Some Katrina victims may owe money

By Katherine Miller

NEW ORLEANS- The private contractor for the Louisiana Road Home, a program that aided many victims of Hurricane Katrina, declared recently that in the rush to deliver aid, some people received too much money.

IFC International is looking to hire a company to collect grant overpayments ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 cases. The proposed average amount to be collected is about $35,000, and in a few cases, the price tag could be as much as $150,000.

Gentry Brann, an IFC spokeswoman, said, “This effort was made inevitable when insurance and other aid was measured against what an applicant received from Road Home.” She also pointed out that even in the proposed case involved 5,000 cases, it would represent a 4% error rate, which she called, “quite good for large federal programs.”

Many activists disagree with the recent input given, such as Frank Silvestri, who claims that people relied on IFC’s expertise to rebuild and now may face the prospect of having to pay back money.

Forthcoming months and further investigation will further determine whether or not these figures are accurate and whether or not homebuilders in Louisiana will owe money.