[FoCHAT] CHAT: Update on 3/8/08

Sat Mar 8 16:07:57 PST 2008

Friends of CHAT,

  1. Thank you for sticking with CHAT even if you don’t personally need help. 

  Louisiana needs the Road Home fixed for the recovery. 

  So many applicants who went to closing or are waiting for closing are unnecessarily suffering financially, physically and mentally because of fixable Road Home Program that stay unfixed. 

  So many who had to sell their house at a loss out of desperation in 2006, were encouraged by the media to apply to Road Home, and were told in writing or by phone that they would get their grant if their was money left over, are still waiting.

  Meanwhile Road Home is using up grant money for elevations that it could get from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Money that was freed up for the vast majority of Road Home applicants as of Jan. 2008. That FEMA Money might well suffice for elevation allowances at the true cost of up to $60,000 with estimates and receipts instead of blanket grants irrespective of real cost about ICC money received.

  We may need some simple online email or phone help from friends of CHAT in the future. Please stay tuned.

  2. Those still needing help from Road Home are welcome to come to our meeting or take our online survey.

   If you live in the New Orleans area, are still a Road Home applicant, and can attend our next CHAT meeting, you are welcome to give a 3-minute description of your Road Home problem but please practice the timing beforehand and speak from notes to make sure that it is only 3 min.

  Applicants and those who went to closing are welcome to take our survey. You can find the link at http://chatushome.com. If you want us to forward your information to Road Home officials please write that in the last box of the survey and give your application ID number.

  If you need another chance to appeal, please write that in the last box and tell us why.

  3. Below is next week’s schedule for the COX10 Broadcast of the 2/25/08 CHAT meeting with much information for applicants and the announcement of the free LousianaREBUILDS/CHAT housing contractor forum.

  Mon. Mar. 10, noon- 2

  Tues. Mar. 11, 1:30 – 3:30 PM

  Thurs. Mar. 13, noon – 2 PM

  Fri., Mar. 14, 1:30 -3:30 PM

  Sat., Mar. 15, 3:30 – 5:30 PM

  4. Here is what people said about their own Road Home experience at the LA Senate Committee Meeting on the Road Home Program held on Mar. 6 in Gretna from 5;30 PM to 10 PM:  

 Notes from Davida Finger, Staff Attorney (a champion of S. Louisiana's recovery)
Loyola University N.O. College of Law

I have been treated with disrespect every time I call the Road to Home Program.  

>From the start, the information about my home was incorrect.  It had the incorrect value and the incorrect percent of damage.  I have gone through the appeals process and never heard back.  I need to hear back because code enforcement in Jefferson Parish sent me a letter saying that if I didn't fix my house, I would be fined.  I need my Road Home money to fix my house.  I need an answer.  The trailers all have to go too.   

There is inconsistency in amounts of awards from one neighbor to the next.  I live in a small subdivision.  The entire subdivision flooded.  How can property damage values be assessed so differently.  Aren't there guidelines?  Then, I sent back my option letter for one amount and when I went to closing, I got another amount.  No one ever told me.  

I am speaking on behalf of people slipping through the cracks.  No one told me I wasn't eligible for this program.  I was told I had been approved and waited and waited.  I called and called and finally got someone to explain something to me.  They told me I was ineligible.  Then, miraculously, I got an ineglible letter in the mail after that.  This is my house.  What else do I have to do to show ownership?  

They told us were weren't eligible but never told us why.  We wanted to appeal that but we didn't know how.  We want a chance.  

So much of this has to do with the inspector.  It was all up to one inspector to get the damage on our house.  We want a new inspection because the other one wasn't right.  The inspector only looked at the damage that was left.  We asked if they needed anything else like photos or write-up of all the damage before our repairs.  The inspector said no that he didn't need anything.  Now, we don't have enough money to keep going.  We need all the damage looked at.  

The PAL [Road Home casemanger] ignored my calls.   I never got any calls back.  I had to get a new PAL.  My documents are ignored.  No one can give you a straight answer.  This is supposed to be the richest country in the world.  We send all that money to Iraq but we can't rebuild New Orleans.  We're getting the run around like we don't matter here.  

I have been in pre-closing for 11.5 months.  I am about to lose my house.  I am making a choice between keeping the apartment I pay rent for my gutted home that I have to keep paying the mortgage for.  I have submitted everything by fax, mail, certified mail and done that repeatedly because they keep loosing my stuff.  I'm at my wit's end.  If these people would just stop telling us, "we want you to come home."  Because if they do, just give me my money so I can rebuild.  

I'm having palpitations so bad right now because I'm so nervous.  The only thing I got was a letter.  But that letter never told me I was ineligible.  But now they say I'm ineligible.  Why?  
After this woman spoke, an OCD program administrator shook his head no.  Senator Murray asked the program managers not to tell the people that something didn't happen when they just stood their and said it did.  Then he said, "They are not making these things up," and you need to listen.  
Then, Senator Shepperd said, "If this all typical, this is horrible." 
The OCD program manager then said he was shaking his head no because the information she got from the Road Home advisor was incorrect, not because the applicant was.  

I sent in my yellow letter.  Then I got an ineligible letter.  I'm having the same problems as other people.  I didn't even know there was a PAL system.  I don't have a PAL.  This information isn't relayed to us.  I'm on an ineligible list and they say I'm "froze" because of that.  

When I did my application I was unemployed.  But I got a job and they calculated that 8 weeks of work as if I made that much for 12 months so they say I make $70,000.  No  way.  Every time I talk to someone, no one knows what's going on.  They put me on hold.  I don't know who to call.  No one has a phone number for the title company.  

I lost 7 rooms of furniture and had lots of damage.  I got my award.  But, is it too late for me to appeal.  I don't know.  I closed last February.
            OCD's answer:  Yes, it is too late to appeal.  Appeals must be made within 90 days of closing.  
  CHAT RESPONSE; IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO LATE FOR AN APPEAL BECAUSE NOW APPEALS IS SUPPOSED TO BE GREATLY IMPROVED AND NOW APPLICANTS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO GET ALL THEIR DATA, WHICH WAS NOT POSSIBLE BEFORE JAN. 1 2008. ACCORDING TO ROAD HOME’S OWN POLICY NUMBER CP100C (SEE http://chatushome.com for more explanation), WHICH WAS SIGNED BY THE HEADS OF THE STATE AGENCIES CALLED LRA AND OCD, ROAD HOME IS SUPPOSED TO GIVE PEOPLE A SECOND CHANCE AT APPEAL WHEN THE POLICY CHANGED IN THEIR FAVOR.

I call Road to Home every day.  I'm told that I'm in verification stage.  It is a big secret: what are they verifying?  Then, I got my award letter.  I called all the way to Baton Rouge.  I was told I was closing in one week.  Months go by.  I was told I was ineligible.  I have to start all over.  I have to do everything again.  They need the CAD report.  It took me three months to get that from Road Home.  Now, what am I supposed to do?  No one can tell me.  

Tonight I'm hearing about the additional compensation grant for low income people.  How come I never knew about it?  Can I get it now?  

  5. Notes from CHAT: 

  Within the last couple of weeks, CHAT has received multiple complaints from applicants that they still are being informed by phone of the outcome of their appeals or of notice the amount of their award. When they ask for this in writing they are told that they cannot get it. 

  We are receiving many complaints about applicants not getting the data in their files and some even told that they cannot have copies of those data, including pre-storm appraisals, CAD reports. How can applicants make sure that they get the highest pre-storm value (PSV) in their file (see highlighted sentence from LRA press release below), if they cannot get a copy of their file sent to them? Two 2 weeks ago, officials told me that applicants get a copy of their entire file sent to them by mail within two weeks of asking for it. 

  We are hearing many applicants having trouble with the new case management (PAL) system.

  Road Home has not informed applicants by letter about the written documentation policy (CP189G), field review appraisal policy (CP188a), or the pre-storm value policy described below.

  March 5, 2008

  Media Contacts:

  Christina Stephens 
  Louisiana Recovery Authority
  225.603.3896
  christina.stephens at la.gov

  GeGe Roulaine
  Office of Community Development
  225.219.9737
  gege.roulaine at la.gov

  State Outlines Changes to Road Home Elevation Calculations, Appraisals

  BATON ROUGE, La. (March 5, 2008) - To speed the payout funds to homeowners and in recognition of the cost of elevation, most homeowners will receive a flat $30,000 for elevation through the Road Home program, the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and the Office of Community Development (OCD) announced today.

  Rather than each homeowner having an individual elevation grant calculation, homeowners will receive standard elevation amounts through the Road Home program, based on the type of home they have, at the following levels:

  Site built homes and modular homes: up to $30,000 elevation allowance; 
  Mobile homes: up to $20,000 elevation allowance.
  "This across-the-board formula will give most homeowners a flat $30,000 for elevation, which will cut through the red tape of individual grant calculations, speed the pace of payouts to homeowners and bring elevation awards more in line with actual elevation costs," said Walter Leger, chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority's (LRA) Housing Task Force. 

  Homeowner compensation through the Road Home is still capped at $150,000 per applicant. Almost 2,000 applicants have already received their elevation awards and will be eligible for additional funding if they received less than they would under the new policy provided the new amount does not exceed the total Road Home program cap of $150,000.

  For all homes, the policy change makes the program conform more closely to estimates by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the actual cost of elevation.

  The state announced in late February that homeowners who qualified for elevation awards would be receiving information about the program over the next several weeks. The state anticipates that the first elevation awards will be paid this spring. The elevation program was originally put on hold in April 2007 after concerns over a potential shortfall in the Road Home budget.

  Louisiana will also run a second elevation program using Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds beginning this summer. This program will help Road Home applicants cover the gap between their Road Home elevation awards and the actual cost of elevation. 

  In addition, the state announced Wednesday a change to the Road Home program regarding a full appraisal, called a 1004. This change will affect applicants who dispute their pre-storm value or submit a post-storm appraisal of their pre-storm value that exceeds the acceptable value based on existing Road Home policy. 

  Under the new appraisal policy, applicants will be given the option to request a 1004 appraisal or accept the highest valid pre-storm value currently in their file. If the applicant requests the 1004 appraisal, which is most similar to a full appraisal for real estate transactions, it will represent the final pre-storm value of their home. If the new appraised value is higher or lower than what is currently in the homeowner's file, it will result in an award calculation adjustment. This adjustment would result in either additional funding or a reduction in funding to the homeowner.

  6. In case you missed this Times-Picayune article, here is the link:
  http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/elevation_grant_rules_change.html

  Elevation grant rules change
  by David Hammer, The Times-Picayune Wednesday March 05, 2008, 8:21 PM
  Louisiana has again changed its rules governing grants to raise hurricane-damaged homes. 

  It also has adjusted Road Home program rules for establishing pre-storm values, which are critical to calculating many of the grants. 

  Best wishes,

  Melanie Ehrlich

  Founder, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT)
  Member, LRA Housing Task Force

  http://chatushome.com
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