A couple of the guys contracted by the Mississippi Development Authority to carry out home inspections for (they claim) the purpose of assessing damage for the Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program arrived at our home on Saturday, May 13, 2006.
After knocking on our door and letting us know they had arrived -- we were informed that they needed to take some pictures of the exterior before they came in to ask any questions they may have. For 10 - 15 minutes I watched them snap pictures outside while I talked to my friend Heather on the phone. I spotted the guy with the camera across the street trying to get a full shot of the front of the house. I saw him standing far off in a neighbor's yard aiming up, up, at the peak of the house from the side. I can almost swear he was taking pictures of the flower beds too.
Finally - they rang the doorbell. We put the dog out so he wouldn't harrass them and invited them in. They said they needed a few pictures of the interior and would then ask any questions they might have. We waited in the living room. The guy with the camera asked if we had had the sheetrock removed halfway up or all the way to the ceiling. We explained it was removed to 48 inches -- but not all of it had been removed yet. He moved off into the back with his camera. We waited near the door to the kitchen until they approached and asked if we had receipts for repairs. I pulled out our three-ring binder full of receipts and teasingly pointed out the CD-ROM full of scanned images of our receipts that was given to us when we made our application for the program. Then we gave them exactly the same figures we had given during the application process -- except.. as I pointed out.. We had forgotten to include the cost of replacing our propane fireplace insert. We did not have an estimate for replacing the firebox, I explained... but the receipt for the cost of the insert might help... The oldest inspector interrupted, chewing his lip a bit, and said: "Uh now I don't know if they're going to let us include that -- they may consider that a luxury item."
My heart sank. I don't know exactly what was going through Dave's mind at the time -- but something similar to what I was feeling flashed across his face. No one told us this grant was for specific types of repairs. If our fireplace could possibly be considered a luxury -- then so would our moulding and trim... our built-in cabinets and shelves.. our extra bathroom... our floors, for that matter...
Then from their spot there outside the kitchen door they informed us they had all the information they needed. They had never entered the kitchen. No pictures were taken there. They didn't see the closet with the missing walls.. and I didn't catch any glances at the floor -- let alone see the camera come out... "Don't you need to see the upstairs?" I asked. "Uh.. Was it damaged?" said the oldest man. Yes. Yes, it IS damaged. I moved to show them to the stairs and they stopped me. "Was it damaged by wind?" asked the man. Er.... Well - yes... They told us they were only supposed to look at flood damage, really.
That's when Dave spoke up and explained that during the application process we were asked to provide the amount of money provided to us by insurance so that the amount could be deducted from our total grant - if eligible... but that amount paid by insurance was for wind damage to the house. If they were only going to get an estimate of flood damage -- then how could they justify deducting money from insurance for wind damage? The man explained that they were probably just going to take the amount insurance paid as the total amount of wind damage and add that in to the total damage figure to be taken back out... though he wasn't really sure.
With that - they were once again ready to leave...
"But wait," I said, "there were a few things we wanted to show you..."
The older man spoke up once again and explained that all they were really supposed to do is determine damage by a percentage of the total square footage. By this time, I was breathless when I tried to explain that there was damage they could not see... I explained that there was still sheetrock to be torn out that had been neglected by the professionals... Such as the sheetrock behind the counters. That seemed to catch his interest for a second so Dave joined in and explained that it was behind all of the cabinets -- in the bathrooms - the entertainment center.. the kitchen. "You mean they didn't tear out the sheetrock behind there?" he asked while motioning toward the kitchen. I explained that they were the original cabinets -- all of them were. His eyes widened. I showed him where they had cut out the sheetrock above the countertops and fished out the insulation -- leaving the original sheetrock behind the cabinetry and below the waterline. "It's like that all over the house," I said. "And there's mold growing," added Dave, "I can show you the wall they left in the pantry where there is mold growing." No one moved.
"Do you know the guy's name who did this?" asked the older man. We explained we had the receipt and he was in Michigan. "He should be reported," he said. With that, he put out his hand and said, "Well... good luck to you guys. Hope you get it all put back together someday."
I shook his hand limply.
And then they were gone.
Needless to say - we were not exactly encouraged by the experience.
They were inside for not more than 10 minutes. Every time we tried speaking with them it was quite obvious that they were uncomfortable speaking with us.
How could they determine a total percent damaged while refusing to even look at almost 50% of the house? Nothing I had read in the MDA press releases or reports ever mentioned the 'total percent damage' would pertain only to flood damage. And since when are we assuming that the total wind claim paid by private insurance constitutes the actual total wind damage?
Does this mean they will join the wind vs. water debate when it comes to those homeowner's left with only a slab? Further, how will they determine what percentage of a totally destroyed home would have been considered 'luxury items' had any of it still existed to be inspected?
From the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the MDA Homeowners Grant website:
Question: How will the assessment of my home be determined?
Answer: If the home is totally destroyed, a damage assessment will not be performed. Instead the grant will be calculated using the pre-Katrina insured value of the home or $150,000 whichever amount is less.
In all other instances, an MDA Damage Assessor will perform an on-site inspection to determine an estimate of the percent damage to the home. This assessment will include 100% of the damage from the storm. It is not limited to flood, wind, storm surge, etc. In certain situations MDA may use a FEMA damage assessment or an SBA damage assessment if either exists and forgo the on-site assessment. (emphasis added)
I am inclined to believe that no matter how much the program changed in theory and rhetoric... it was never intended to be changed in practice. I am haunted by these words from January: "The requirement for how much damage a home had to have has not been set, but it might follow the federal guideline of 51 percent or more damage to qualify. 'The purpose is to help those who were really, really, really hurt, not those who need Sheetrock,' Barbour said."
There was an uproar after this statement was made.. and there was a lot of battling back and forth about the 50% damage rule and so on as well... We were all made to believe later on that the 50% damage rule had been dropped and those of us who might 'need Sheetrock' would be helped as well.
I believe this program was disingenuously designed, from the beginning, with only a select group of homeowners in mind. The criteria and the application process were designed around this set of elect homeowners -- all the while making it appear that a broad group of people would be eligible for the sake of credibility.
Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up in the morning and you feel as if all of your fight is gone? Maybe having some fight left in you isn't all that important in your part of the world every morning... Here -- I think it's a matter of survival... and I'm having one of those mornings.
Previous entries about the program:
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/05/sba-update.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/04/your-appointment-with-homeowner.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/03/letter-to-mississippi-development.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/02/wlox-tv-news-for-south-mississippi.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/01/taylor-offers-guidance-on-katrina.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/01/sun-herald-01242006-home-grants-coming.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/01/sun-herald-01252006-mda-to-drop-50.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/02/sun-herald-02072006-home-grants-2.html
http://vasavana.blogspot.com/2006/01/sun-herald-01062006-barbour-details.html
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