Since researching issues within the Disaster Recovery Industry I have noticed change comes not from protesting in front of the state capital. It comes from actually publishing data and solutions for our government agencies to read, take ownership of and make happen.
With this said, I propose we publish verified data anonymously directed at the individual agencies that are holding us back.
1. HUD waiting on feedback from all state and commonwealths regarding the issue with SBA DOB. We can speed this process up by publishing facts to every governor so they don't waste time asking their state agencies to produce data showing HUD dollars are needed with SBA if selected.
2. SBA has to be shown as not following it's SOP. This data is very easy to find with OIG searches but I feel if we focus on the living expenses which are not taking into account we will have better results.
3. OMB (Office of Management and Budget) overseas all taxpayer dollar programs and is in place to reduce government waste, fraud, misuse, etc. This section within OMB is all about not using Taxpayer money to pay for Taxpayer Secured Loans (SBA). We find the solution that does not allow for agency dollars to overlap and you have your solution with the OMB.
4. State Grantee, Governors do have a HUD fund of $50 million annually to use as they please in times of disasters. The state knows how it can be "Creative" and move money from one program that is designed to fail to fund another program the state actually wants to fund. Construction Loans are being put into place that are forgivable at the time of completion, zero interest, zero payments. Those that have additional repairs or reimbursements according to policy should be allowed a piece of this taxpayer funded construction loan program.
It's mostly logical approaches that will get HUD to listen. I feel HUD is not close to offering Guidance related to the Stafford Act. I do feel we put all our eggs in one basket which isn't something to take to the bank. We are not limited to working just with our politicians. I really think the Senator from Nebraska may help more than the Senator from Louisiana and the Senators from New York and New Jersey are waiting for a group to resolve the DOB with SBA issue to keep homeowners from increasing their disaster recovery debt.
I haven't found any statistics showing the costs of disasters on homeowners. But if I took a small sample from our group I would guess most everyone has had at least a 25% increase in monthly expenses related to the disaster. Add that our current storm types and how frequently we are seeing them we'll need to add 2.5% per year if we could predict you would only have storm damage every 10 years.
This is what I feel, I know numbers count, real household numbers are better and when I incorporate what our state leaders say is "Excessive Monthly Debt." I can make a better argument that with or without SBA as a DOB your household has had an increased monthly debt since the flood and your pre - disaster income needs to increase or your post - disaster expenses need to be reduced. There is nothing in that which can be counted as a DOB when it protects your household from financial hardship / ruin / default / bankruptcy.
