FEMA To Demand That Hurricane Katrina Victims Return Aid Money

FEMA To Demand That Hurricane Katrina Victims Return Aid Money

www.huffingtonpost.com

Nearly six years have passed since Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans in misery, but many residents haven't forgiven the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its sluggish response to the storm. Now another delayed reaction by FEMA — a stop-and-start push to recoup millions of dollars in disaster aid — is reminding storm victims why they often cursed the agency's name.

Paul Wegener, whose New Orleans home flooded up to the gutters after Katrina, felt short-changed when FEMA gave him a $30,000 grant for a house that wound up costing more than $566,000 to rebuild. He applied for mo

(visit the link for the full news article)


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I think this is really sad, if these people haven't been through enough, here comes a tidal wave of debt. I do not see how this is acceptable, FEMA needs to be gutted.

This move will further impoverish the already impoverished people of New Orleans, the people who stayed were the poorest, and now they're becoming even poorer because they miraculously survived Katrina. This is criminal.

www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

How bout the banks return the bailout money first. This is ridiculous. Seriously. Ohhh this is the kinda stuff that gets people upset.

reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL


That should be the first order of business!

2nd

I am a little confused....

Someone who had over a half a million dollars to invest in rebuilding their home is made FEMA wants 30k that he wasn't entitled to back?

And another woman who listed a friend as a household member to qualify for 17k in cash is mad that they want the money back, even though she lied about the friend being a family member to get government money?

Sounds to me like FEMA is just going after the cheaters.

I think this article/thread is kind of misleading...

From what I read, they are only asking money from the people who STOLE the money from FEMA. Many people used alternate names to obtain more than one check from FEMA, and others were not even Katrina victims and they too scammed FEMA for money, and others just straight lied to get money from FEMA. So, I think they are only asking money from the people who fraudulently received relief funds.

-edit to add-

...but of course, naturally, since people hate the government FEMA will be made to look like the bad guy because they want the money people stole from them back.

I would say one group of people should have to pay the money back, besides the people in the article that lied to get money they were not entitled to.

Those who decided to spend the money they got on going casinos and things like that. Those idiots deserve to have to pay the money back regardless.

reply to post by gift0fpr0phecy


It seems to me that these may only be the first claims to be challenged as they're reviewing almost $600 million in aid paid to victims. I can see how it would seem that these people might be scamming the system, but it would be tempting when the agency in question left you to drown and starve in the streets for 5 days before lifting a finger.

I agree. FEMA is only asking for the fraudulent payments back, not the legitimate payments.

Let see how many people bash FEMA without thinking like the OP did.

************************************Special news bulletin************************************

The government does not exist to serve the people,

it exists to serve special interest groups and "the elite".

Next time you see a black, rotorless and unmarked heli,

curse uncle sam for being so pathetically generous with YOUR MONEY!

And lets not forget how poorly they handled the bp and exxon valdez oil spills either.

Big government or small government, what difference does it make?

While hundreds have been convicted of hurricane-related fraud, FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen said many of the cases under review involve mistakes by agency employees or the recipients themselves. Some payments will be deemed proper, some could be referred for fraud investigations and the rest will get letters telling them to pay back improper payments caused by human error, according to Racusen.

reply to post by sir_slide


The ones where it was FEMA's fault, human error, should not fall on the victim. IF the victim had nothing to do with it and didnt scam FEMA knowingly and FEMA made the mistake why should someone have to pay back their mistake??

I had this happen once with financial aid. They over paid me and I even tried to give the $900 and some odd dollar check back. I kept it for a month before I even cashed it. They told me it was my left over grant money to use as I pleased. I finally cashed it a month later and used it for summer books and other supplies and put the rest away. Well about a year later they DOCK my aid telling me they over paid me the previous year and that I had to pay it pay. By them docking my current aid at the time it screwed me with tuition for school. When I called them they had nothing to say of course even after I told them I thought they gave me too much money the previous year and they kept telling me to keep it, oh just keep it it's your left overs they would say....and well I listened to them, the govt, and looked what happened......I get screwed.

So I can only imagine what some of these people are going through with the amount of money involved esp if they had nothing to do with it and it was FEMA's error. Maybe FEMA should have done their job better and paid more attention so this didn't happen. Why make people who have been through enough already have to go through it all over again!


Further on I read this...

FEMA says it is bound by law to try to collect improper payments, but lawmakers have sponsored legislation that would authorize the agency to waive debts if they resulted from an error by FEMA. A Senate committee approved the bill Thursday. No vote by the full Senate has been scheduled.

I hope this passes! So this sounds good at least.

reply to post by sir_slide


Read your article:

FEMA employees awarded money without interviewing applicants or inspecting property and made errors that ranged from recording incorrect banking information to failing to check whether insurance had already covered damage, according to congressional testimony.

While hundreds have been convicted of hurricane-related fraud, FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen said many of the cases under review involve mistakes by agency employees or the recipients themselves. Some payments will be deemed proper, some could be referred for fraud investigations and the rest will get letters telling them to pay back improper payments caused by human error, according to Racusen.

Not only are they asking for the fraudulent payments back, but also the payments that were made because of human error. They are NOT asking for money from people who actually deserved the money.

heres your money to help you get your life together agian......6 years later......... you know even though you cant afford it we want the money back......fema sucks

reply to post by 0ne110ne


Hey man, I was thinking. I was thinking that they're reviewing 10 per cent of the aid given to hurricane victims, $600 million, and acknowledging that a lot of the people being put under scrutiny may not be in a position to pay back large debts. Louisiana is the poorest state isn't it?

reply to post by gift0fpr0phecy


I am aware of that, sounds like FEMA's fault to me, they can't be going back 6 years and demanding money they gave to victims because of their own errors. Ridiculous

even if they get the money back it won't matter.

how much does it cost to recover the money.

those people get to keep the money .. right ?

the taxpayers still pay big.

just a different group of crooks get to keep what they steal.

the lawyers, accountants and staff are going to be mostly private contractors.

the jokes on us !

as usual.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Exactly my point man, these people have been through enough and its unfair to force them into debt because FEMA made mistakes.

That really sucks about that situation, totally not your fault. I had a friend who was over payed a few thousand dollars once, he didn't mention it for a few months hoping they'd forget or something, he ended up spending it all, about a year later they demanded he repay the sum in total. Real bummer for him, and it really screwed him for a while. I always thought that they shouldn't be making errors like that, and if they do, well that's their fault.

One time I was buying a turkey, when it was scanned it came up a different price and as a different item. Well because the supermarket made such an error they let me have the turkey for free. Justice!

Originally posted by GringoViejo
I would say one group of people should have to pay the money back, besides the people in the article that lied to get money they were not entitled to.

Those who decided to spend the money they got on going casinos and things like that. Those idiots deserve to have to pay the money back regardless.

edit on 1-6-2011 by GringoViejo because: (no reason given)

Um... If You owned a house and sold it and used the money "going [to] casinos and things like that," would that be ok? What would the difference be between people who lost Their house and got compensated for it and did that, and people who sold Their house and did that?

reply to post by sir_slide


This one time I payed my water utility bill with a check, and some how I accidentally wrote the check for $20 more than I should have. The water company actually noticed the error and sent me a check for $20 a few days later.

I am so glad the water company had the decency to send me back MY money instead of keeping it and saying something stupid like "it was your fault why should we have to pay for it?".



Oh where has such decency gone?

Last month FEMA was asking for money back from people in other disasters, saying that the agency made a mistake but people still owe the money back- Here.
Had a feeling they would soon look to Hurricane Katrina victims to pay money back.