[FoCHAT] CHATNews: Housing Task Force Meeting: Open to Public on Monday

[Melanie Ehrlich]

 Dec. 3, 2009
Dear CHAT Members,
Note that the presentation on Monday at UNO at the LRA Housing Task Force Meeting from Beacon of Hope will probably be about collecting data about compliance with Road Home covenants.
To make public comments at the meeting on any topic relevant to the LRA housing program, look for the sergeant-at-arms (an official looking guard) and ask for a card to sign in for making comments. 
You may read your comments if you like to help you stay in the 3-min time limit.
You need not come to the beginning of the meeting to make comments.
AGENDA and MEETING NOTICE
Louisiana Recovery Authority Housing Taskforce
Monday, December 7, 2009
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
University of New Orleans Research and Technology Park
Lindy C. Boggs International Conference Center
Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans, LA
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Pledge of Allegiance
4. Chairman’s Comments
Walter Leger
5. Executive Director’s Report
Paul Rainwater, LRA
6. Small Rental Property Program Update
Robin Keegan, LRA – Deputy Director
Brad Sweazy, OCD – Small Rental Program Manager
7. Multifamily Housing and Piggyback Program Update
Robin Keegan, LRA
Annie Clark, Louisiana Housing Finance Agency – Policy Director
Thomas LaTour, OCD – Piggyback Program Manager
8. Rental Housing Market Study Scope and Discussion
Robin Keegan and David Bowman, LRA
Janet Howard, Bureau of Governmental Research
Allison Plyer, Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
Ivan Miestchovich, University of New Orleans
9. Beacon of Hope
Denise Thornton, President, Beacon of Hope
10. Public Comment
3 minutes maximum per speaker
11. Closing Comments
Walter Leger, Chairman
 
“It's been almost three years since Don and Virginia Ellis collected a Road Home grant for 5800 Bellaire Drive and quickly sold the empty lot and garage to Stephen E. Campbell for $280,000. Under Road Home covenants, which Ellis said Campbell agreed to follow, Campbell has less than five months left to build a new house and move in. But if he doesn't, the state would likely go after the Ellises, not Campbell, to recoup the grant. Campbell couldn't be reached for comment. The empty lot was photographed on Friday." 
http://www.nola. com/hurricane/ index.ssf/ 2009/11/road_ home_rebuilding_ is_laggin. html
 
 
>From John Murden, Certified Appraiser:
Here are a few ways to check to see if you have Chinese drywall.  Typically the backside of the drywall (sheetrock) has made in China printed on it. 
 
Remove the in-take air return vent to your central air conditioner. This is typically where your air condition filter is located. 
 
If your central air & heat system has door access, look inside at the back of the drywall (sheetrock) for the markings. 
 
If you have attic access, move some of the insulation to see the writing on the back of the drywall (sheetrock).  Do not put any weight on the drywall, only put weight on the wood framing.  Drywall (sheetrock) will not support your weight.
 
 
 
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/12/chinese_drywall_reports_being.html
 
Chinese drywall reports being compiled by Louisiana Recovery Authority
By Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune 
December 03, 2009, 6:00AM
J. Pat Carter/The Associated PressChinese drywall is believed to emit sulfur gases that corrode metal and make people sick. 
The Louisiana Recovery Authority is urging Louisiana homeowners with defective drywall from China to call a hotline next week to report problems, thus giving the state ammunition to push for federal assistance, the group's executive director told a special Senate Insurance Committee meeting in Mandeville Wednesday night.
 
So far, only 372 Louisiana residents have told the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that they have defective Chinese drywall, even though 4,000 to 7,000 people in Louisiana are believed to have it in their homes. 
 
Paul Rainwater, executive director of the recovery authority, said that to get help from Congress and agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the state needs to prove that lots of people have been affected. 
 
The drywall, which is believed to emit sulfur gases that corrode metal and make people sick, has been discovered in 32 states. Rainwater said the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is leading the investigation into the problem, has asked all states with drywall problems to come up with lists of affected residents by Dec. 14. 
 
The LRA, Rainwater said, will set up a hotline this weekend for Louisiana residents with defective drywall from China to report their situation. The information, which will remain confidential, will be tallied in a letter that Gov. Bobby Jindal will send to the safety commission and then compiled with lists from other states. 
 
"We're going to have to get heavy outreach," Rainwater said. "We have to prove our point. We're going to work as hard as we can for some kind of resolution."
 
Rainwater's comments came at the end of a three-hour meeting where New Orleans area residents recounted horror stories including health problems, homes that have been rendered unlivable, dropped insurance coverage and denied mortgage refinancing applications because of the drywall.
 
Sen. Julie Quinn, R-Metairie, a Senate Insurance Committee member who represents Jefferson Parish and parts of the north shore, scheduled the special meeting outside of Baton Rouge, so state lawmakers could hear people's stories directly before the Legislature goes into session in March. 
 
Insurance has been one of the major headaches for consumers with Chinese drywall, because carriers have universally been denying claims, and in some cases, dropping coverage for people who make them. 
 
At the meeting, State Farm and Allstate, Louisiana's largest residential insurers with about half of the households in the state, said they have denied claims because they believe that coverage would be excluded because the drywall is a defective material. 
 
But George Sutton, a representative of Louisiana Farm Bureau, a top-five insurer in the state, said Farm Bureau believes that while the drywall wouldn't be covered because it's defective, any losses caused indirectly by the drywall, such as corroded appliances and wiring or soft furniture that absorbed the toxins, would be covered. 
 
"It is my opinion, that ensuing losses under drywall would be covered," Sutton said. 
 
That's good news. While people may be disappointed that drywall wouldn't be covered, the cost of replacing wallboard pales in comparison with the cost of rewiring a house, or possibly demolishing it if the studs have been corroded. 
 
Quinn asked Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon his opinion on whether "ensuing losses" caused by Chinese drywall are covered. Donelon said that he gets asked all the time to offer opinions, but since they're not legally binding and courts ultimately decide, whenever litigation arises on insurance questions, refrains from making legal assessments. 
 
"I don't have that power. The courts have that power," Donelon said. "I do not have the ability to tell an insurance company or a policyholder, 'This is the way it is.'"
 
But under pressure from Quinn and Insurance Committee Chairman Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, Donelon said he would consider the question of whether ensuing losses from drywall are covered, and would give the committee an opinion within 30 days. 
 
Meanwhile, State Farm, Allstate and Farm Bureau also said they had not canceled or non-renewed the insurance coverage of anyone with Chinese drywall, and were not planning to. 
 
But Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, who heard Allstate lawyer Tom Clark say that his client had no intention to cancel customers "solely" because of Chinese drywall, and heard State Farm attorney E.L. "Bubba" Henry said that his client had no plans to cancel people "purely" because of drywall, said that sounded to him like there would be situations where insurers could cancel coverage, such as if people move out of their homes. 
 
Insurers stuck to their stories, but conceded that decisions were based on individual situations. 
 
Rebecca Mowbray can be reached at rmowbray at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3417.
 
Best wishes,
Melanie Ehrlich
Co-Chairman, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT)
Member, LRA Housing Task Force
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