[FoCHAT] CHATNews: Taxes; Land-NORA, Lakeview, Fed. Stimulus Money

Thu Jul 16 21:26:26 CDT 2009

July 17, 2009
Dear CHAT Member,
1. Taxes, Declared Casualty Losses in 2005, and Road Home
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2009/07/deadline_for_road_home_recipie.html
Deadline for Road Home recipients to file amended tax returns is looming
by The Times-Picayune Thursday July 16, 2009, 11:22 AM
More Coverage
• April 15 tax deadline has passed, but local accountants say July could be a busy month
• IRS issues tax guidelines for Road Home recipients

The deadline for Road Home recipients to amend their 2005 tax returns to avoid paying taxes on their grant money is approaching. 

Taxpayers who took a casualty loss for hurricane damage in 2005 and subsequently received a Road Home grant face a tax on those grants unless they amend their 2005 returns. The deadline for amending those returns is July 30. 

Local accountants say they're not sure how many taxpayers will seek to amend their 2005 returns by the deadline, which is two weeks away. 

"I think it's applicable to a lot of people, but not everyone is doing it," Jerry Schreiber said at a meeting this morning in Kenner of the New Orleans Roundtable. Schreiber, a Metairie accountant, leads the accounting group. 

Once an amended return has been filed, the taxpayer has up to a year from that date to pay the resulting tax obligation without penalty and interest. But the fact that some taxpayers could end up owing more in 2005 taxes means filing an amended return is not automatically the best option for everyone.
The bulk of the Road Home grants have already been handed out. But those who receive grants in 2009 don't have to file their amended returns until next year. 

2. Federal Stimulus Money Can Be Used For Housing Projects of NORA and other agencies
 http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/aid_extended_to_storm_recovery.html
Aid extended to storm recovery by David Hammer, The Times-Picayune 
Tuesday July 14, 2009, 8:27 AM
In February, Sen. Mary Landrieu failed to convince her congressional colleagues that federal stimulus money should be made available for hurricane housing recovery and not just to stem the national tide of foreclosures.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development granted her wish by reinterpreting the law to make "shovel-ready" rebuilding projects on the Gulf Coast eligible for a share of $2 billion in aid.
"The foreclosure rate from the financial collapse wasn't great for us (in Louisiana), but the foreclosure rate from Mother Nature was quite startling, " said Landrieu, D-La.
The initial batch of stimulus money was distributed based on a formula that depended on the number of home foreclosures in each congressional district. Under former President George W. Bush, HUD considered only foreclosed properties eligible.
In the latest stimulus package, state and local agencies across the country have until Friday to file applications to compete for HUD's neighborhood stabilization money.
And the new HUD leadership under President Barack Obama specifically considered eligible "the redevelopment of demolished or vacant properties for housing purposes."
Storm-affected parishes statewide can apply, but the biggest winner from HUD's ruling could be the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority.
Landrieu said Monday there are as many as 65,000 "distressed" or vacant properties in New Orleans that could be eligible. NORA, however, is homing in on a batch it believes gives it the best chance of winning the grant.
In addition to thousands of blighted properties it bought or expropriated before the storm, NORA is starting to receive the first of more than 4,500 New Orleans parcels that were sold to the state through the Road Home program's buyout option. The Louisiana Recovery Authority says 3,887 of the properties have already cleared an environmental review process, making them "shovel-ready" and thus more likely to win HUD's favor.
Another 3,790 Road Home lots should be eligible in St. Bernard Parish, plus 115 in Jefferson Parish and 15 in Washington Parish, the LRA says.
NORA is applying for more than $65 million so its nonprofit partners can revitalize several hundred properties, and they expect to get a decision from HUD in September, interim director Richard Monteilh said. The idea is to help the agency either redevelop or, at least, eradicate the blight on lots in more sparsely populated areas, the ones that wouldn't otherwise attract private buyers.
"A lot of our properties are going to the Lot Next Door program" in which neighboring homeowners can purchase them, Monteilh said. "Others are going to development companies, but then we have a portfolio (of properties) that are not of interest to developers -- they're not strategically located."
A big focus of the application will be the blighted apartment complexes along Interstate 10 in eastern New Orleans.
"Before, we didn't have the funds to take down those buildings on I-10 . . . but with this money, there will be no lack of opportunity to apply the funds to those horrific, blighted properties, " Monteilh said.
NORA plans to have about a dozen nonprofit partners do the redevelopment work, including Broadmoor Improvement Association, Jericho Road, Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, NONDC, Make it Right, NENA, Rebuilding Together, Project Home Again, Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corp., UNITY-Common Ground, St. Bernard Project and Volunteers of America.
. . . . . . .
David Hammer can be reached at dhammer at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3322.

3. CHAT paved the way for Lakeview RHP Land Regulations
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/sales_of_empty_lots_pushed_in.html
New News: Sales of empty lots pushed in Lakeview New Orleans
by Kate Moran, The Times-Picayune Friday June 26, 2009, 9:47 PM
As its population swells and recovery seems only a few more repaired houses away, Lakeview has begun a major push to unload several hundred Road Home properties that remain a drag on the neighborhood.
The neighborhood's civic association has sought buyers for months through the Lot Next Door program, a citywide effort that encourages home owners to expand their yards by buying the vacant Road Home lot next to their own. While that program continues, the civic association has started shopping unsold property to buyers from all over the region.
To discourage speculators from buying the Road Home lots and then sitting on them, new owners will be required to build on the property within a year. Buyers can purchase only one lot -- or two if they are next to each other and will be merged -- and either the buyer or an immediate family member must live in the home once it is complete.
"This second phase is not intended for developers or land speculators, " said Al Petrie, the immediate past president of the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association. "This is for people to move into Lakeview and build a home to help us get our population back."
Lakeview developed the rules for Road Home lots with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the agency charged with disposing of thousands of flooded houses sold to the state. The civic association is circulating information about the lots through its Web site and at various community events, while NORA will handle the mechanics of the sale.
One such community event, Lakeview Rebuild Day, takes place today. Leaders of the association will be available, and they have invited builders, banks and others who can help potential buyers build a home. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the St. Dominic's gymnasium in the 6300 block of Vicksburg Street.
Ommeed Sathe, NORA's director of real estate strategy, said the agency has tried to tailor its method of land disposition to individual neighborhoods. While the agency has sold bundles of Road Home property to developers in some areas, such as Pontchartrain Park, Lakeview residents asked that the lots be sold to individual buyers who would live on the property themselves for at least three years.
Sathe said more than 200 lots will be available in this latest phase, in addition to others being marketed through the Lot Next Door program. He said they will sell for no less than their appraised value. Petrie, of the civic association, said most lots are appraising between $40,000 and $70,000.
That's less than the asking price of many Lakeview residents who are trying to sell vacant lots. But Sathe argued that the availability of the Road Home lots would not depress values for private owners, especially over the long run. He said the plan will remove excessive supply and ultimately shore up values around Lakeview.
"If these properties get absorbed, it will take off a massive amount of inventory and trigger a building boom that will help Lakeview as a whole, " Sathe said. "Rather than pull down prices, it will stabilize everyone who is trying to sell a lot."
Todd Wallace, chairman of the civic association's NORA committee, expects to receive interest this weekend from former Lakeview residents who tried to buy property through the Lot Next Door program and were denied because of a technicality in the city ordinance that set it up.
To purchase a lot through that program, a buyer had to have a homestead exemption on the property immediately next door. Wallace said many Lakeview residents who relocated after Katrina but intended to return lost their homestead exemption in the interim. They will be able to participate in this second phase of the property disposition program.
Petrie, of the civic association, said state money has been made available to tear down flooded houses sold to the Road Home. The state-owned property now for sale in Lakeview will therefore consist entirely of vacant lots. Petrie said he hoped the program would appeal to buyers looking to build a home and stay a while.
"Lakeview is still a terrific community, " Petrie said. "We're getting quite a bit of interest from young professionals with new families. We're real happy."
For more information about the Road Home lots in Lakeview, including a map of what is available, visit the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association Web site at www.lakeviewcivic.org or call 504.324.2270.
. . . . . . .
Kate Moran can be reached at kmoran at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3491.

Background: CHAT’s Role
For New Orleans Residents: New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) revised its plan for Road Home-acquired land after a public meeting on Nov. 28 in City Hall

As CHAT urged, according to Principle 19 of the LRA Road Home Statement of Principles adapted from CHAT’s Bill of Road Home Rights, the revised and LRA-approved plan has much more emphasis on input from New Orleans planning districts and neighborhoods in determining what to do with land acquired by the Road Home Program (Louisiana Land Trust) 

NORA revised proposal was first approved by the City Council on 12/6/07 and then by the LRA Board on 12/11/07. 

To see this plan at NORA’s website: www.noraworks.org; click here 

For CHAT’s recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the revised NORA proposal after CHAT helped organize a meeting of neighborhood leaders, click here 
4. COX 10 TV’s Airing of the May 27 CHAT Meeting Focused on Our Complaint to the HUD Inspector General 

Thanks to Carleen Dunn and COX 10! 
Wed., June 10, Noon-1:30 PM; Fri., June 12, Noon-1;30 PM; Sun., June 14, 10:00-11:30; Mon., June 15, 8:00-10:00; Thurs., June 18, 8:00-10:30; Sat., June 20, 11:00-1:00;  Mon., June 22, 12 - 2 PM; Fri., June 26, 8-10 AM; Wed., July 1, 3 PM; Thurs. July2, 2:30 PM; Fri., July 3, 3 PM; Sun., July 5, 9 AM; Mon., July 6, noon; Tues., July 7, 1:30 PM; Wed., July 8, noon; Mon., July 13, 4 PM; Wed., July 15, 3 PM; Thurs., July 16, 3:30 PM; Mon., July 20, 3 PM. 

5.  Fair Treatment and Fair Appeals Require Specifics, Responsiveness, & Written Notice 
(Written notification is a RH rule that we strenuously advocated for and is supposed to be in effect: # CP 189a; see chatushome.com.)
A CHAT survey respondant wrote today:
My appeal was SPECIFIC, the reply did not address specifics. Appeal to RH October 2008. Appeal to State 2/9/2009. After the RH appeal I was told that I would be getting about $30,000. Then I was called by another employee and told I would get nothing.
o      The LRA website (but not more visited Road Home website, despite our requests) states the following:
“ For many months we have heard of people 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 the "resolutions" process, which ended earlier this year.
In order to ensure that all applicants received fair treatment under the Road Home, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Office of Community Development 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 us at (225) 342-1700 to find out how to request an appeal or 
Mail a letter to the Louisiana Recovery Authority, ATTN: Ty Larkins, 150 Third Street, Suite 200, Baton Rouge, LA, 70801

Tell us about your situation with a Road Home grant, a Road Home elevation grant, or HMGP elevation funding by contacting us at:
 chatlra at yahoo.com, 
our blog at http://www.chatushome.com/blog/?p=55#comments,  
or taking our survey (link at http://chatushome.com) or giving us a survey update. 

Best wishes,
Melanie Ehrlich
Founder, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT); http://chatushome.com
 Member, LRA Housing Task Force (last meeting  February 6, 2009)

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