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For Immediate Release

HUD Approves Road Home Change to Aid More 'Sold Homes' Applicants

BATON ROUGE, La., January 23, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved the state of Louisiana's request to bring more Road Home applicants into the Sold Homes program, a change which could make more than 800 families eligible for aid.

"Homeowners had to make tough personal choices about what to do with their homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and many times this included selling a home for an extreme loss," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. "By approving this change, the federal government is allowing us to aid more of those families, for which we are thankful."

The approval extends the timeframe until August 29, 2007, meaning that Road Home applicants who sold their homes up to that time, and prior to receiving aid from the program, are now eligible for aid. The previous deadline was August 29, 2006. Before submitting the plan, the state took public comment on the change and it was approved by the LRA's board and the state Legislature.

When the original Road Home action plan was written and approved in 2006, it included a provision to pay grants for applicants who sold their homes at a loss prior to the launch of the Road Home, but only if the program had funds remaining after paying compensation and elevation grants.

Last fall, the state made "sold home" applicants eligible for program funding and has started processing their applications and scheduling closing appointments for their grants. The change affects an additional 832 applicants; sufficient funds exist in the $100 million budgeted for the Sold Homes program. These applicants had been contacted by the Road Home and their applications will be processed now.

The state sent 5,500 letters to "sold homes" applicants, with 2,964 applicants responding as interested in funding. From that pool, 1,657 applicants have active, in progress applications and another 102 are having their eligibility verified.

Applicants still must have applied to the program prior to its July 31, 2007, application deadline and completed their first appointment by December 15, 2007. Regulations attached by Congress to the use of the final allocation of Road Home funds do not allow for any new Road Home applications to be taken.

To view the approved plan, visit http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/dr/plans/Amend31-Proposed-SoldHomeDeadline-08-11-05.pdf.

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