Though they are tasked with safeguarding citizens, FEMA doesn’t always have the most friends. In March, the agency started sending out letters to 5,560 recipients of federal aid, requesting repayment. Though shutting down these “recoupment efforts” would cost the government millions, one Senator has already announced a bill that would do just that.
Letters from Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA has sent out letters in the last few months. These letters were sent to over 5,500 FEMA fund recipients. Between $500 and $50,000 were asked for in the repayment requests. There will be interest put on the loan amounts. This is assuming the recipients don’t pay it back in 30 days. The letters have only gone out to individuals who received money due to an error by FEMA, human error or database error. Any taxpayer money paid by mistake is something Federal Emergency Management Agency has to try and get back.
Not considering fraud
These repayment requests were sent to many individuals. Anyone who got FEMA funds improperly were on the list. Some of these payments were duplications of homeowners’ policies, others were due to errors in home valuation. One thing that these letters do not address, however, is fraud. Fake claims are being handled separately. The FEMA will take care of it though. Most homeowners given these letters did not know they would be required to pay the money back in just a month. Homeowners can appeal or compromise the amount owned with Federal Emergency Management Agency. After 30 days, the interest will start going up though.
Possible bill to stop it
A bill written and presented by Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas would waive these debts. Since the law the agency has to follow states these repayment efforts must be made, only a bill in Congress can shut it down. The bill would entirely stop collection of these debts if the money was handed out on Federal Emergency Management Agency error, if there was no fraud or misrepresentation and if the collection would be “against equity.” The collections will continue until Congress signs the bill into law.
Information from
Senate information on FEMA Recoupment Program
landrieu.senate.gov/mediacenter/upload/femarecoupment.pdf
Clarion-Ledger
clarionledger.com/article/20110519/NEWS/105190349/FEMA-to-aid-recipients-Pay-it-back?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE
The Hill
thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/162223-senator-floats-bill-to-forgive-disaster-debt-owed-over-femas-mistakes
No comments:
Post a Comment