Judge Grants ACORN Extension of FEMA Housing Benefits

A federal judge Wednesday ruled in favor of ACORN and ordered FEMA to immediately resume making housing benefits available to thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said that FEMA failed to adequately explain why it ended the 18-month housing assistance program for people who lost their homes in the 2005 storm. This ruling is retroactive.

"The court has ruled that FEMA needs to do its job and help people get back on their feet not give them the runaround. ACORN members will push FEMA to put a quick procedure in place to get the people the assistance we were wrongly denied,’’ said Wanda Jones, a Katrina Survivor and ACORN member in Houston whose housing assistance was terminated last summer. “It is long past due for FEMA to live up to its responsibilities and help families get on their road home to recovery."

"Because it’s retroactive, these families will receive checks amounting for past payments from Sept. 1 to now, and continued assistance until February 2007, or until FEMA gives them adequate notice of why they were ineligible,’" said Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid attorney Jerome Wesevich, who filed the case in behalf of ACORN. The ruling affects 11,000 families, mostly in Texas and Louisiana, who received FEMA rental assistance.

The suit asserted that FEMA systematically failed to explain why benefits have been denied and what evacuees may do to fix any problems with their applications for continued housing assistance. Instead, FEMA sends form letters to evacuees that only contain a cryptic computer code or phrase that refers to a reason for each termination of benefits. The reasons for termination have remained vague even after the computer codes have been deciphered. For a half-century, the Supreme Court has consistently required agencies to clearly explain their reasons for denial of benefits in time to allow affected individuals to appeal the agency’s decision.

When evacuees call in response to a letter denying benefits, FEMA representatives strain to clearly state the reason for the termination. The process has forced evacuees to run in circles to obtain documents that may not even be needed, and some evacuees have even been given entirely different reasons for the denial when they call FEMA at a later time.

"This ruling is a victory for thousands of our fellow citizens who have done everything within their power to put the pieces of their lives back together. Americans are compassionate people, and we want to see Katrina survivors get help to rebuild their homes, lives, and communities. We would all want the same for our families in a crisis," said ACORN President Maude Hurd.

ACORN has organized thousands of dislocated Katrina survivors into local chapters. ACORN has pushed local and federal officials and lawmakers to provide Katrina survivors the assistance needed to take care of their families and rebuild their homes. In New Orleans, ACORN’s Home Clean-Out Program has saved over 1,800 homes from decay, and the group and its partners are rebuilding homes in low and moderate income neighborhoods, while pushing for fair and inclusive rebuilding plans. Visit www.acorn.org/katrina to learn more.

ACORN is represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (Jerome Wesevich 915-241-0534) and Public Citizen Litigation Group (Michael T. Kirkpatrick 202-588-1000). The lawsuit and supporting exhibits are posted at: www.citizen.org.