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Category: CHAT, Road Home Program


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New Orleans Home, Aug. 2007

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Table of Contents

  • Hurricane Katrina’s destruction to 80% of New Orleans’ homes is still largely unrepaired.
  • The Road Home (RH) Program for Homeowners is distributing $10.3 billion of mostly federal funds to more than 120,000 Louisiana homeowners whose homes were devastated in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita or the subsequent flooding. It is administered by the Louisiana State government(Louisiana Recovery Authority, LRA).
  • The Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT) has been working to make the Road Home Program faster, fairer, more accurate, and more transparent and to make sure that the property it acquires is used to the best benefit of RHP applicants. We have had many successes (see CHAT Accomplishments) but there is much that still must be fixed in this program.
  • We will continue to give a voice to those who are being ill treated by the Road Home Program because of being ignored, lied to, or unfairly denied grants; having unfairly downsized grants; denied a full copy of their files or written notifications in violation of LRA rules; being excluded from a chance to appeal under fair conditions; being forced to accept inferior poorly done home valuations or estimates of damage; being denied the chance to put objective documentation in their files to correct mistakes of the contractor ICF International; being ill served by the nature of the administration of house-elevation funding; or being asked to payback money for RH/ICF mistakes and 2007/2008 applicant-unfriendly changes in LRA rules applied in an inconsistent way that have no good justification.
  • To report individual Road Home applicant problems, please fill out our online survey

Join Our E-mail Network by filling out the Join CHAT form or sending an email to chatlra@yahoo.com with “Join CHAT” in the subject and your name, city, and email address in the text

The important 2-hour June 18 CHAT meeting will be showing (thanks again to COX10 and producer George Blow!) on:

  • Tues., June 24, 2 PM; Wed., June 25, 4 PM; Thurs., June 26, 8 AM; Fri., June 27, 2 PM; Sun., June 29, 2:30 PM; Mon., June 30, 3:30 PM; Tues., July 1, 2 PM; Wed., July 2, 4 PM; Thurs., July 3, 8 AM; Sat., July 5, 11 AM; Sun., July 6, 4 PM; Mon., July 7, 2 PM; Tues., July 8, 4 PM; Thurs., July 10, 8 AM; Fri., July 11, 2 PM; Sun. July 12, 3 PM.
  • Follow-up from the June 18-taped CHAT meeting
  • Ask for fair treatment for yourself or your fellow Louisiana citizens with Road Home not ignoring its own rules that are helpful to applicants
    1. Ask for acceptance all homeowner-purchased certified appraisals and checking those that LRA wants to check by field review appraisals
    2. Giving applicants the highest pre-storm value in their Road Home file, as per Road Home written policy
    3. Notifying applicants of awards, dispute resolution, and appeals decisions in writing with details, according to Road Home written policy
    4. Telling applicants who are stuck in the system, what the delay is so that it can be fixed
    5. Giving applicants a complete copy of their file upon request, as stated in Road Home policy
    6. Quickly processing FEMA eligibility for FEMA-HMGP home elevation grants and informing applicants so that they don’t lose eligibility by elevating their home before they get that approval

General Contact Information For This Outreach:

  1. ocd@lra.gov For one part of the state agency in charge of Road Home
  2. Ty.Larkins@la.gov 225-342-1948 For the other part of the state agency in charge of Road Home
  3. allyfunk@la.gov For Gov. Jindal’s constituent services
  4. nfrances@xula.edu For Dr. Frances, Chairman, LRA Board of Directors

For Problems With Determination of Pre-Storm Home Values by Road Home: Please contact:

  1. Ms. Jessie Handforth Kome
    DRSI Division Director
    E-mail: jessie.handforth.kome@hud.gov
  2. Mr. Manuel Ochoa
    Deputy Asst. Sec. for Grant Programs
    HUD
    Wash., D.C., 20410
    Manuel_T._Ochoa@hud.gov

Sample letter or write your own:
The LRA and OCD recognized that AVMs, BPOs, and drive-by appraisals (market analyses) were inaccurate. Therefore, they implemented the regulation called CP188G in November 2007. CP188G allowed homeowner-supplied appraisals from Louisiana Certified Appraisers to be carefully reviewed by an appraiser of Road Home’s choice and not just discarded if they were more than 20 percent higher than the less accurate types of valuations. HUD-FHA insured loan applicants have to use full certified appraisals, (home valuation handbook 4150.2). Please ask LRA and OCD to reinstate the CP188G field review policy for those applicants who disagreed with the Road Home’s inaccurate valuations and obtained a full certified appraisal. In addition, please ask them not to not lower applicants’ award amounts based upon multiple, inaccurate valuations that come up with lower numbers.

Four Popular Road Home Reform Bills Derailed By LRA-OCD & Misinformation

  • The Bills

SB 740 (Senate bill, Road Home Applicants’ Bill of Rights)

SB 636 (Access to Courts for Road Home applicants)

HB 622 (House bill, about LRA Structure, to which a streamlined version of text of SB 740 was amended and then removed)

SB 755 (House bill that passed with some needed help for Road Home applicants but subject to unnecessary delays that LRA-OCD introduced into the bill’s language)

  • Abbreviations
    RH, Road Home Program for homeowners who were victims of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita;
    tens of thousands of RH applicants at financial risk because of failed promises, bungling, and egregious insensitivity to their plight;
    LRA, Louisiana Recovery Authority;
    OCD, Office of Community Development within the Division of Administration, DOA;
    ICF, ICF International, the contractor for the Road Home with many subcontractors including First American Title and Shaw Group affiliates and the Jones-Walker legal firm
    LFO, Legislative Fiscal Office
  • The Main Common Issue For All Four RH Reform Bills

The Main Common Issue For All Four RH Reform Bills: Mistakes And Stonewalling In Grant Processing And Lack Of Corrections Of Shortchanging Mistakes for Thousands Of Applicants

ICF makes large numbers of mistakes in grant processing. ICF and some of its subcontractors are non-transparent in their practices and often refuse to correct mistakes and give needed information to applicants about their own application.
LRA-OCD does not exercise nearly enough applicant-beneficial oversight of ICF and subcontractors to make sure those systemic problems in grant processing are fixed.
LRA-OCD has conflicting policies, some of which deviate greatly from best business practices and even from HUD practices.
In addition, LRA-OCD often does not follow its own most applicant-friendly policies.

  • The Victory

SB 755 passed despite vehement opposition by the Executive branch. It could provide some relief to applicants, including in appeals (see details below).

  • The Official Position of LRA and OCD about Access To Courts

LRA-OCD officially stated that the legislature rejected Road Home (RH) applicants having access to courts for unresolved issues with RH.

  • The Facts About Access To Courts and Appeals Reform That Contradict LRA and OCD’s Official Position

Every one of four RH reform bills had a provision for allowing applicants to get out of the closed circle of mistakes by ICF and subcontractors judged only by ICF/OCD/LRA. Three of the bills had an access-to-court provision and two of them passed the House or unanimously passed the Senate but did not get final passage because of misinformation from LRA-OCD.

  • The Not-Enough-Money Excuse from LRA-OCD

One argument that the Administration was using to defeat RH reform is that there is not enough RH money and the proposed reform would have cost hundreds of millions. Hardly any of the allocated $1 billion from the RH grant pot that is to be given for elevation grants has been given out. They could still follow the original promises and rely mostly on available FEMA-HMGP money for elevation grants of up to $60,000 for actual work done without duplication of benefits.

  • The Legislators Known To CHAT As Champions of Road Home Reform
    (in alphabetical order)

Sen. Don Cravins, D-Lafayette; Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell; Rep. Nita Hutter, R-Chalmette; Sen. Cheryl A. Gray, D-New Orleans; Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette; Sen. Lydia P. Jackson, D-Shreveport; Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin; Rep. J-P Morrell, D-New Orleans; Sen. Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans; Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans; Sen. Derrick Shepherd, D-New Orleans

  • Some Explanation of the Major Issues

Applicants should have the right to go to court for RH issues that they cannot get resolved by RH.
This right is denied by the closing documents that applicants have to sign to get their grant although the same closing documents have a contradictory statement that if an applicant goes to court for a RH issue, they must pay the attorneys fees for the state and its agent (ICF and its subcontractors!) if they lose. This would be the case even if the applicant was promised a grant, signed closing papers, and then was wrongfully denied the money or was asked to pay back a large amount of money because of a fraudulently alleged mistake in grant calculation.

SB 636 was a bill just for access to court for RH applicants. It was delayed an extraordinary 5 ½ weeks before the House Appropriations Committee finally considered it. The fiscal note (http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=501302) was $248 million based upon an estimate of 37,021 applicants appealing from LRA-OCD. This incredible estimate shows how much faith the executive branch has in the acceptance by applicants of the accuracy of grant determinations. The funds are not for court settlements but rather to help the contractor and subcontractors as well as OCD with legal preparation.

SB 740 would have given this access to court and protection against the unusual requirement mentioned above about an applicant having to pay attorney’s fees of the state and its contractors if the applicant lost.

SB 740 would have extended appeals to all applicants under an independent, fair system of administrative judges. These judges used to be at the last level of RH appeal and were well-received by applicants, but were inexplicably dropped from the RH in Nov. 2007.

HB 622 (awaiting the Gov. signature or else will become law if he does not sign and does not veto) involves LRA Board and staff structure. It was stripped of its RH reform amendment.

SB 755 passed both houses and may offer some reflief for RH applicants. See below for details.

  • The Role of the Legislative Fiscal Office In Defeat of Reform By Incorporating OCD’s Inflated Costs Without Evaluation

The first fiscal note for SB 755 had a wildly inflated $3 billion price tag for the bill and did not even distinguish between RH funds and State General Funds for paying this although almost all the costs would be RH (federal dedicated) funds.

The Additional Compensation Grant: LFO (Legislative Fiscal Office), $1.5 billion; corrected to 0.
Apparently, SB740 was misread. There is no additional expense for this provision. It pertains only to “use of unobligated funds” from the Road Home Program. This $1.5 billion mistake was corrected in later versions of the fiscal note.

Highest of Multiple Valuations had huge price tags in the fiscal notes to SB 740 and SB 755.

Most applicants should have had only one home valuation.

  • In the fiscal notes, OCD reveals that tens of thousands of applicants had multiple valuations and the highest valuation was not routinely used (fishing for lower valuations?)

Home valuations (pre-storm value, PSV, the starting point for calculation of most RH grants):
1. AVMs (only desk top and very inaccurate);
2. BPOs with drive-by done by real estate agents (a little better but still no one goes inside the house; these cannot be called appraisals because there is very little documentation of how they get the price and certified appraisers are not required; it all depends on comparables and we know from many sources that the comparables they used were often from far-away homes in very different types of neighborhoods when there were appropriate comps easily available);
3. drive-by appraisals (market analyses); these can be called appraisals because they are done by certified appraisers but they only have to drive by the house; not set foot in front of the house nor in it)
4. full certified appraisals (1004) (these are the only reliable ones, they are required by HUD for HUD/FHA financing of homes; they have much documentation; but RH very infrequently uses them and mostly just in appeals).

  • ICF has done unnecessary repetitive valuations by inferior methods

The fiscal note declares that this was done on tens of thousands of applications without any full certified appraisal (the gold standard that should have sufficed as a single determination).

  • This is not consistent with HUD/FHA policies that require a full certified appraisal for loans.
  • The legislative fiscal office under the advice of LRA-OCD claimed a price of $1.3 billion in 1st fiscal note to give applicants the highest valuation in their file.

1st fiscal note for SB 740 http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=488434

  • Subsequently, this $1.3 billion figure was revised by OCD to $0.5 billion on 5/29/08 after testimony from CHAT at the Senate Finance Committee.

4th fiscal note for SB 740 and fiscal note for SB 755 http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=497732 .

  • So why is LRA-OCD stating that it will cost 100’s of millions of dollars to do this?

Why was the LFO and OCD so inaccurate with numbers as to first use $1.3 billion and then use a number $0.8 billion less for their estimate of the cost of this provision of SB 740?

In addition, the 1st fiscal note for SB 740 stated that Road Home may have violated this highest valuation policy own policy in 65,000 cases
There are 156052-14135 (elevation only) = 141917 applicants for whom RH had to do a grant calculation as indicated at RH’s website: http://road2la.org/newsroom/stats.htm.

  • It is implausible that of the 141,917 grants calculated, RH miscalculated by not using the highest valuation for 46% of the applicants eligible for a grant, as stated by LRO/OCD!
  • Many applicants had their grants inexplicably decreased just before closing by RH lowering the PSV.

For some of these applications, we know that the applicant did not object to the valuation by RH and yet RH did one or more additional valuations and used a later lower one, even though none were the gold standard, full certified appraisal. The contractor, ICF, got more money for every valuation, unnecessary or not, accurate or not.

  • Is limiting appeals a way to bury these and other RH mistakes?

It seems like this is part of a pattern of discouraging applicants from continuing appeals (applicants can’t get their elevation grant while appealing) and from initiating appeals under new supposedly better procedures announced recently by LRA.

  • Excepts from SB 755, the RH Reform Bill That Passed

(Awaiting Gov. Jindal’s Signature or Lack of Veto) But Subject To Delays in Unnecessary Implementation by LRA-OCD

http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=502940

We will have to wait to determine how much relief comes to RH applicants as a result of the passage of this bill. The interpretation awaits clarification.

“In connection with Road Home grant post-closing regulatory
compliance reviews being conducted by the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the office of community development, as to any Road Home applicant who has on or before June 10, 2008, exhausted his remedies of appealing to the Road Home Appeals Panel and further to the office of community development and for whom a decision 1 was issued by the office of community development on or before June 10, 2008, denying the relief sought by the Road Home applicant through his appeal, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the office of community development shall provide the applicant the opportunity to have the applicant’s grant file reviewed by the third person or agency contracted by the
division of administration to conduct the post-closing regulatory compliance reviews. The applicant shall be afforded the opportunity to receive any grant award or additional disbursement which the review process discloses were eligible amounts which should have been awarded.”

“Any certified property appraisal or market analysis conducted by the
Road Home Corporation or the Louisiana Land Trust shall be binding on the
corporation. If more than one certified property appraisal or market analysis is rendered, the property owner shall receive assistance based upon the higher certified appraisal value or the analysis most favorable to the property owner.”

Difficult, delaying hurdles were added to the bill by the Legislative Fiscal Office at the direction of LRA-OCD about extra approvals (Action Plan Amendments approved by HUD, Gov. Jindal, the legislature once again). However, these were not required for dozens of other changes in LRA-OCD policies similar in scope.

Why Was SB740 An Essential Piece of Legislation?

  • The following rights for Road Home (RH) applicants are formally RH policy but have often been denied by ICF; the state executive branch has failed to correct these problems but they would have been corrected by SB 740.
  • Many applicants are still being denied access to their complete files by the ICF and still told that they cannot have access to their own data (in contradiction to RH Policy #189A).
  • Many applicants are still being denied written notice of award amounts, dispute resolution decisions, and appeals decisions (in contradiction to RH Policy #189A).
  • All applicants were never given notice that they are/were entitled to a written description of the current status of their application and details of missing information; a field review appraisal of any previously rejected homeowner-supplied appraisals; and details about their dispute resolution status and outcomes (in contradiction to RH Policies #188G, 189A, and 100C).
  • Applicants need a right to appeals under improved appeals procedures and with a copy of their file so that they can know exactly what mistakes they are appealing.
  • LRA has said that they will not do this even though RH policy provides for extending new appeals if the RH has a “significant” pro-applicant policy change (as stated in RH Policy #100C)
  • Many applicants have been given confusing information about appeals & missed their appeal deadline
  • There has been a chilling effect on appeals that has dissuaded applicants from appealing, e.g., applicants are prohibited from collecting their “elevation incentive” award if they are currently in appeals
  • Many applicants missed the chance to appeal because their dispute resolution was left in limbo precluding them taking the next step of a formal appeal. The state has given extensions to ICF since Aug. 1, 2007, to prove that they don’t owe a fine for up to thousands of applicant disputes resolution that are unaccounted.
  • Feb. 6, 2008 LA Legislative Audit: “We took a sample of 33, or 4%, of the 777 [dispute resolution] issues to determine how they were closed. We could not determine how 27 of the 33 (82%) files were closed because the comments did not provide sufficient details.”
  • Applicants should not have to pay back grant money for RH mistakes because:
    1. this disaster was unprecedented & the grants are often insufficient for rebuilding
    2. the high error rate of ICF: more than half of applicants who did appeals won an average >$30,000
    3. the difficulty that applicants have had in trying to get explanations of their award amounts
    4. the complexity of the rules for grant determination and their changing applications.
  • Why do we keep hearing that HUD requires new restrictive changes in the posted rules (that are making grants smaller and leading to demands for paybacks to RH after closing? HUD had to approve all those rules in the first place. Top state officials told us that HUD very frequently checks all the RH procedures?
  • The RH program expires on June 11, 2009, and yet so many applicants have been shortchanged or wrongfully denied a grant with inadequate attempts at correction. For example, Easter Seal services for handicapped was discontinued, law services for indigent applicants is at risk, and applicants who sold at a loss were told that they probably will get not grant even though many sold because of mold and health problems.

Other New Items Below

  • Road Home Programs official document specifying most recent categories of inactive applications is CP200A
    Earlier classes of inactive applications were defined in CP149C
  • House-Elevation allowances

From conversations with federal officials we have learned the following. Applicants who have signed contracts, bills, and building permits for elevation from before Mar. 16 are automatically eligible for the HMGP elevation grant. Their names still have to be sent by the State to FEMA.

Applicants who did not have proof that they started the actual physical work of elevation by Mar. 16 have to get that approval from FEMA before they sign a contract to elevate. Otherwise, they would not be eligible for HMGP-FEMA money although they would be eligible for the RH elevation incentive.

Even if applicants had not started elevation before Mar. 16, they should only have to wait about 2-4 weeks from the time the State sends their name to FEMA until they get approved by FEMA and then can start their elevation if the State sends them notification of FEMA approval rapidly.

A very small percentage of applicants who have special historical or environmental situations will have a longer delay (up to several months, according to a FEMA official) between the time that the State approves them for elevation allowances and sends their name to FEMA and when FEMA approves them.

  • The LRA unnecessarily decided to use up much Road Home grant money as the main source of house elevation and mitigation allowances? This is the case even though another pot of money that was supposed to be used all along has been available as of January with remarkably little red tape from FEMA Hazard Mitigation funds. See CHAT Newsletters from Feb. 16 – Mar. 9 highlighting elevation allowances and appeals: click here to read
  • AUDITS, DISPUTE RESOLUTION, AND APPEALS
  1. There are different types of audits of the Road Home Program for Homeowner Assistance (RH) that were done or are being discussed for the future.
  2. One important source of audit information is the Legislative Audits, which were conducted on many aspects of state government and are independent of the people who run the RH.
  3. Audits of ICF files would be missing data that it should have, including rejected third-party documentation that homeowners should have been allowed to submit to correct RH mistakes.
  4. In addition, there might be inexplicably missing data from ICF’s files.
  5. Therefore, it is essential that applicants be allowed to obtain their complete, unedited file according to Road Home Policy Number 189A (see CP links below). This policy is supposed to have been in effect since Jan. 1, 2008. This should be free of charge.
  6. After applicants get a complete copy of their file, they should be given the chance to appeal mistakes under a greatly improved appeals system that is transparent, fair, unbiased, and not vague.
  7. In addition, at the policy level, the most advantageous policies for calculating grants have to be uniformly applied to applicants. This has been far from the case. Now is the time to start making those corrections for applicants with downsized pre-storm values or estimated cost of damage due to more restrictive calculation policies.
  8. Previously conducted dispute resolutions and appeals had many irregularities, including applicants not being given their full files (unless they went to the higher level of appeal after initial appeal rejection), dispute resolutions with such vagueness that even the Legislative Auditor had trouble with it, and in-limbo dispute resolutions that disappeared in time for ICF to avoid a fine for not making a contractual benchmark.
  9. We have learned that some applications in limbo in dispute resolution for a year are suddenly receiving letters from ICF stating that their dispute was concluded against their favor with no details. Such unfair letters may allow ICF, the contractor to escape a fine for dispute resolutions that were unattended for more than 2 months.
  10. Here are some of the conclusions from the Legislative Audit reports on Dispute Resolution that you can find at http://www.lla.state.la.us/lla/padreports.htm

As of April 10, 2007… ICF does not have an effective process in place to ensure advisors resolve homeowners’ complaints consistently and accurately… We could not accurately determine the number of homeowners, the reasons people are in Resolution, or the aging of cases in Resolution … because the data is not reliable.

We conducted a survey of 30 applicants who are currently in or have completed Resolution… 71% of the applicants we surveyed were not satisfied with the Resolution process. Thirteen of the 15 (87%) of those still in Resolution did not think they received sufficient information on where their case is in the process. Twelve of the 15 (80%) who have completed the process did not think they received sufficient information about the status of their case. .. The 15 applicants whose issues have been resolved wre resolved in an average of 111 days…

In the Feb. 6, 2008 report is the following.
We took a sample of 33, or 4%, of the 777 [dispute resolution] issues to determine how they were closed. We could not determine how 27 of the 33 (82%) files were closed because the comments did not provide sufficient details.

OCD’s response to this report offers the following previously missing definition of when a dispute resolution is concluded.
“On Sept. 14, 2007, OCD accepted the ‘Resolved’ and ‘Closed’ as meeting the metric if the following definitions were followed;

Resolved- The applicant question, concern, or dispute has been researched and has reached final disposition to the extent possible within program policy. The final dispostion has been communicated to the applicant.

Now we are hearing that there will be no more dispute resolution but rather case managers called “PALs.” This report quotes OCD as stating that “All remaining applicants will be assigned a dedicated PAL.”

What about fairness for those who never had the type of resolution of their dispute as defined by OCD and were not able to get a fair appeal?

What about those applicants who, as we hear, still did not get a PAL or have problems with their PAL not following good resolution procedures or not returning calls?

What about those applicants who, as we hear, were told incorrectly that they could not appeal or were not informed about the requirements for appealing, or whose appeal letters were sent by certified mail but ICF said it never received them?

  • Almost all of the change policy documents describing policy changes are now posted near the bottom of this site
  • For time and place of next CHAT meeting go to the bottom of this page

We Are Hearing Many More Accounts of Applicants in Great Distress

  • While tens of thousands have been lucky and obtained fair grants to repair or rebuild their devasted homes, tens of thousands have not, for no fault of their own
  • We have received reports that some Road Home staff are very helpful, polite, and dedicated to the applicants
  • However, very often applicants are stranded because of major problems with their grant processing, often of an inexcusable driving applicants crazy and literally making them sick because this grant is often necessary for them to get out of a FEMA trailer or a dual rental/mortgage payment or to move back to Louisiana
  • We get so many independent reports of repeated mistakes, confusion, or apparent disregard by staff of the Road Home Program contractor, ICF, or subcontractors, First American Title and HGI. This is confirmed by the report that more than half of the decided appeals resulted in increases of the award to the applicants, with “the average increase of about $24,000”: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1207977682227240.xml&coll=1
  • In addition, some of the policies designed by the officials supervising the program are very unfair. Click here for one of many examples.

If You Need Help With Road Home, Below Are Free Services Available To You

  1. 504-301-3112 (For outside New Orleans: 1-888-409-3557) Acorn Housing for help with Your Road Home process or Option Letters, Closing Papers, or mortgage problems
  2. Easter Seals’ contract with ICF to help elderly or disabled Road Home applicants was summarily terminated in Feb. with no explanation leaving applicants who were getting good help from them at a loss. http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/road_home_subcontractors_make.html 1-866-996-4243 Easter Seals.
  3. 504-301-3112 (For outside New Orleans: 1-888-409-3557) Acorn Housing for help with credit counseling or home repair loans
  4. (504) 529-1000, ext. 242 New Orleans Legal Assistance for low income people, including help with appeals, www.nolac.org. Qualifications for free help are described at www.lawhelp.org/LA

Road Home Improprieties?

  • The list is mounting in many areas

Click here to read about disappearing dispute resolution cases


just in time for ICF to avoid a contract-related fine for too many cases waiting many months without resolution. Data from ICF and from the Road Home review by a company called KPMG

  1. KPMG’s report states that on 8/16/07 there were 6,059 resolution Cases, almost 2000 more cases than ICF stated and that the number of cases dropped by over a thousand from Friday, Aug. 17 to Monday, Aug. 20, 2007
  2. Number of applicants in dispute resolution as of 8/16/07 according to ICF’s report (pipeline report) posted at road2la.org: grand total of 4,211
  3. Number of applicants in dispute resolution as of 7/25/07 according to a table from ICF sent to the Working Group of the LRA Housing Task Force (HTF) grand total of 7642
  4. Over 3,000 cases were resolved in just 3 weeks just before the Aug. 1, 2007 deadline for no cases older than 2 months old according to the ICF report even though those cases had languished for months previously
  5. ICF continues to state that they are notifying applicants of awards, dispute resolution outcomes, and appeals in writing. We get numerous, independent, and well-described reports that they are not. This violates Road Home Policy CP189A.
  6. ICF staff frequently refuse to give applicants a complete copy of their file or even any of the their file. This too violates Road Home Policy CP189A. We have much documentation from applicants about this.
  7. ICF staff do not consistently follow official Road Home Policy about giving applicants in appeals a certified full appraisal (1004) when they request it. Instead they sometimes give a drive-by appraisal which does not even involve the appraiser stepping out of his car.
  8. Top ICF staff state at public meetings that they are correctly following the above procedures and notifying staff of them, when this is not true.
  • This is just one of many examples that have come to CHAT’s attention of possible improprieties in the Road Home Program. Most of those examples are presented by the more than 1000 responses to our online survey (http://chatforfairness.org), by CHAT members at our meetings (see http://chat.thinknola.com bottom of the page for dates), by talking to neighbors, or by hundreds of emails that we receive.

The Road Home Program Assessment Report by the Company (KPMG) Hired by the State Agency OCD and Paid by ICF

Two New and Much Better Policies for the Road Home Program Advocated by CHAT for Many Months

  • Please note that two new and important policies described below have been reported by many applicants not to be acknowledged by ICF staff. What is worse the applicant-friendly and sensible policy about homeowner-purchased appraisals (CP188G) was discontinued by LRA on Mar. 4, 2008 without telling applicants!
  • The policy about homeowner-purchased appraisals was called the field review policy (CP188G) for those with ICF-rejected certified appraisals. This now secretly revoked policy can be read by clicking here.
  • The second new policy is the written documentation policy (CP189A), which can be viewed by clicking here.

Here is the LRA press release about these policies.

Friday, December 21, 2007

LRA and OCD Highlight Changes to Assist Road Home Applicants

NEW ORLEANS (December 21, 2007) – Today the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and the Office of Community Development (OCD) highlighted two important changes that have recently been made to the Road Home program to assist applicants…

FIELD REVIEW APPRAISALS (Change Policy 188G; NOTE THAT THIS FAIR POLICY WAS ABRUPTLY TERMINATED IN MARCH WITH NO NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC!)

The Road Home program is now conducting Field Review Appraisals for applicants who provided their own post-storm appraisals that were not accepted by the Road Home… The Field Review Appraisal process is automatically triggered when a homeowner submits their own post-storm certified appraisal that exceeds 120% of the pre-storm value as determined by the Road Home program…

In addition to this new procedure, for applicants who are currently in Appeals to dispute their pre-storm value, the Road Home program will now offer the option of having a full appraisal, known as a 1004 appraisal which is provided by the Road Home Program and conducted by a Louisiana certified appraiser.

This procedure is now in place and was effective as of November 9, 2007. All homeowners are being notified of this change and homeowners with questions are encouraged to contact a member of the dispute resolution staff of the Road Home.

WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION (Change Policy 189A)

In an effort to increase outreach to applicants and assist them to better understand their status in the Road Home program, this change provides a homeowner with written documentation at various stages of the Road Home process. Effective as of January 1, 2008, there are three key points of information that this change of communications will address:

The exact amount of grant awards under options 1, 2, and 3.
Details about dispute resolution status and outcomes.
Current status of the application and details about any information found to be missing from it…

Pre-storm value
Estimated Cost of Damages
The Road Home Program was designed by the LRA and is administered by the Division of Administration’s Office of Community Development (OCD) and its contractor, ICF International…

“Homeowners can now expect to get all the data for determining their grant award and commitments from Road Home staff in writing, and they can expect to get independent appraisals on their homes, said Melanie Ehrlich, a member of the LRA’s Housing Task Force and Co-Chairman of the Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT). “These new policies are important, and we want to make sure that homeowners know that these changes are now in place.”

Further Explanation From CHAT About These Two New Policies

Determining the pre-storm value of the applicant’s house is the starting point for grant calculations

CHAT was a major influence in acceptance of homeowner-purchased Louisiana-licensed appraisals by Road Home in January of 2006.

Full certified appraisals are the gold standard for determining the value of a house.

However, those appraisals were not be used, and often were not even put in the applicants’ file, if they were more than 20 percent higher than the less accurate determinations of pre-storm value by the RHP.

Therefore, the appraisals were not used in the cases of the most erroneous RHP valuations. RHP officials told CHAT that it is HUD regulations based upon fear of fraud that set the cap of no more than 20 percent difference.

More than one year later after many hours of discussion between RH officials and CHAT members, especially Mr. John Murden, a Louisiana certified appraiser, on Nov. 9, 2007, the FIELD REVIEW APPRAISAL policy was accepted.

This improved policy is called Change Policy or CP 188G.

The new policy states that the RH will now have a certified appraiser check the accuracy of homeowner-supplied certified appraisals that were previously not accepted by the Road Home because they were too high.

This checking will be done by a Field Review Appraisal conducted by a Louisiana certified appraiser for applicants who provided their own post-storm appraisals.

Although this policy was approved Nov. 9 and, at the urging of CHAT, described in a press release in mid. December, CHAT received numerous complaints that when applicants asked about these field review appraisals, they were often told by ICF staff that they were unaware of the policy.

In addition, ICF staff and OCD officials have maintained that no applicants were told that their certified appraisals could not be in their files because they were too high.

We know of many instances of homeowners being told that ICF would not accept a copy of their appraisal for their file. We also know of applicants waiting fruitlessly since fall of 2007 for a field review appraisal of their purchased full certified appraisal so that it could be validated. NOW THE FIELD REVIEW POLICY, A FAIR ONE, WITH RH-APPOINTED FIELD REVIEW APPRAISERS TO VALIDATE APPLICANT-PURCHASED CERTIFIED APPRAISALS, HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED!

  • This field review appraisal policy should have helped many applicants and can be read by clicking here) UNFORTUNATELY, THIS REASONABLE, ACCURATE HOMEOWER-FRIENDLY POLICY WAS DISCONTINUED, WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE, IN MARCH EVEN THOUGH IT WAS WORKING WELL FOR THE APPLICANTS.

If the Road Home Program is not recording the LA certified appraisal that you paid for, click here to take our survey and record the details of your award letter, phone and email contact, and your attempt to submit your appraisal after Nov. 9, when the new policy below went into effect; CHAT will try to follow up on this

  • Previous but little known policy that is still in effect for those in appeals (not dispute resolution) who are contesting Road Home’s pre-storm value:
  1. If you cannot get your own LA certified appraisal for your home and are appealing a mistaken pre-storm value in your award, Road Home is supposed to provide you with one according to regulation CPE49E from Jan. 2007
  2. Click here to read CP49E on page 14 and CP40-44 # LA certified appraisals are usually much more detailed and accurate than the pre-storm values provided by Road Home, which typically do not involve a LA certified appraiser and a careful visit to your home to determine its pre-storm value
  • Another new policy which can benefit even more applicants is about written documentation. As of Jan. 1, 2008, Road Home staff have to give you a written (not just phoned) notice of your grant award according to Change Policy 189A
  • Road Home staff have to give you a written (not just phoned) notice of the outcome of dispute resolution
  • They have to let you see the numbers and information used to calculate your grant so that you can check if it is correct and have it in case you need to appeal the award amount.
  • CHAT expects that the information that ICF (the contractor) gives you about your award calculation will be complete and unedited and that written notification of the outcome of Dispute Resolutions and Appeals will be point-by-point answers to the applicants complaints of mistakes.
  • We expect that all the following applicants will be entitled to an extended deadline for appeals if they had not previously received all the information in their file:
  1. applicants who ever questioned their award amount on their returned option letter
  2. applicants who were in Dispute Resolution or Appeals
  3. applicants who did not have their right to appeal and their requirement letter to begin the appeal explained to them by a RHP staff member at closing.
  • It would be unfair to not extend the deadline for Appeals for anyone who was not previously allowed to see the Road Home Program data in their own file.
  • The Road Home Program is for the applicants who suffered such serious losses. They should not continue to be at the unacceptable disadvantage of trying to plead their case without the Road Home data that led to often erroneously low awards.

CHAT Work on SBA Loan Deadline: Some Help in Sight and Links about Trying to Prevent Foreclosure

SBA may extend deadline for using home loan funds (Times Picayune)
Many people waiting on the Road Home

From a member of CHAT, these links are provided for those in danger of foreclosure on their home mortgages.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20071018_foreclosure_counseling_a1.asp?caret=2

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20070906_mortgage_workouts_a1.asp?caret=1

http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com/YourFinances/ForeclosurePreventionResourceCenter.htm

http://www.housinghelpnow.org/

HUD advice on foreclosure: http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm

IRS Questions and Answers on Home Foreclosure and Debt Cancellation http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=174034,00.html

Where Is the Ombudsman Promised by ICF Over 1 1/2 Years Ago in Their Weekly Report to the State Agency, Office of Community Development?

Click here and see the bottom of the webpage for a link to all past pipeline reports (weekly updates from ICF, the contractor, to the state) including the Nov. 21, 2006 report with the promise of the ombudsman.

Anyone interested in the post-hurricane fate of South Louisiana is welcome to join our E-mail Network by filling out our Join CHAT form or sending an email to chatlra@yahoo.com with your name and city and in the subject line “Join CHAT.”

There are no dues. There are only 1-2 informational emails a week and your email address will be shared with no one else

Release of a Report from KPMG on the Road Home Program in December

Road Home Program Misery Index Selected items from responses to CHAT’s online survey http://chatforfairness.org and emails to chatlra@yahoo.com

If you are a Road Home applicant, please take the CHAT survey or update your answers.

This has been a powerful tool to uncover problems in the Road Home Program. You may give any comments you like about the program at the end of the survey.

  • CHAT Survey – Take 3 min to take our survey telling us how well the Road Home Program is working for you now.

Road Home’s Change Policy Documents: Learn Details About Rules of the Program by clicking on the links below

Important excerpts about Appraisals and Appeals

CP16A&17_ElderlyExempt_3&4Units

CP22-25C_Award Calculations

CP30&38_AdditonalCompensation_ExpressInterviews

CP_40-44_AssistCenters_47_Self Certification Insurance_49E_PSV&LA_CertAppraisals_1_14_07

CP53_54_55F_Demolished Houses_Condos

CP75 & 75 Single Family Multiunits and LA Certified Appraisals and Appeals

CP80-86 Option 2 Before Buying House and Applicants’ Data Overriding FEMA data

Mobile Home BPOs, Mineral Rights, and Military Forced To Move

CP100C Time Deadlines for Appeals

CP112B Minimally Damaged Manufactured (Mobile) Homes

CP123A-127 Condominium Replacement Cost Calculations, Income Verification for Additional Compensation Grant, and Appeals

CP131-135 Partial Disbursements (tender or close now and appeal later), FEMA Eligibility (minimum of damage necessary to qualify for a grant), and Insurance Penalties

CP140-149 Selling House Before Program-Ineligibily Letters Because of the Previously Projected Shortfall Before the Extra $3 Billion of Federal Funds, Death of an Applicant

CP157 Usufruct

CP165 Changing from Option 1 to Option 2 or 3

CP190 Option 3 for Applicants Moving Elsewhere in LA But Not Buying a House

CP200 inactive applications

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

  • 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, click here

Resources

  • Watch compelling videos of Road Home applicants Laura LeBon and Steve Donahue (both invaluable and dedicated members of CHAT) by talented cinematographer and CHAT member Mark Morris.

See the CHAT-derived Road Home Program Statement of Principles at the Road Home Program site http://road2LA.org under About Us.

These were unanimously endorsed by the Louisiana Recovery Authority Board in April.

  • See reports of the Road Home contractor to the state oversight agency
  • These are posted due to CHAT’s negotiations with the state oversight agency (Office of Community Development).


Under Construction in Gentilly by Melanie Ehrlich.

Do You Have Difficulty Getting All the Information in Your Road Home File Despite the New Policy CP189A of the Road Home?

By law, you may send a public records request.

According to the law, the Road Home should then send to you a copy of all your records from the Road Home by sending a certified letter in a special format (click here for information). By law, you are supposed to get some meaningful reply from the State within 5 days. If you do not, send a copy of your letter to chatlra@yahoo.com, and we can give you a template for a follow-up letter. Legally, you have the right to sue for this information on your own application, although it is not easy to do and costs money.

Got a Question?

  • At LouisianaREBUILDS.info you can give and get evaluations of contractors, plumbers, electricians, gardeners, etc. as well as invaluable advice about contracts with contractors and rebuilding resources available
  • For those who want to aid in Louisiana’s recovery, please contact us at chatlra@yahoo.com

Getting a Rebuilding or Repair Contract? Protect Against Unfair Liens Being Placed On Your House by Unscrupulous Subcontractors

New Information on Avoiding and Fighting Unfair Liens Placed On Your Home

A contractor has the right to place a lien on a home if the owner does not pay for work done to the house. However, unscrupulous contractors may put an illegitimate lien on a property with damaging consequences to the homeowner.

See http://LouisianaREBUILDS.info 

Contractor Guide under "Protect Yourself from Fraud" for information on avoiding and fighting bad liens.

Or click on: http://louisianarebuilds.info/node/2845

Website Help for Rebuilding:

A History of the Road Home Program in Articles About CHAT

What Are We Doing?

2. Next CHAT Meeting

  • Time: Meetings on Wed. at 6:30 PM at UNO, usually every other week
  • NEXT MEETING Wed., July 16. Newcomers are welcome.*

To contact CHAT, email chatlra@yahoo.com

Revised on July 3, 2008 23:33:29 by Melanie Ehrlich (129.81.183.17)
Edit | Back in time (288 revisions) | See changes | Views: Print | Linked from: HomePage, Road Home Program, Road Home Elevation Grants, ICF International, Road Home Bill of Rights, Base Flood Elevation, Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery, CHAT Library, Road Home Unconference Meeting of June 20th, 2007, Road Home Closing Documents, Road Home Program Misery Index