Katrina Victims Get Homeowner Checks

In what may have been the most expensive hurricane on record, victims of Hurricane Katrina are now going to get a little help. Though mortgage companies and watchdogs are holding their breath, victims of the hurricane are now beginning to receive homeowner’s checks to start to rebuild their lives. Congress approved nearly $4 billion for displaced and homeless victims of the storm and that money is now being handed over to people who lost their homes in the wake of Katrina.

Mississippi is the first state to start issuing checks; checks up to $150,000 are being provided to homeowners that lived outside flood areas but lost their homes; Louisiana is expected to follow suit within weeks. More than 16,000 applications for the federal grants have been received since registration began in April, but the MBA has decried giving the money to homeowners instead of their mortgage companies. The move would make fraud easier and could result in millions of dollars being filtered to the wrong sources. Mississippi and Louisiana government officials have pushed to go ahead with the payouts, hoping to begin rebuilding their states.