************************).

  As we understand, the complainant believes that the Flood Factor for this property is incorrect due to the fact that the property has not flooded before and the house sits at the uppermost point on the property.

  Our Customer Support team takes user feedback very seriously and passes additional information provided by users regarding their properties to our internal data team for further review. After reviewing the complaint, our data team found that the Flood Factor for this property was accurate based on our model and all available information. Our model estimates the probability that, due to a changing climate, even a property that has not flooded in the past may have a relatively high Flood Factor if it is in an area where heavy rain events are expected to become worse, and more frequent, over the next 30 years, like this property. This is why homes that fall outside of a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and/or have hills nearby still have high Flood Factors indicating severe risk. More information on the differences between FEMA and Flood Factor can be found here: **********************************************************************************************************************. Our model is property-specific and each property, even neighboring ones, will have individual probabilities and data inputs.  
  

  We hope that our response indicates our commitment to taking customer feedback seriously as we strive to provide a high quality tool for the assessment of flood risk. 

  Please let us know if you have any questions.
  

  Sincerely,
  ****** ***********
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/15/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  Dear ******,

  Thank you for taking the time to respond to our complaint and explaining why you believe your report is accurate.  We were hoping for an individual response about our particular property instead of a form letter.
  We unfortunately do not agree with your assessment of our property as there are factors that are not accounted for and we are unable to find the answers. 
  
  When you state that our property is in this extreme hazard flood zone we would like to know if you know the topography of our 1.66 acres and the exact depth of our land as to where the house sits and where the creek bed lies.  There is a property directly behind our home that is down in a low bottom area by at least twenty feet (if not more) from our home that has the same flood factor rating as our home.  How could this possibly be? 
  
  We also have a family member who lives on the coast of ** and his property has flooded several times with water coming up to his front door just an inch short of coming into the living room and his rating is actually 2 out of 10.  But our property sits up high and we are rated at severe, 8 out of 10.  These two examples (and there are surely many more) show that there is some sort of flaw with your system.  
  Yes, this is a big investment for our family.  ************ has basically labeled our property as unsalable or that it should be deeply discounted from a prospective buyers point of view.  Furthermore, to try to remedy the situation and hire a surveyor or another professional to give data back to you showing the elevation will be costly.
  We see that you are not only benefiting by selling subscriptions but you also have a lot to lose if anyone contests your results because of potential loss of subscribers.
  We are disappointed that there are companies out there that prey on families like ours in order to sell subscriptions and will not waiver when questioned.
  Hopefully we will be able to join in on a class action lawsuit in the near future and stop unethical business practices such as those being conducted by First Street.
  ***** and *** ******
  
  
  
  

   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2024

  To Whom it May Concern:
  

  I am writing on behalf of First Street Technology, Inc. (First Street) in response to the complaint identified as ID ********.

  First Street provides users with free and paid access to otherwise proprietary flood risk data in order to democratize access to that information so users can protect their most valuable asset - their home. First Street provides this information to ensure that the user can take the necessary precautionary measures to safeguard their home.
  

  As we mentioned, all properties Flood Factors are based on an extensively peer-reviewed flood model. This model was created thanks to an unprecedented partnership of more than 80 world-renowned scientists, technologists and analysts, who used the best available science and data to build the model. For more information on the kinds of data used in our Flood model, please visit our Data Docs & FAQ page: *****************************************************************************;
  

  Our model indicates that this property (***************************************) is at risk of flooding. We've included the propertys reports and maps in our response, which detail the model's findings
  

  Our models are continually reviewed and updated with the latest available data, including area, property, and elevation information. As a result, this property, like all others, may see its score adjusted based on new data.
  

  We hope that our response indicates our commitment to taking customer feedback seriously as we strive to provide a high quality tool for the assessment of flood risk. 
  

  Sincerely,
  ****** ***********