[FoCHAT] CHAT News: New LRA/OCD Website Postings on Appeals & HMGP Elevn. Gts.; ICC deadline

Sun Feb 15 10:43:46 CST 2009

 Dear Concerned Citizens,

1. LouisianaREBUILDS.info is a great resource for many different kinds of information. They have links to CHAT newsletters.  Usually, their newsletters are distributed on Wed. and features items like a Contractor Guide, Local Services, Public Safety, Volunteering, Elections, Legal Assistance, Taxes, FEMA flood and advisory maps, Education & Childcare, Hospitals & Clinics, Mental Health, Job Resources, and Job Training Business 

The following entry is from a special newletter sent on Friday featuring important information from our group about extending initiation of appeals and about HMGP elevation grants. (You can also see this information and the links at the top of our website http://chatushome.com)
Important Road Home Appeals and Elevation Information from Citizens Road Home Action Team
CHAT (Citizens Road Home Action Team) has obtained the following important information from Road Home officials as of the second week of February: 

ROAD HOME APPEALS PROCESS
The LRA has just agreed to CHAT’s request to reopen appeals for applicants who believe their Road Home appeal was lost in the shuffle or that they were never able to exercise their right to appeal because their case was stuck in “Dispute Resolution.” 
(See LRA site posting here)  {CHAT Note: we have been told by LRA officials that it will be posted at the homepage at the road2la.org Road Home website too} 

The LRA and OCD will review these cases to ensure that homeowners received due process under the Road Home and that cases did not fall through the cracks. 

For your case to be considered, you can do one of three things: 

Email info at louisianarecoveryauthority.org with "Road Home Appeal" in the subject line 
Call (225) 342-1700 to find out how to request an appeal 
Mail a letter to:
Louisiana Recovery Authority
ATTN: Ty Larkins
150 Third Street, Suite 200
Baton Rouge, LA, 70801 
(certified mail is best; save the receipt) 

HMGP ELEVATION GRANTS
For applicants who received forms to apply for HMGP elevation grants, you can still send in those forms or request another copy if you did not send it yet. 
(See OCD/Road Home posting here) 

If you are demolishing your house and building a new one, your HMGP elevation grant of up to $30,000 is determined by total allowable costs for construction and elevation minus total Road Home grant, FEMA structural damage funds, insurance benefits, and ICC money. 
If you are elevating and repairing your house, your HMGP elevation grant of up to $30,000 is determined by total allowable costs for elevation minus Road Home elevation grant and ICC money. 
For details and to determine your HMGP eligibility to start rebuilding, contact 1-877-744-7235 or 1-225-339-3746 or hazardmitigation at la.gov. 

*Save all building plans, permits, receipts, and other proof of payment of costs to be reimbursed by an HMGP elevation grant, should you be eligible. 

CHAT is a group of citizens from New Orleans neighborhoods that advocates ways to make the Road Home program more efficient and fair. Find out more information at www.chatushome.com

Correction: In our last newsletter, I incorrectly wrote the date for beginning elevation work to (almost) automatically qualify for an HMGP elevation grant as elevation commencement as March 15, 2007; however, it is actually 2008. (Thank you FoCHAT members who called the typo error to my attention).

About appeals:
Note that we still hear over and over about outrageous mistakes made by ICF International, the contractor, that OCD says cannot be fixed or that during appeals just have a rubber stamp put on the wrong data in an applicant’s file

·            One of numerous examples is a rural applicant whose barn was appraised for grant calculation instead of her house; OCD said this could not be corrected even though they admitted the mistake
·             A Times-Picayune editorial recently stated the following about the contractor, ICF International 
§             “ICF's abysmal management of the Road Home program hampered people's recovery from the 2005 hurricanes and caused great misery and hardship.”  http://blog.nola.com/editorials/2009/02/keep_watch_on_icf.html 
·            Opening up appeals to help wronged applicants trying to repair their devastated homes requires fixing appeals to make it  meaningful 

If you try to initiate an appeal under the new offer of contacting LRA (instead of going through the ICF appeals), 

please take CHAT’s online applicant survey: (click here)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=hdEchbm8Vl_2bWFDmxi7E_2f7w_3d_3d  

and write "New Appeal Request to LRA" and the date that you contacted them by phone, email, or regular mail.

or send an email to us: chatlra at yahoo.com and write "New Appeal Request to LRA" and the date that you contacted them.

2. ICC Funding for Demolishing and Elevating Homes For Those Who Are Eligible

http://blog.nola.com/answerspot/2007/10/elevation_funding_awaiting_app.html#more 
Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) funds. There are a number of qualifiers for filing an ICC claim. 

One of the most important qualifiers is that there must have been a flood insurance policy in force at the time of the event. In addition, your home must have sustained damage by flood equal to at least 50 percent of the value of the property. The home would also have to be out of compliance with the communities' flood plain ordinance as it relates to elevation. 

Finally, federal law limits the total payment on a single family dwelling to $250,000. If the original claim payment did not exceed $220,000, then the $30,000 in ICC funding should still be available. You should contact your insurance company to see if an ICC claim can be processed. 

http://blog.nola.com/answerspot/2008/05/icc_has_expiration_date_for_fl.html 
Victims of Hurricane Katrina were granted an extra two years in which they can rebuild with the help of ICC money. This means they have four years from the date of the storm -- or until Aug. 29, 2009 -- to request ICC money. 

For more information: http://www.fema.gov/  or call your insurance agent who provided you with National Flood Insurance. They administer the ICC grants. 

3. NEXT CHAT MEETING: 
Wed., Feb. 18. Newcomers are welcome
Place: Room 179, UNO Milneburg Hall, Building #24, on Milneburg Rd. (the road where the brand new dorms are, past the stop sign and the University Center and opposite the Fitness Center). 
Directions (.pdf) 

4. At the Dec. 10 CHAT meeting being televised by Cox 10, you can hear and see one Road Home employee whose silence about RH problems could not be bought with a severance agreement 

Ø      The problems with ICF upper management intimidating employees who made constructive suggestions and the lack of consulting staff who dealt with applicants about the effectiveness of new or ongoing ICF protocols have been confirmed by additional former ICF staff 
·        Many ICF staff members told us they were just as frustrated with the Road Home as the applicants 
Ø      We thank George Blow and COX10 for their dedication to getting the facts about Road Home to applicants! 
Ø      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; Mon., Feb. 16, 12:30 PM;  Wed., Feb. 18, noon; Thurs., Feb. 19, 1:30 PM; Fri., Feb. 20, 2 PM; Sat., Feb. 21, 3 PM 

5. 
Road Home Reps at the Rebuilding Information Station 
Representatives of the Road Home program are available for consultation with homeowners at the Rebuilding Information Station (RIS) office between the hours of 9 am and 1 pm on Fridays only. Homeowners are welcome to stop by to discuss the status of their Road Home application with these representatives. 

The RIS is located on the University of New Orleans Lakefront campus in the Research and Technology Park, CERM Building Rm 103, in the same building as the Lindy Boggs Conference Center. Call (504) 280-5577 for more information, or visit the website. 
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/calendar/Comprehensive/Rebuilding+Information+Station+RIS.htm 

 Best wishes,

Melanie Ehrlich
Co-Chairman, Citizens' Road Home Action Team (CHAT) http://chatushome.com
Member, LRA Housing Task Force
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