July, 2009: Applicants’ Posts About the LA Road Home Program for Aug., 2005 Hurricane Victims
Dear Applicants of the HUD-Funded Louisiana Road Home Programs,
If you were or are an applicant to the Road Home Homeowner Program or the Small Rental or Piggyback Programs, please comment on your experiences with their grant assistance or processing for victims of Hurricanes/Floods Katrina or Rita.
Please give your full name and city within the post itself at the end of your comments in order for us to post it.
See http://chatushome.com for information about the Road Home Program and our grassroots organization, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT).
Thank you,
Melanie Ehrlich
Founder, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT, founded Sept., 2006)
Member, Louisiana Recovery Authority Housing Task Force
June 26th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
We were lucky in that we did get our grant money within a year of applying for the program. Most of our neighbors were denied. I don’t quite understand why, as we all got the same no nine feet of water.
Laura LeBon
New Orleans LA
July 1st, 2009 at 5:06 am
Last week had a visit from GOHSEP ( governors office of homeland security and emergency preparedness) to see the house in person and take pictures of it elevated. This was the final step in receiving the final HMGP payment for my elevation expenses. Kim Peake with GOHSEP tells me the hold-up is coming from DRU-HMGP, but when I talk to Bill Haygood with DRU-HMGP he tells me GOHSEP is the hold-up. Passing the “hold-up the process buck” blame around. Still I’m having to wait for my reimbersement thus holding-up my repair of the house. Keep in mind that peripheral expenses elevating the house might be elegable for reimbersement. At this time I’m gathering receipts.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:02 pm
We had water up to the ceiling fan blades and had to pay off our mortgage with our insurance money because we couldn’t afford to pay both our rent and mortgage indefinitely. Of course, that left us without enough money to rebuild. It seemed like it took forever, but we made it back home 28 months after the canal walls fell down. We felt it necessary to rebuild elevated so our home now sits above the Katrina Flood Line, but is 1/3 smaller due to budget.
We couldn’t have made it home had it not been for our new mortgage through the SBA and the grant from RHP. Naturally, the RHP grant went straight to SBA to pay down the mortgage to an amount a few thousand more than our Pre-K mortgage principle. RHP gave us our rebuilding money in September of 2007. Our loan from SBA a few months earlier allowed us to start rebuilding during the Spring of 2007.
That said, we had miserable experiences with ICF and the state department of administration. They lied, made broken promises, went back on their word, would not return phone calls or mail or emaIls. They herded thousands of us in a line outside a hotel in the sun in August for a mass closing and had elderly people. The state and their contractor made up stupid unfair rules and blamed the crazy stuff on HUD and after a couple of years HUD finally steps up and says ‘we never told you it had to be done that way. The clowns didn’t realize they were going to run out of money until CHAT told them. Then, CHAT and everyone else everywhere got Congress to give us billions more. DID ICF & the State do the right thing and distribute it where it was supposed to go? No, they continued to nickle and dime and cheat homeowners every which way they could. There are many stories of stress related deaths, including suicides, where relatives attribute the death to dealing with ICF and the state.
Some of the behavior by ICF and the State was criminal. There should be an investigation into these RHP operators. Next to the Corps, the RHP has been the next most major cause of death of New Orleanians. Due Process? Very rarely? Civil and human rights violations? Many.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Former U. S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales PROMISED…..”ZERO TOLERANCE OF KATRINA FRAUD!!” Dealing with the Road Home Program falls under this in my opinion and why is the U. S. Dept. of Justice not investigating and prosecuting? This is FEDERAL MONEY and why is the U. S. Dept. of Justice not looking out for this federal money and how it was spent and by whom?
Should we all ban together and sue the U. S. Dept. of Justice to make them enforce the laws?????? What are your thoughts?
July 24th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Hi. Please allow me first to refresh everyone’s memory about what my neighborhood looked like the first time anyone was allowed back in. My immediate neighborhood sits within blocks of one of the several levee breaks that flooded the city of New Orleans on August 29/30, 2005. We came back and saw many dozens of balls of organic soil (some over six feet in diameter) strewn about within the first 300 feet or so of the levee break itself. Where houses once stood, there was only mud and soil and random household items that were once prized possessions of the residents who once lived in the houses that no longer existed. Once past a hundred feet or so of the break, the houses survived, but were pushed (by the force of the water) into neighboring houses or into the middle of the streets. As we got past that, there were houses on their own lots with the exterior siding torn off by the force of the water as it gushed through the levee break. As we crossed the street we were still walking gingerly atop a layer of mud and household debris as we made our way to our properties. Inches of moist and pungent soil covered everything less than four feet tall. Anything less that nine feet tall was pretty much still wet, covered in mold and mildew, and falling apart. This is the zone that my house was in. A good friend has a house that got about seven feet of water, but was far enough away from the turbulence that at least her ruined belongings were recognizable and still in the rooms that they had been in when they evacuated. For the most part, my friend’s house looked exactly the same as it did before the levee breaks, just very wet and moldy. My belongings, on the other hand, had been tossed about through my (still structurally sound) house as though in a blender. Pieces of furniture that three men had struggled to get through the doorways months earlier were now in rooms far away from where they had sat as we evacuated. My neighbors’ house was in a similar condition to mine.
Like me, my neighbors had Type 1 damage (more than 51%), but unlike me, were listed as Type 2 damage. I got a full grant and they got nothing. We both got nine feet of water. I own a traditional house. They have half of a two story double. Luckily, my neighbors had insurance on their home and on a rental across the street that they owned outright. They used the combination of the two insurance settlements to fix their home, but the house that once provided rental income for them, and more neighbors for me, still sits gutted. Nicely gutted with the grass cut and openings neatly boarded and everything, but still uninhabitable. Had they gotten the Road Home Grant that I believe they deserve, I would have another neighbor home, another New Orleanian would have a place to come back to, and they’d have the income they counted on pre-K (in the form of a renter for that house).
This family isn’t the only household on my block to be denied any compensation from the Road Home Program. My question is this: If we, who bore the brunt of the water’s destructive energy (as it surged through our streets on its way to the rest of the city) as well as the water’s saturation (for weeks on end), aren’t eligible for compensation grants, how is it that people in other parts of the region who got far less water damage are eligible for compensation grants at all?
P.S. I can’t compare wind damage as there was precious little wind damage anywhere in my neighborhood.
August 9th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Six of Sixty Emails Sent in May, 2009
To Key Congressmen About the
HUD OIG Complaint Dealing with Waste of Taxpayer Money and Serious
Mismanagement of the Road Home Program
These have been made anonymous but CHAT has the applicant’s contact information.
From: Applicant #1
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To: chatlra@yahoo.com
Dear Sens. Landrieu, Vitter, and Lieberman and Rep. Olver,
Please impress upon the HUD OIG to conduct a fair investigation of the Louisiana Road Home Program without delays. I am a senior, in New Orleans , who has gone as far as possible to maintain my residency. Due to all of the delays, I am now in foreclosure with Wells Fargo and will soon not have a home. I have followed AARP’s advice and made contact with the Louisiana AG and just two days ago I wrote to the White House.
Although my situation may be coming to an end, I know that I am not the worst off of NOLA citizens. In Indiana a young boy lived in the house with his dead mother after they fled NOLA. Of course I could go on with heartbreaking stories but that is not my intention as I am sure many who fled and have found that leaving, even under Katrina circumstances, was the best thing that could have happen for them and their families.
However, for those who have stayed, the struggle to survive since 2005 has not yet reached a final conclusion. Being held in limbo is not much different than waiting at the Convention Center. It is a slow and scary death.
Today is May16, 2009. The mother of a dear friend died this morning at 9:21 a.m. in Chicago . All I could think was “good for her.” No waiting to hear about the corrections in the Appeal Determination Report, no being subject to attacks from mortgage companies because insurance money was used to make her house livable, no fear of hurricane season because the insurance is not paid. Life’s necessities have made it impossible for some of us, on a fixed income (pension) to keep up with rising utilities, medical, and transportation, while maintaining a good credit standing – for me a house note on an adjustable mortgage - and survive.
Our government has become a laughing stock. However, being from the old school, I know no other way to find honorable remedies without turning to that very same entity and plead that you help us remain on the censes record.
Friday, May 15, 2009 8:51 PM
From: Applicant #2
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To:
chatlra@yahoo.com
May 15, 2007
Dear Senators Landrieu, Vitter, Lieberman and Representative Olver,
My property was damaged by the flooding waters caused by Huricane Katrina. Upon entering my subdivision for the first time after the hurricane, I was devastated. It was as if a bomb had been detonated in our small neighborhood. It was such a reassurance to me as well as to all residents of the affected areas of Louisiana to hear from then Governor Kathleen Blanco about the creation of the Louisiana Road Home Program. That was then.
However, the reality of it all is that from the beginning of the program, I have heard as many negative than positive experiences from applicants, including a negative experience of my own. I believe that there has been too much inconsistency and unfairness and I don’t believe that the program has been properly managed. Trying to obtain information from the administrators of the program
is impossible. There is no personal contact available to you, only contact by e-mail, which is not answered.
I believe that as long as no one appears to be held responsible, the problems with the program will continue to exist. Therefore, I will not only encourage you, but implore you to investigate the Louisiana Road Home Program post-haste. I believe the government as well as the citizens of the state of Louisiana and the applicants of the program deserve to know how the funding for this program has really been used or misused. It has been almost four years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. It is well past time for Louisiana citizens to be settled in their communities and homes. However many homes sit incomplete and at the mercy of the Road Home. We are placing our collective hopes in you, our elected officials, to find the answers to the puzzle that is the Louisiana Road Home. Thank you very much for your help in this matter.
Sincerely.
Road Home faux pas
Friday, May 15, 2009 2:42 PM
From: Applicant #3
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” @gmail.com>
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chatlra@yahoo.com
Dear Sens. & HUD:
This has been a very trying time in the delivery of bureaucratic bull. The
phrase; “Louisiana wants you to come home.” is sounding more like a lie
than ever. I may not be the one to write this letter, as I have received the
max grant and have completed my home. However I have friends and
neighbors who did not take on “Road Home” as a job and they remain
wanting.
I have a neighbor who has been turned down on several occasions for any
funds at all. First she received a BPO for a value of $179k on a 1700 sq.ft.
property, when in fact her home is 3000 sq.ft. Later she received a CAD in
the amount of $110,000. which was equal to her insurance settlement, but
the cost of her repairs substantially exceeded that amount.
The rules have changed “in mid-stream” for the good of the LRA and its
revolving employment pool. The array of changes have done nothing to
serve the people on the ground in their recovery. Another friend of mine
in the Chalmette area has resided in a trailer for the past two years on the
front lawn of his home which he cannot complete because “Road Home”
forced him to share is grant with a brother and refuses to grant him the
ACG {Additional Compensation Grant for low-income applicants} which
he deserves.
Another friend of mine waited three years to get “Road Home” to agree to
a reasonable value for her home and now has waited four months for a
closing which has not happened. Disappointment abounds in the life of
New Orleans. Lack of vision at every level of government has caused
stress in more than a few residents in south Louisiana.
–
Yours in the Cause of Common-Unity,
Road Home Program by the HUD Office of the Inspector
General.
Friday, May 15, 2009 7:22 AM
From: Applicant #4
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To: “CHAT”
Dear Sens. Landrieu, Vitter, and Lieberman and Rep. Olver,
The purpose of my letter today to request that you advocate and insist that there be no more delays in a fair investigation Road Home Program by the HUD Office of the Inspector General.
This is important as many people were denied grants due to mistakes made by the La. Road Home and its contractors. In our case, delays to the grant were made by simple clerical errors made solely by Road Home contractors.
Here is an example of our experience: I handled all paperwork and correspondence for my 89 year aunt whose lost her home in New Orleans, (Lakeview) in the aftermath Hurricane Katrina. I live and work in Houston Texas and handled everything related to Road Home Program for my aunt long distance which added an extra burden.
Our journey with the Road Home began in March 2007 with the application to the Road Home. By August 2007, we received and returned the award grant later with NO DISPUTE in the amount of the award. In October, of 2007, we were informed that a succession needed to be done which we knew to be false.
At our own expense, we contacted our attorney and hired a title abstractor to
verify and prove that a succession was not needed and presented this evidence and documentation to the Road Home. By January 2008, Road Home finally agreed that a succession was not needed.
Two more title error searches however remained in our file causing further delays. Another delay
occur when the Road Home Program confused my aunt’s name with that of a deceased person whohad the same first name and last name as my aunt but different middle name. The next error and delay occurred when we were informed that we would be removed from the Road Home grant program because my aunt’s last name was now confused with a street name which matched only the first syllable of her name and connected with a property that had already been sold. The Road Home was ready and willing to deny our grant because of this simple yet very correctable error!
I cannot begin to describe the amount of time, expense, stress, and the hours I missed from my own job in Houston trying to correct these simple errors in our file in order to get through the Road Home process. Had I not been advocating for my elderly aunt, I would have given up! I often felt that the Road Home was purposely making errors so that the grant award would be denied. We were denied a “PAL” even though Road Home rules stated we could have this assistance. Finally in March 2008, I contacted Sen. Landrieu to ask for assistance and was connected with “constituent services” with the Road Home that things began to be sorted out in our file.
I can honestly say, there is no way my elderly aunt could have gotten through this process without assistance and persistence of a relative or friend!
How many more folks like her were denied a grant because of this arduous process due to the mistakes and pure “shoddy” work of the Road Home program?
I urge you to insist on a full and fair investigation of the Road Home by HUD OIG without
delay. Many people have been denied a grant when they rightfully should have received a
grant award to help rebuild their lives.
No More Delays in the Louisiana Road Home Program!
Friday, May 15, 2009 6:54 AM
From: Applicant #5 .com>
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To: chatlra@yahoo.com
Dear Senators Landrieu, Vitter, and Lieberman and Representative Olver:
Following Hurricane Katrina, my family and I moved to North Carolina . When the opportunity
presented itself last year, our family moved home to New Orleans .
Although the Road Home program strung us out for approximately 3 years concerning whether
we — who had sold our flooded home prior to the enactment of the program — would ever be
entitled to benefits, approximately a year ago it was announced that sufficient funds would be
available for us in the “sold home” program. That funding is important to us, as upon our return
to New Orleans we purchased a home in a neighborhood that had been flooded in Hurricane
Katrina, whereupon we engaged in significant renovations to the home.
The matter of calculating Road Home benefits in the “sold home” program is truly simple –
something for which I’m thankful. Representatives for the program have several times informed
me that the calculation as it relates to my damaged property was long ago complete and that the
benefit amount is well-known.
For many, many months I have received no word at all about a Road Home closing, and
representatives for the program not only can’t — but downright refuse — to provide any sort of
time frame within which the benefits might be issued. I’ve heard lately that the current delay is
the result of the change in administrators for the program, even though that switch in
administration was supposed to be engineered to provide as little delay and upset as possible
(and noting that my benefit calculation and closing would appear on the surface to be so simple
that one would think that such “low hanging fruit” would be snapped up in an instant by the new
administrator, in an effort to create at least an appearance that the situation is in hand).
I am one of the fortunate few who could afford to personally arrange for financing for
renovations to the home we recently purchased in New Orleans . That was the difference
between our ability to return and a decision, perhaps, to remain in North Carolina . So many
others are not so fortunate, and, nearly 4 years later, we and they sit and wait for a mismanaged,
administratively-bloated program to trickle out funds as if timing was of no issue.
I know that for many the four-year delay has completely crushed any possibility of return to this
area. Yet, I am aware that there are still Katrina survivors living out of town who are “on the
fence,” who would like to return and who are hoping against hope that the Road Home program
will help make their return a reality. Because with each passing day we continue to diminish the
likelihood that the program will have its intended effect on such deserving citizens, an
investigation of the program as proposed cannot be delayed. I trust that you understand my
position on this.I’m available to discuss any of the foregoing at your convenience. Many thanks for your
attention to this significant and serious matter!
Road Home
Monday, May 18, 2009 6:50 AM
From: Applicant #6 @aol.com” Add sender to Contacts
To: chatlra@yahoo.com
Dear Sens. Landrieu, Vitter, and Lieberman and Rep. Olver,
It has been nearly four years and I am still waiting on the elevation grant that I am approved for. I have contacted numerous people about this and the last three times that I have called I have been told that an agent was working on my file as we speak and I should be getting a check within days. That was six months ago.
I realize that the program is funded by the total money allocated and as soon as they give out the grants they are out of a job but this has gone on for too long.
If you are truly interested in rebuilding the area and stimulating the economy please expedite these monies and we will be able to rebuild. I am looking at an empty lot that I am waiting to build on. I expect to spend $300,000 on the home and I have the blue prints and contractor ready to go. I am waiting on the elevation grant to begin.