[StBernard] LRA and Demolishing House

[Westley Annis]

Cheryl and All,
 
The demolition issue as it applies to the LRA award is supposed to work like
this:
once the property owner has documentation of the cost to repair the property
from a licensed contractor or that the level of damage by the parish report
was above 50% as well as documentation of the square footage of the house
and any special features of the house, if you have it (some people have
spent the money on an appraiser to have an official record of the valuation
of the house).
 
The LRA, specifically the executive director and the housing chair, have
told us on more than one ocassion that the demolition of the home will not
decrease a person's eligibility.  With that being said, it is clearly
understandable why people do not trust the LRA because of the constant
changes they make.  The issue of demolition is connected to the reality of
the time it will take for these closings to really take place and once the
property is sold to the LRA and it eventually comes back to the parish for
redevelopment use in whatever capacity someone will have to cover the cost
to take these houses down.  The LRA has it in their action plan that the
property has to be a clean site when sold to the LRA but the LRA has stated
they will not enforce this part of their plan, but they have not revealed
how the cost to take down houses that they take ownership of through the
Louisiana Housing Trust (part of the LRA program) or cover the cost to
remove slabs o f the properties that have already been taken down.
 
The bottom line from my standpoint is to document everything you can and
then move forward with what you want to do.  We have found that the LRA reps
at the Road Home offices often do not speak the same program that the LRA
policy makers speak-  imagine that!
 
Hope this helps- send other questions if I have only confused you more or
feel free to call me  401-3654.
 
Good luck and God Bless,
Craig