(C) Verite News New Orleans

(C) Verite News New Orleans
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State to drop thousands of suits against Road Home recipients [1]

['David Hammer', 'Wwl-Tv', 'Richard A. Webster', 'More Richard A. Webster']

Date: 2023-02-16

Celeste Matthews at her home in New Orleans. Matthews was one of thousands of homeowners sued by the state of Louisiana for making repairs with a grant designated for elevating homes. She said a representative of the grant program told her she could do that. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

The state of Louisiana is dropping thousands of lawsuits against homeowners who received grants to elevate their homes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita but used the money to make repairs instead.

The news came at a Thursday (Feb. 16) press conference in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, at which U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is closing out the $10 billion Road Home program, the largest housing recovery effort in U.S. history, after 17 years.

Carter was joined by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards — who announced that the suits would be dropped — as well as HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

That process was held up by the many Road Home grants that HUD deemed noncompliant, including thousands of elevation grants.

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About 32,000 homeowners received elevation grants, typically $30,000 each, on the promise they would raise their houses to prevent future flooding. Some of them said they had been told by Road Home representatives that they could use the money for repairs, according to an investigation by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, WWL-TV and ProPublica.

Under pressure from HUD to recoup grants that hadn’t been spent properly, the state sued about 3,500 homeowners, seeking repayment of $103 million. After the news outlets reported on the lawsuits, the state halted collection efforts.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Co-published by Verite News, WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate.

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If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @VeriteNewsNola on Facebook @VeriteNewsNola on Twitter. If you have any other questions, contact managing editor Tim Morris. State to drop thousands of suits against Road Home recipients <h1>State to drop thousands of suits against Road Home recipients</h1> by David Hammer | WWL-TV and Richard A. Webster, Verite February 16, 2023 <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NO.roadhome.adv_.27-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4174" width="1200" height="675" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Celeste Matthews at her home in New Orleans. Matthews was one of thousands of homeowners sued by the state of Louisiana for making repairs with a grant designated for elevating homes. She said a representative of the grant program told her she could do that. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)</figcaption></figure> The state of Louisiana is dropping <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/katrina-survivors-grant-money-lawsuits">thousands of lawsuits</a> against homeowners who received grants to elevate their homes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita but used the money to make repairs instead. The news came at a Thursday (Feb. 16) press conference in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, at which U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is closing out the $10 billion Road Home program, the largest housing recovery effort in U.S. history, after 17 years. Carter was joined by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards — who announced that the suits would be dropped — as well as HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. That process was held up by the many Road Home grants that HUD deemed noncompliant, including thousands of elevation grants. About 32,000 homeowners received elevation grants, typically $30,000 each, on the promise they would raise their houses to prevent future flooding. Some of them said they had been told by Road Home representatives that they could use the money for repairs, according to an investigation by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, WWL-TV and ProPublica. Under pressure from HUD to recoup grants that hadn’t been spent properly, the state sued about 3,500 homeowners, seeking repayment of $103 million. After the news outlets reported on the lawsuits, the state <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/hurricane-katrina-lawsuits-recovery-grants">halted collection efforts.</a> This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Co-published by Verite News, WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate. This <a target="_blank" href="https://veritenews.org/2023/02/16/state-to-drop-thousands-of-suits-against-road-home-recipients/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://veritenews.org">Verite</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-Verite-icon.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=4172&ga=319934958" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

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