September 18, 2015
You read that correctly–the Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced further relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. It’s been quite some time since we ran any Sandy-related news, but a recent decision by HUD gives these home owners some much-needed assistance.
Many FHA borrowers were affected by that hurricane, and according to a press release issued by the FHA/HUD official site, “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today decided that HUD will not force thousands of New York and New Jersey homeowners to repay federal disaster recovery funds following a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to increase flood insurance claim payments to families it initially underpaid following Hurricane Sandy.”
According to HUDNo.15-144, federal law gives the Department of Housing and Urban Development the ability, “to weigh the real-world recovery challenges faced by many of these families against another legal requirement that prohibits any federal duplication of benefits. ”
Now, additional flood insurance proceeds up to $20,000 “will not be subject to a duplication of benefits review or collection. This will eliminate the need for HUD grantees to reclaim assistance from these households, or to repay those funds through non-federal sources.”
“To date, 3-out-of-4 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claimants received less than $20,000 in additional compensation from FEMA and would not face any possible repayment.”
The press release states that anyone who received or will receive more than $20,000 in additional flood insurance payments, “will still have the opportunity to demonstrate the added claim payments address legitimate unmet needs and therefore are not duplicative.”
These families have suffered enough and shouldnt be further victimized through no fault of their own, said Tregoning. We have a larger responsibility to facilitate recovery, not to hinder it just because these families didnt receive sufficient flood insurance payments.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com, designed especially for real estate websites–a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It’s simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today: http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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