HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge was in New Orleans, Louisiana last week to announce the closure of the Road Home program, which she said will free 3,300 Louisianans from repayment obligations. With the State’s compliance with HUD’s corrective action, the State will release unpaid judgments and payment plans against homeowners in April.
The program was designed to provide grant money to homeowners who were impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In all, the program provided more than $9.6 billion to more than 118,000 Louisiana families.
The program was designed to make homeowners whole after the disaster, but many used the funds to make improvements or pay other expenses, actions the state said were violations. Consequently, the state took action to collect the grant funds.
Secretary Fudge was quoted by ProPublica and WWL-TV as saying, “I decided on my watch it was going to be over. The federal government is doing something that it has never done before for the people of Louisiana.”
As a result of HUD’s actions, the state of Louisiana is now dropping thousands of lawsuits against homeowners in the state.
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relieving debt owed simply means someone else will pay for it. Rules can be bent but not broken. This is like when the housing market crashed. Many of those that “suffered” were using the equity in their homes to purchase homes, cars, trips, pay for college etc. PAY THE MONEY BACK! Sure you can give them a break. But follow these people and see what they earn. Take a percentage of their tax return…make it sting but don’t crush them. Pretend it’s your personal $…it’s not a gift. If you took 5% of their income or something..at least some of the $ would be paid back. Spreading debt among all simply is not right.