Hurricane Katrina Survivors to Receive Retroactive and Prospective Housing Benefits Following Unlawful Termination of FEMA Assistance, Judge Rules
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Approximately 11,000 families who survived Hurricane Katrina, and whose FEMA housing benefits were halted on August 31, 2006, will receive both retroactive and prospective housing benefits because the terminations of benefits were unlawful. On November 29, 2006, a federal district court judge ruled that FEMA withdrew housing assistance from many hurricane survivors without providing required notice of the reasons for the governments actions. The judge ordered benefits restored to these hurricane survivors until FEMA provides proper notice. The ruling also orders FEMA to provide survivors with the assistance they would have received if FEMA had not unlawfully terminated their benefits on August 31, 2006. The plaintiffs—the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and four Katrina evacuees—were represented by LSC-funded Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) and Public Citizen Litigation Group. Although the lawsuit was not filed as and did not proceed as a class-action, thousands of families were able to benefit from it because the court granted standing to ACORN to sue on behalf of evacuees who were denied housing benefits. Jerry Wesevich, a TRLA attorney who worked on the case, says, This opinion is a thorough denunciation of FEMAs actions. It is a complete vindication of all legal claims made on behalf of Katrina evacuees. To read the decision, see: www.citizen.org/documents/FEMAdecision.pdf.