[StBernard] Katrina trailers for sale - for $5 or less

[Westley Annis]

Well...those companies won't need to build the low-income apts in the parish
now, will they?

LJ





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	Katrina trailers for sale - for $5 or less
	White House to sell homes to hurricane-displaced families for as
little as
	$1
	By Spencer S. Hsu
	The Washington Post
	updated 3:35 a.m. CT, Wed., June 3, 2009
	WASHINGTON - The Obama administration will announce plans today to
virtually
	give away roughly 1,800 mobile homes to 3,400 families displaced by
	Hurricane Katrina who are living in government-provided housing
along the
	Gulf Coast, officials said.
	
	The administration also will make available $50 million in rental
vouchers
	to income-eligible trailer occupants who move to targeted housing
projects,
	and take over from Louisiana the job of helping residents find
permanent
	homes, said a senior White House official, speaking on the condition
of
	anonymity before the formal announcement.
	
	"We knew we needed to bring this program to a close," the official
said. "We
	also want to ensure a humane and secure transition for all of them."
	
	The sale option comes weeks after the trailer program formally ended
May 1,
	and after Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said they
could
	begin officially referring cases for eviction June 1.
	
	FEMA typically provides disaster aid for 18 months. It extended
assistance
	for 45 months since Katrina hit in August 2005.
	
	About 1,150 families in FEMA housing live in units the agency
classifies as
	mobile homes and park models, which will be offered for sale at $5
and $1,
	respectively. FEMA expects to free up an additional 600 to 700 units
from
	its inventory to donate through state and local governments and
nonprofit
	groups, the administration official said. Individuals who previously
bought
	units will be offered refunds.
	
	
	It is unclear what impact the changes will have. Many local
jurisdictions
	refuse to alter zoning ordinances to allow small manufactured homes.
	
	Thousands of existing vouchers from the Department of Housing and
Urban
	Development that are becoming available in Louisiana are going
unused. Some
	trailer occupants await promised grants to rebuild their homes or do
not
	want to leave their home sites. Others do not want to move to
HUD-subsidized
	housing or to pay more rent. Some occupants are so sick, elderly or
	dysfunctional that they require more help to find housing, officials
said.
	
	Spokesman Clark Stevens said FEMA is committed to working with
families case
	by case, adding that 139,000 other households have cycled out of the
trailer
	program. "No one will face evictions from a temporary unit while
these new
	measures are implemented," he said in a written statement.
	
	More on Hurricane Katrina