[FoCHAT] CHAT News: Sold-At-A-Loss & Lack of Legally Required OCD Reporting-Updates

Sun Feb 1 21:29:41 CST 2009

Dear FoCHAT Members,

1. The Good and The Disappointing About RH Sold-At-A-Loss Grants

It is good that grants are being extended to another class of applicants who were encouraged to apply. 

However, it seems that the very long delays in giving out even the first class of Sold-At-A-Loss grants to those who sold before the RH started might be the arbitrary reference to $100 million in the LRA press release below. Is this cap related to saving money for the "SURPLUS"?

This could explain why there are no additional compensation grants for low-income Sold-At-A-Loss applicants.

http://road2la.org/news_releases/hud_sold_home_012309.htm
For Immediate Release
HUD Approves Road Home Change to Aid More 'Sold Homes' Applicants
BATON ROUGE, La., January 23, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved the state of Louisiana's request to bring more Road Home applicants into the Sold Homes program, a change which could make more than 800 families eligible for aid.
"Homeowners had to make tough personal choices about what to do with their homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and many times this included selling a home for an extreme loss," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. "By approving this change, the federal government is allowing us to aid more of those families, for which we are thankful."
The approval extends the timeframe until August 29, 2007, meaning that Road Home applicants who sold their homes up to that time, and prior to receiving aid from the program, are now eligible for aid. The previous deadline was August 29, 2006. Before submitting the plan, the state took public comment on the change and it was approved by the LRA's board and the state Legislature.
When the original Road Home action plan was written and approved in 2006, it included a provision to pay grants for applicants who sold their homes at a loss prior to the launch of the Road Home, but only if the program had funds remaining after paying compensation and elevation grants. 
Last fall, the state made "sold home" applicants eligible for program funding and has started processing their applications and scheduling closing appointments for their grants. The change affects an additional 832 applicants; sufficient funds exist in the $100 million budgeted for the Sold Homes program. These applicants had been contacted by the Road Home and their applications will be processed now.
The state sent 5,500 letters to "sold homes" applicants, with 2,964 applicants responding as interested in funding. From that pool, 1,657 applicants have active, in progress applications and another 102 are having their eligibility verified. 
Applicants still must have applied to the program prior to its July 31, 2007, application deadline and completed their first appointment by December 15, 2007. Regulations attached by Congress to the use of the final allocation of Road Home funds do not allow for any new Road Home applications to be taken.
To view the approved plan, visit http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/dr/plans/Amend31-Proposed-SoldHomeDeadline-08-11-05.pdf

2. Update on Problems with the Implementation of the 2008 RH Auditing Law, Act 829, Signed into Law on July 9, 2008 
·         Here are excerpts from Act 829: The Road Home Program; reporting on certain contract payments, subcontractors, and performance.
              http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=504525 

o       Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the division of administration, office of community development, shall report monthly to the Legislative Audit Advisory Council with respect to the contract between the office of community development and ICF Emergency Management Services dated June 30, 2006, as amended. 

o        The report shall contain information relating to subcontractors, inclusive of subcontractors of subcontractors, payments made to any contractor or subcontractor, the value of the contract, contractor performance in the achievement of goals and objectives of the contract, and any penalties which have been assessed for insufficient performance.

·         Mr. Steve Theriot of the Louisiana Legislative Audit Office confirmed as of Jan. 29, 2009 that OCD had not submitted a single required report according to the Legislative Audit Advisory Council as specified by Act 829. This council is supposed to receive monthly reports about the ICF contract, including, ICF performance measures. The Council has asked for such reports but not received them despite this law being in effect since July 9, 2008.

·         The reports that are furnished to the Louisiana legislature are from ICF and to the Joint Budget Committee (click to see Contractor and Subcontractor info posted at our website chatushome.com)

Angele Davis, Commissioner, Department of Administration, Louisiana, is responsible for setting up the format for this reporting by OCD (not ICF) that is supposed to be occurring monthly and is overdue since August.

3. Thanks to Cox 10 and UNO, the 2-hour CHAT meeting on Dec. 10, 2008 about Road Home Contradictions has been/will be shown on:
Tues., Dec. 16, 4 PM; Wed., Dec. 17, noon; Thurs., Dec. 18, 8 AM; Tues., Dec. 23, noon; Thurs., Dec. 25, noon; Fri., Dec. 26, 8 AM; Sat., Dec. 27, 4:30 PM; Sun., Dec. 28, 1 PM; Mon., Dec. 29, noon; Wed., Dec. 31, 2 PM; Thurs., Jan. 1, 1 PM; Fri., Jan. 2, 8 AM & 6 PM; Sat., Jan. 3, 3 PM; Mon., Jan. 5, 1:30 PM; Tues., Jan. 6, 3 PM; Wed., Jan. 7, noon; Thurs, Jan. 8, 4 PM; Fri., Jan. 9, 1:30 PM; Sat., Jan., 10, 3 PM; Mon., Jan. 12, 4 PM; Tues., Jan. 13, noon; Wed., Jan. 14, 2 PM; Thurs., Jan. 15, 2 PM; Fri., Jan. 16, noon; Sat., Jan. 17, 3 PM; Mon., Jan. 26, 4 PM; Tues., Jan. 27, noon; Wed., Jan. 28, 4:30 PM; Thurs., Jan. 29, noon; Fri., Jan. 30, 3 PM; Sat., Jan. 31, 4 PM; Mon., Feb. 2, noon; Tues., Feb. 3, 4 PM; Wed., Feb. 4, 4:30 PM; Fri., Feb. 6, noon; Sat., Feb. 7, 9 AM.

4. Our next CHAT meeting:

Time: Meetings on Wed. at 6:30 PM at UNO, usually every other week 

Place: Room 179, UNO Milneburg Hall, on Milneburg Rd. (the road where the brand new dorms are, past the stop sign and the University Center and opposite the Fitness Center).
Building #24

NEXT MEETING Wed., Feb. 4. Newcomers are welcome.

Best wishes,

Melanie Ehrlich
Co-Chairman, Citizens' Road Home Action Team (CHAT)

If you still have ongoing, unresolved issues with Road Home, take or re-take our survey at http://chatushome.com
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