Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) to expand heavy equipment operator training courses
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-22-2022
Patrick Forbes Director of the Office of Community Development - Disaster Recovery Unit and Chair of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative has announced the Flood Ready Workforce Development Program which provides heavy equipment training funded by HUD CDBG
Flood Ready Workforce Development Program funded by 2016 flood grants pays for heavy equipment training.
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-19-2022
Its not clear if you have to pay up front, complete the training then request reimbursement from the OCD-DRU who is using Homeowner grant funds to pay for the future of their coastal project labor pool. In any case, 2,000 isnt much for employment.
After a disaster your insurance may be used by your lender to pay off your mortgage forcible or compulsory.
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-18-2022
How to navigate a Forced Mortgage Payoff by your mortgage lender. When your home insurance is taken by your lender to payoff your mortgage its what the financial industry does to secure the loan doesnt default or have the property change ownership.
Low and Moderate income households should never sign for any SBA Disaster Loan without consulting CDBG-DR
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-18-2022
Thousands of homeowners sign for SBA loans because it sounds like the best offer. For personal property replacement loans, yes, for home repair loans no. No if your household is 80% AMI or below which is low to moderate income. HUD CDBG-DR for home repai
Prohibition on disaster assistance for households above 120 percent AMI for failure to obtain flood insurance
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-18-2022
If you are living in a SFHA otherwise known as the 100 year flood zone and are earning more than 120 percent AMI you should be able to afford your flood insurance no matter if you are required to purchase flood insurance or not.
Restore Louisiana Mobile Home MHU Replacement Policy published 7-17-2019
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-17-2022
Louisiana has fought over the replacement costs for mobile homes for years. Reimbursement for the total amount has always been the goal but the state of Louisiana OCD-DRU has done everything to not give enough to replace MHUs for safe housing.
Using Loopie Slings and forklift to set 3 ply LVL 36 feet long.
by Murray Wennerlund published 5-3-2022
I used my loopie slings over the forks and rigged them so the 36 long 500 lbs beam would roll in place as I lifted it off the columns. The loopie slings really made rigging easy and with a little logical thinking, things just roll into place.
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Window flashing IRC 2015 R 703.4 Flashing requirements. How to make window flashing logical and mechanical.
by Murray Wennerlund published 4-24-2022 updated 4-25-2022
Your window installer wants to wrap your water-resistive barrier (WRB) aka House Wrap inside onto your window jamb. You worry about water entering the window from your drainable WRB channels. Let's look at code requirements and give this process a review
FEMA NFIP Risk Management 2.0 Risk Rating 2.0 Projected Insurance Premium Changes by State
by Murray Wennerlund published 4-21-2022
Get your FEMA flood insurance risk rating 2.0 insurance premium changes here. This is the official FEMA projected costs map for FEMA NFIP Risk Management 2.0 Risk Rating 2.0 Projected Insurance Premium Changes by State
Did your state inform you that you qualify for federal assistance only to later deny you assistance based on state created policy or procedure? Is your home listed as being in one of the most impacted areas? Do you have proof your state accepted you into the federally funded HUD CDBG-DR grant program? Contact us about your experience.
Don't let termite shields take your elevated homes design and character to the trash heap.
by Murray Wennerlund published 4-19-2022
More and more I see builders using aluminum roof valley flashing for what they think is a termite shield.
Our Federal Government Policy for disaster assistance labeled "Sequence of Delivery" for Disaster Relief and Assistance follows two standards that will seriously harm more than 35% of all disaster survivors in any state, county or parish in the United States of America. If you are below average income levels for your community you are in a group that can not afford to take on additional debt. The debt the federal government is going to ask you to take is equal to the total of your disaster recovery costs. Congress pushed to have all disaster survivors take SBA Disaster Loans after applying for FEMA temporary disaster relief. The Small Business Administration Disaster Recovery Loans will grant loans to income groups labeled Low Income by using real property as collateral. The SBA and FEMA will not tell you about other federal disaster assistance that is available to you that is not listed in their sequence of delivery. In fact, your state governors disaster response team will not mention anything outside of the same FEMA sequence of delivery for disaster relief.
This year it's more important to understand what is available to you and to limit the amount of household debt you place on your working members of your family. In Louisiana we have a serious issue with programs being setup to be reimbursements instead of grants. Grants are given for a specific purpose and you apply those funds as instructed by the grantee. In the state of Louisiana the Governors office to the director of the grant programs feels homeowners would rather purchase a new truck than to repair their home damaged in the disaster. This was stated publicly April 13, 2018 by the director of the OCD-DRU who is responsible for over $1 billion in disaster aid yearly.
Issues with reimbursement programs are numerous for low to moderate income (LMI) households. Many LMI households mistakenly use FEMA disaster relief funds incorrectly and end up counting against them. A LMI family that received $30,000 to make temporary repairs to their home would have that $30,000 in temporary repairs deducted from any additional relief funds that are provided by the federal government. Many people used a part of their temporary repair funds to purchase vehicles after the flood to be able to return to work. Others spent the FEMA assistance on appliances, flooring, and other items that did not fall into the approved items list of other programs. When you are found to have been given duplicative grants or assistance you have to return the funds before you can receive additional funds. Some programs will allow you to show the work completed with the funds and credit you toward additional grants.
If you received $30,000 from FEMA then were offered $65,000 from another grant program the $30,000 from FEMA would be considered a duplication of benefits from federal disaster assistance programs. Your $65,000 grant would be reduced by the amount of the FEMA grant. Most states follow their own policies which they create after each disaster. They are not held responsible to assist anyone with the federal funds distributed to the states. In fact, if the state finds you ineligible for any reason from not cooperating with state workers to moving too slow with your recovery efforts they will terminate your funding before it's issue.
The Number One Rule for LMI households is to refuse the SBA loan offered and to wait out the federal governments push to have you adsorb all debts related to the disaster. Calculations show that after each disaster the LMI household looses 33% of their total net worth if you follow the federal sequence of delivery. This means after your 3rd disaster your household is unable to recover from future disasters and your debt is more than your total assets leaving your net worth at zero or less than zero. This is when homes start their decay phase and does not stop until the property is sold and the family reduces their disaster debt.
We have been working with hundreds of disaster victims and providing oversight of state programs. We are also disaster survivors rebuilding after the 2016 floods in Louisiana. It's not easy, we know more reasons to take the easy way out and just give up and accept the total disaster debt on your shoulders. Your state would appreciate you dropping out of the program because they will transfer the federal grant funds allocated to you to a state managed program that will not assist homeowners with their disaster debt. The state of Louisiana averages 35% of households are labeled as dropouts or as they state, "Voluntary withdrawal from the Grant Program."
Voluntary withdrawal includes:
You get the picture, you will voluntarily withdraw from the program if you do not follow program policy as it is created. Policy does not have to be made public and can be back dated. Your Voluntary actions may not seem so voluntary when you are not told you can appeal the states effort to remove you from grant programs. Thousands of homeowners have been terminated for policy reasons that didn't need to be terminated. It's of no fault to the homeowner that their income limits their recovery time. It's grant programs that are designed to help the low to moderate income households but those same programs allow states to create policy that allows the state not to distribute grants to households so they can rebuild after the disaster.
Read more within the pages of this site. Learn how to ask questions and learn what the federal programs are offering you for disaster recovery.
LA, FL, TX, PR, NC are receiving billions in US taxpayer dollars to mitigate against future flood disasters. We are looking to help your county or parish find the best clearing and dredging people. Contact us about your experience.
Frequently Asked Question
Does the Restore Louisiana OCD-DRU HUD Grant program offer a Scheduled Draw payment?
Frequently Asked Question
What does disaster Unmet needs mean?