[StBernard] Buy-out plan to Gaby

[Westley Annis]

Gaby,

I was able to listen to Walter Leger on the radio yesterday.  He stated the
goal behind the LRA's plan is help put people back into the same situation
they were in before the storm.

If you were in a $150,000 house with a $120,000 mortgage, then when all is
said and done, you should end up in a $150,000 house with a $120,000
mortgage.  Unfortunately, due to the number of homes that were damaged and
the limited amount of funds available, that's why they put the $150,000 cap
so the money would stretch as far as possible.

My understanding is that the cap is only for the grant portion.  If you are
repairing or rebuilding and need additional funds, then you should qualify
for state issued low-interest loans.

For those people who were inside the flood plain and without flood insurance
will have whatever grant money they qualify for reduced by 30%.  So there is
a penalty for those without flood insurance.

As Walter stated numerous times, at the moment all of this is just a
suggestion.  You still need Congress to approve the additional $4 billion in
CDBG funds, plus the state legislators need to approve the final mechanics
of how the Louisiana Land Trust will work.

Westley

-----Original Message-----


	<<Also, people with
	homeowner's are not going to make out like a bandit.>> 

I dont think anyone will make out like a bandit in this one, and I am sorry
if I offended with my 'duck in a row' comment. No, we never had water either
in 15 years, but we are glad we had the insurance anyways, as we found out
it was rather cheap. 
It is farthest from my mind to take anything away from anyone, yet I find
the current talk about deducting insurance proceeds quite wrong.  My point
was, for any buy out, the post Katrina rebuilt value and money put back in
AND the premiums of insurance paid should be considered as well, otherwise
the whole thing is just an incentive to NOT buy insurance unless one is
forced to.
(Btw, when we bought the house we were told we were in a B zone, and now we
are in an A zone and the elevation is now questioned, the papers I had about
being elevated are either flooded or somewhere in my boxes and bins, nothing
is easy these days). Although all lost a lot to everything and all need help
somehow, I dont think I should be getting less help because I had insurance.
We for one can NOT afford to relocate with our little funds, as our choices
of locations are limited due to school and jobs. We looked at relocation but
it is just out of our reach in today's crazy price hike.
 
Gaby