FEMA To Katrina Victims: It's Payback Time

Agency Pursues Survivors For Repayment Of Hundreds Of Millions In Aid

(CBS)  Hurricane Katrina stole just about everything Sheila Moore had in this world.

"How bad does it get for you?" asks CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

"It can't get any badder. How can it get worse?" Moore says.

So when FEMA told her she qualified for thousands of dollars in emergency assistance, she took it. Then, seven months later, in July 2006, Moore received a letter from FEMA demanding its money back; $14,749.51 to be paid in full in 30 days.

"I don't have money to pay this back. I can't pay it back," she says. "What am I supposed to do?"

The emergency funds were spent on food, clothing, and a used car to get to her full-time job. The car even ended up becoming her home for a while.

"Yes, it is. And it did. And it maybe, before all is said and done, may have to be my permanent home," she says.

In the wake of Katrina, FEMA released emergency funds to more than 700,000 households. Auditors later said the agency had overpaid by nearly a half-billion dollars, providing assistance to people who, they claim, didn't deserve it.

So FEMA sent out about 150,000 letters demanding its money back. Letters often filled with confusing accusations like "app has not proved occupancy" and cryptic coding like "awhm." Any questions? Call the FEMA helpline.

"And they call this helpline and get very little information, and very little detail in terms of why they are in this position now," says attorney Ranie Thompson.

Thompson says her clients are among the thousands of people lost in a process she calls broken, one that's built on the presumption of guilt.

"They don't have transportation. They're struggling with health care issues," she says. "And you want them to pay you $20,000. You've go to be kidding me."

A CBS News investigation has found that FEMA call center workers were under extraordinary pressure to move as many cases as possible. Clark Browne was a case worker at a FEMA call center in Hyattsville, Md.

"They had quotas," Browne says.

"They had quotas? In the call center? What kind of quotas are we talking about here?" Keteyian asks.

"Twenty cases a day. Some of those cases got messed up because people were rushing," says Browne.

"Aren't you there to help people?" asks Keteyian. "What did the people calling in get?"

"Exactly," Browne says. "It was like a dog chasing their tail, going around in circles."

Other current FEMA case workers, who asked not to be identified, told CBS News that managers encourage the idea that "victims are just a number," while workers who try to spend more time on complex cases are told, "we are not supposed to put out that effort."

As in the past, FEMA refused to speak with Keteyian on camera and didn't even issue a statement, citing ongoing litigation - litigation that has forced FEMA to temporarily halt its efforts to extract money from Katrina survivors.

Sheila Moore and her attorney spent a year and a-half fighting FEMA before the agency admitted she no longer owed $14,000. The reason? Someone had simply misspelled her name on her application for aid.

[leebac]

Again, since when is it the taxpayers'' responsibility to fund the recovery efforts of New Orleans?? I have lived in an area that has been besieged with flood problems (ie: St Louis)! I agree with the Fed''s helping these areas with their problems...however there is a distinction between helping with recovery and being responsible for the problem. If I decided to make my home in an obvious flood plain, then it is my responsibility to secure the proper insurance for my home. The first responsible party is the homeowner, the second is their insurance writer, the last is the U.S. taxpayer!!!

[volante1]

After two years of alot of nothing from our government, I think the best way for Louisiana to get help would be simple. All we have to do is change the name of our state to either East Texas, West Mississippi, or New Florida. Oh, and get a Republican Governor.

[aaronloves2]

Their is a greater chance of getting struck by lightning then extracting $14,000.00 or more from people who do not have it. Good luck with that. Perhaps one more nasty letter will do the trick FEMA.

[walt1944-2009]

As reported several days ago, Emperor Bush II stated that better days were coming for New Orleans. He, of course, did not say better days were coming for the PEOPLE of New Orleans who did not know they would have to pay back every penny FEMA borrowed them, WITHIN 30 DAYS!! After all, the Emperor needs all this money back for when the next disaster strikes so he can "loan" out the money once again to those those unfortunate victims of disaster who don''t know what they are getting themselves into!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!

[senatorz06]

This is the type of illuminating journalism that the networks should be doing ALL the time, instead of always focusing on the celebrities and scandals for ratings. Excellent job.

[oakishpines]

'' ... i had a teacher when i was ten, the best, the one students and teachers alike would call first if the moon fell out of the sky, in so many ways our little personal moons fell out of the sky everyday, but we never ever even dreamed of ''calling it in'' ... on t.v., there were the evening news journalists in ''beiruit'' or whereever, they sortof represented the t.v. version of who to call if the moon falls out of the sky, still our little personal moons fell out of the sky everyday, but we never ever even dreamed of ''calling it in'' ... sirens stay silent all over town while little moons fall from little skys ... i don''t mind that because if folk tend not to ''call it in'' then they probably should not be overly encouraged to do so ... but we were dared ... wars kill kids and the war was put into our schools and named of all things ''dare kids'' ... that''s worse than saying ''spit on cops'' ... all day everyday on every front page saying ''spit on cops'' ... me, i hope someday to find a hundred and forty million kids dancing porno get sick tax world get well feed world songs ralllied round the sickbeds drifting tens millions spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail groups ... that''s been my dream since i was five ... i can''t even begin to remember who gave it to me or imagine why it took me soo long to tell somebody that ... ''

[oakishpines]

'' .. when i was like six or seven, i was playing in some field with a bunch of folk (rallyd round sick beds drifting farm trails dancing get well feed world songs), & some girl was dancing through the crowd, claiming ''''tax the world is feed the world'''', & promising to rid the world of naked folk & ignorant folk & lazy profane blemished folk, & to replace all the free food & free medicine crowds with free gun & free bomb buttons, &, when she touched my hand, i felt all warm & fuzzy inside, & ive always wondered what happened to her .. i wonder if shes still out there somewhere, conquering folk like me .. i sooo hope so .. ''

'' .. she''d let the dog free & the parrot too, & give up on having to feed the cats, & just hike away forever, but theres no get well feed world folk there, only get sick tax world: & theres nothing they wont do to keep her in her clothes & in her chair .. ''

'' .. lots of folk say they hate heteros & homos, but lots of folk say they dont want to get chewed up & spit out & put back together by a dinosaur, but almost everyone has done it, & almost everyone will do it again .. ''

'' .. more nerf bus less rollin coffin .. ''

'' .. pocket change is a silly porn formality, but makes the world go round as its doubly more profitable & productive to build $60,000 homes than million dollar homes: why house few folk for a million when one can house more & deflate the dollar as well? .. give to 440 - 7300 folk/day for tips of change .. ''

[scratch057]

senatorz06 I concur. This story has legs and we need to know FEMA''s ideas behind ''quotas''. At my age, I find very little shocks me any more. This did.

[nativewoman]

Rumour has it Bush wants 50 BILLION more for Iraq.

But we got nothing to monitor/update our infrastructure or to help our own citizens.

[williamf57]

I''d rather have my tax money go to the katrina victims then to keep pumping it into iraq. all the billions we are giving them you can bet they don''t have to pay it back.

[oakishpines]

'' ... when george washington saw the enemy holding hands and weaving bouquets with little boys, she became enraged and chased them all through the gardens spanking their lazy naked ignorant profane blemished ***** ... ''

'' ... it is not a question of will the pharoah and the congress and the nation ultimately fail, it is a question of who will they fail to: wads of girls with bouquets or tiny bundles of men with bombs, and the surest way to ensure the desirable outcome is to be the desirable outcome ... ''

'' ... one day we will conquer the government and we''ll preach that tax the world is feed the world and we''ll trade all the get well feed world crowds in for get sick tax world buttons and we''ll have removed all the lazy naked ignorant profane blemished folk removed, till then: oh the horror ... ''

[ramos937]

This is terrible. First, FEMA tells unsophisticated victims they are entitled to thouands of dollars; gives them a check and then finds out FEMA made a mistake and tries to collect from the victims after the funds are spent.

Congress has to call FEMA into account for this. The proper FEMA leaders leading the collection effort should be held accountable. These sums have to be forgiven.

ok so here you have thousands of people needing
money after the hurricane. alot of them probably did need it. now some people will have lost their identification, but really, 99% of them?
how bout next time, maybe require a thumb print for records, and maybe one of those passport camera setups at the "money sites". even with these safeguards the aclu would scream bloody murder, but we might have at least reduced the money hemorhage. ask the tsunami people how much they recieved on their atm cards.

[xzavierbrown]

hell they probably thought it was another LIFETIME welfare giveaway..

its hard when a disaster comes around but its well documented that billions were sqaundered and more likely bought ''bling bling'' instead of essentials..

but enough is enough..there is a point when you simply just become a parasite

[michael419-2009]

Remember our President tell the country, "Good job, Brownie"?, then firing the SOB? Hey- Good job, FEMA!. Our current President is the worst I''ve witnessed in over 40 years. If he had an ounce of respect for the American People, he''d step down in shame, just like Nixon did.

[cmp271]

I''d like to know where all the money went to that was given out to the Katrina/New Orleans so called victims. FEMA gave out money, donations of millions were raised. Where is all that money and why isn''t N.O. in better shape than it is. Anywhere else would have been rebuilt by now, AND BY the people who live or lived there. There are towns in this country destroyed by tornados, and snow storm damage, these places have managed without all the handouts.

No More Money for New Orleans!!!
Enough is Enough!!!

Do It Yourself!!! Other places do!!!

When is the rest of the country going to compensate New York for the 9/11 disaster, our state is hurting too because of it. NO ONE has given us a continued hand out. We taxpayers have had to make up the difference. And so it should be for Louisiana!!!

[eugenia1256]

09/01/2007 Saturday
Eugenia Michelle Brown
My family and I are Hurricane Katrina Survivors
and HomeCare Business owners from New Orleans,La
relocated to Houston,Texas. We are not seeking a
handout from anyone.Pre Katrina we were owners of
a HomeCare Business which like everything else a
casulty of Hurricane Katrina. We did not ask nor
did we cause Hurricane Katrina and yes we have be
en attempting to return our lives to self suffice
nt status; but with having to start from the begin
ning is very difficult.
All my family and I desire is the much needed
assistance from the agencies that have been desi
gnated to render these services; so that we can
return to New Orleans,La and restart our personal
and business lives.
God''s Blessing to all
Eugenia Michelle Brown

[sparks224]

For a quarter of the corporate welfare we''ve handed out over Iraq, we could have built new mansions for all the Katrina survivors.

[Snerdguy]

The problem with FEMA is the same as with most other federal agencies. In their eyes, you deserve nothing, are trying rip off the government and should be thankful that the feds haven''t thrown you in jail. The federal government even treats it''s own injured workers like criminals. It''s the bureaucracy. You know. The sniveling little weasels in charge of their own little kingdoms each thinking that their part of the government is more important than any other part. Federal agencies can''t even get along with each other let alone treat mere taxpayers as human beings.

People suffer and people die every day because the federal government plays these games. How much longer will can we put up with this mess. How many laws did your Congressional representative violate today?

[beadazzle]

Whatever happened to the millions given to the Red Cross And Salvation Army? Why did the president of the Red Cross step down? Why don''t we let Tom *** or Harry run Fema? Surely they could do a better job.

What most of us hear in the news about N.O. and other disasters,is only a tiny bit of what is actually happening to those places. Case in point Greensburg Kansas population 1,500 totaly blown away by an F5 tornado Just a couple of months ago.

We kansas people pitched in with everything from food to clothing to faith,money and so on. Some help came from across the nation and other countries,but guess what,these people are rebuilding faster than N.O and with only 20 million dollars from fema of which i''m not sure they have seen yet.Most of it comes from their own pockets.

The point is here" Do it yourselves." Quit relying on the goverment.Take back our humanity and believe in yourselves once again. You can''t take it with you so share it with someone who needs help and I''m not just talking about money.

[l8c6]

How much money lost in Iraq?

Hmm, maybe the bulk of the lost money directed at hurricane relief in the gulf coast fell into the hands of Bill Frist''s family or Trent Lott''s.

Is this what homeland insecurity is all about?

Welcome to surreal america.

[ayankele]

Dear fellow Americans,
After reading some of the negative comments on this article, I am deeply saddened. I think many of us have forgotten the Golden Rule and the need to walk in another''s shoes before you decide to judge them. Not only are these comments callous and demeaning to those who have already been put down low by a natural disaster, but they reflect a blaming attitude that has no place when dealing with people who need help. As one pedagogical scholar once said, "Those who are in trouble don''t need more trouble."
In reference to the comparison made by one person to the tsunami in South East Asia, it occurs to me that those people never have had the power as a citizenry to demand anything from their government, especially those who live in small fishing communities along the coast. Should Americans feel guilty when receiving government assistance? Is the idea that government really doesn''t owe its people any real help in times of need the prevailing attitude? If so, our tax monies are simply a gift, and those who did lend a hand since the hurricane hit should be treated as martyrs, and not as human beings doing something human.
I sincerely hope that those casting blame on the victims would for a moment consider the true job of FEMA, and whether or not that agency is fulfilling its obligations to those in need in our country.
If you have read this far, I thank you for hearing my thoughts and feelings.
With compassion,
Anna Yankelevich
Denver, CO

[baye13]

"All we have to do is change the name of our state to either East Texas, West Mississippi, or New Florida. Oh, and get a Republican Governor."

Pute a repuke in charge and they would have rid the city of all its people. We all know repukes hate Working class, Blacks & g*a*ys.