[FoCHAT] 1/27/07 FoCHAT emails

[Melanie Ehrlich]

Harry,
   
  Please wait until the end of the week and then let's have an email discussion again via chatlra at yahoo.com (please see below).  In fact, tomorrow I will communicate your main point to a RHP official anonymously and convey the sense of your anger. Always, if we transmit information from an individual to RHP officials, we either make it completely anonymous or ask the individual's permission first.
   
   
  All,
  What is hopeful is the level of discussion with RHP/ICF officials and CHAT is increasing and the pressure from the press is increasing mightily. We may well be close to a breakthrough in the low-rate-of-closings bottleneck. 
   
  In addition, we were told that ICF has hired many more Resolution Team members and people to answer phones in person and that their application-tracking system will very soon be improved. CHAT was polite but forceful about the posting of the rules at the Friday meeting, got a partial yes, and we will continue to insist on a full posting throughout the week. 
   
   If these things do not happen, be assured that CHAT will find other strategies. Some of us at CHAT, at this point have spent very many hours in face-to-face, phone, and email discussions with RHP/ICF officials and very many hours studying documents, and gathering important information from CHAT and FoCHAT members and from very many applicants who are not members of our group. A tremendously important advance was made by CHAT in early detection of major problems in the closing documents that we were promised would be fixed this week with strong input from a CHAT member.
   
  Please remember, as attorney and CHAT Co-Chairman Frank Silvestri said, the wrong legal suit will be horrible for tens of thousands of applicants and might permanently kill the program. Moreover, ICF does not make policy, such as whether to post rules. That was underscored at Friday's meeting. In addition, CHAT knows that if we ask ICF to do certain extra steps, it will delay the whole machinery. We are pushing them hard to simplify.
   
  Now with our FoCHAT network, we can keep FoCHAT members better informed. Members may send occasional emails to fochat at thinknola.com with important, new RHP information. However, with such a large pool of FoCHAT members, we must limit the number of emails so as not to cause more FoCHAT members to leave the network than did this week with the flurry of emails. We do not intend this network to function like a regular yahoo chatgroup. If it did, it would be too difficult for us. Many of us are so very busy with jobs, families, houses, and fit this work into a busy schedule. Nonetheless, CHAT has made major impacts for achieving 3 large-scale improvements in the program and we hope for more including those mentioned above.
   
   
  All FoCHAT members are welcome to send emails with any serious comments, opinions, or suggestions (does not have to have new RHP information) about the RHP to chatlra at yahoo.com. All those emails will be read and considered. Please put "FoCHAT Comment" and your name and date in the subject. I will ask one of the CHAT or FoCHAT members to make a compilation of them and we will find a way to make them available to CHAT and FoCHAT members. 
   
  Best wishes,
   
  Melanie
   
  Melanie Ehrlich

 
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