Chap.8: Disaster Loans - - Appendix A: Special Problems - - Appendix B: Forms The New Disaster Relief HandbookDisaster: Aid: America: Moneybook:) sm) tmAppendix A: Special ProblemsSection A.1: Filing a FEMA Appeal - Section A.2: Appealing a Destroyed RulingSection A.3: Documenting Ownership - Section A.4: Audits - Section A.5: Homelessness (pre-existing) A.1: Filing A FEMA AppealAppeals are easy,
1 Applicants have the right to appeal denials of assistance, denials of continuation of benefits, denials for late filing, and amount of grant or loan received. . . 2 If you disagree with FEMA's determination of eligibility or form of assistance provided, you have the right to appeal or request a change within 60 days of receiving notification. (As long as the total time frame is within 180 days after the disaster declaration.) [HOME]
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A.2: Appealing A "Destroyed" RulingAssess Your SituationWhen you get your FEMA notification immediately sit down and assess your situation: How much will it take to make your home habitable again? Is the FEMA estimate too high? Is the inspector's report accurate? Do you know if you're eligible for any additional assistance from the IFGP? The FEMA program limit is $10,000; IFGP's maximum is currently $13,400 (3/98); together that equals a potential grant award of $23,400, minus the amount of any rental assistance already addressed, or that needs to be addressed, by FEMA or the IFGP. (Where will you live while repairs are being made?) Have you received a Disaster Loan application from the SBA? Have you filled it out and returned it? Have they reached a decision? What are your options?Reach OutCall the FEMA Helpline, 800-525-0321, or visit a local Disaster Recovery Center for answers to these program questions: Has the SBA received your loan application? How long until they decide? Will the IFGP help? If you can find a way to get the job done for less, would FEMA reconsider your case? If so, . .Make a PlanCan you find a contractor who will do the work for significantly less and preferably in less than 30 days? Can you do the work (safely!) yourself, thereby saving major labor costs? Is there a church group or other charity that could help with labor or other expenses? Do you have friends or family that could help cut your costs? If you can come up with a reasonable plan of action write FEMA and appeal your notification. If you need help with the appeal try the Helpline or call Disaster Legal Services. Good luck and God bless.[HOME]
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A.3: Documenting OwnershipOwnership Equals ResponsibilityLegal ownership, particuarily home ownership, is not always a cut and dried issue. It may come as a shock to some, but not all "homeowners" have perfect legal title to their property. There are probably a hundred-and-three ways to complicate home ownership claims: a deed may be in a deceased spouse's name; or the home could belong to a living relative who has given it to the "owner" to live in; or the property may have been abandoned. Then there are formal and informal land contracts, living wills, trusts, estates in probate, contended properties, squatters' rights, mining camps, swamp dwellings, houseboats, nomadic structures, sprawling family estates, farm worker-maintained homes, communes, incapacitated elders, ministers' cottages, the rights of "significant others," sharecropper issues, and 82 more. In a nutshell: To be eligible for a FEMA home repair grant, an applicant must be able to demonstrate that the home is his/ her primary residence, and that he/ she:
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A.4: AuditsA what ? . . . An Audit ! - Eeeek !Well, yes, FEMA's Office of the Inspector General (actually in the Dept of Homeland Security) can ask to audit your disaster grant expenditures at any time for up to three years after your claim is settled. You will definitely want to hang on to your photos, receipts and other documentation for at least that long. As with the IRS, there are targeted audits and random audits. For you, the average disaster victim, a random audit, while certainly no fun, should not be a totally unbearable exercise. We would note here that one of our contacts in the agency commented to the effect that the average disaster victim "doesn't have anything to worry about," that the random audit program is just "a way to trip up those recipients who take their assistance check and go vacationing in Hawaii with the proceeds." Which begs the question - just where do they plan on living when they come back? And just what is the official answer to the frequently asked question, "Do I have to return the money to FEMA if I use the money for something else or don't use the money at all?" One answer verbatum the FEMA-issued inspector "Hello letter" 6/20/96: "The money must only be spent to meet your emergency disaster needs." Our translation (but check with FEMA before acting on this): if you are short in your FEMA award in one area, e.g. drywall repair, you can use excess or unnecessary award amount from say, the foundation repair portion of your grant to make up the difference. Use caution, however, when using an initial FEMA rental assistance check for repairs instead. From the same Hello letter: "You may elect to use the FEMA rental check to make repairs to your home instead of renting alternate housing. If so, you will not be eligible for any additional FEMA housing assistance." A FEMA reviewer could interpret this to mean that you are not eligible for any additional rental assistance, or could interpret this to mean that you are not eligible for any further housing (inc. home repair) assistance period. Call the helpline with this question, or play it safe and just send the rent check back if you don't really require actual live-elsewhere emergency rental assistance. And be sure to get and save your emergency rental receipts.* * * * * * * * Copyright ©1998-2009 John Porter aka John Lionheart
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A.5: Homelessness, pre-existing--this notice (A.5) may be freely copied and posted--Friend, If you are homeless and find yourself in the middle of an unusually violent storm or other uprising of nature, make your way to a shelter and stay there. If a federal disaster is declared, an agency called FEMA or the Federal Emergency Management Agency will come along and you will be able to apply for assistance. No one will try to trick you that walks with them. After you apply, stay at the shelter, unless you told the person who took your application that you were going to be somewhere else. If you did, then go there and stay. Stay where you said you were going to be until the FEMA inspector comes to check on your application. Tell him what you lost, where you were when you lost it, and make sure he has your mailing address right on his paperwork before he leaves. You should receive your FEMA notification in just a few days, and /or you may hear from another program, the IFGP, a little while later. Also, it's possible you could receive an SBA application in the mail, too. Don't be daunted, it's manageable. If you are sent an SBA loan application, fill it out as best you can and return it promptly - not only does it keep you in the grant program, but, hey, who knows, you might be the next Slim Pickens, and this is your lucky break! Good luck and GOD BLESS!!!! ### End Appendix A - -
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