Sandy Recovery

FEMA to reopen Sandy claims

Five homes up for auction in Seaford

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to reopen and review every flood insurance claim — about 144,000 — filed by victims of Hurricane Sandy, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said earlier this month.

FEMA is collecting all existing engineering reports and will make them available to every policyholder in an effort to address claims by Sandy victims that they have been victimized by the National Flood Insurance Program. Currently there are 2,200 claims in litigation.

Additionally, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said that the agency would hold accountable all those involved in the program who may have engaged in fraudulent behavior, and would sanction or expel from NFIP any engineering firm or Write Your Own insurance carriers who are found to have committed fraud.

The WYO Program allows participating property and casualty insurance companies to write and service standard flood insurance policies in their own names. They receive an expense allowance for policies written and claims processed, while the federal government retains the responsibility for underwriting losses. The WYO Program operates as part of the NFIP, and is subject to its rules and regulations.

Beginning the week of April 13, Sandy claimants will be informed by mail of the new process and the opportunity for review. Additionally, FEMA’s Sandy Task Force will begin the evaluation of the National Flood Insurance Program and focus on reforms.

“The program has to change,” said Stephen Coughlin, a Seaford resident. “The whole program is rigged and designed to give you nothing.”

In December, FEMA agreed to conduct an internal investigation, and created the task force to examine its penalty structure, which “punishes WYOs for making overpayments far more than it punishes them for making underpayments,” Schumer said. FEMA also agreed to reopen 270 policyholder appeals and provide policyholders in litigation with all engineering report permutations.

In addition to an ongoing probe by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General into allegations of widespread fraud perpetrated against Sandy victims, New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has launched a criminal investigation as well.

The change in policy could affect the owners of 6,000 homes in Nassau County that sustained damage equaling 50 percent of their value or more.

Coughlin, who lives on Somerset Drive, had 80 percent damage to his home, but was denied full coverage because of his flood insurance policy’s “earth movement” clause. Additionally, he claims that the adjustor’s report was manipulated. “The law states that if you can prove this, you are entitled to three times the claim,” he said. “That’s why the government is doing this,” he added, referring to FEMA’s review of claims. “They’re afraid of all the possible liability.”

Coughlin recently hired an attorney. “I’m still not in my house,” he said. “I had insurance. I just want what my claim said I was entitled to.”

Bob Neeman, who lives on Sands Lane, has not hired a lawyer — yet. “My wife has talked to people online with a class action lawsuit,” he said, adding that doesn’t believe he got his fair share of insurance money. “I’m not going to hold my breath. It sounds like more paperwork, more bureaucracy, and in the end you get very little.”

Meanwhile, New York state has announced that it would put up for auction 150 properties in Nassau and Suffolk counties, including five in Seaford, that were bought as part of the New York Rising Recovery Program. Neeman and Coughlin said the program wasn’t right for them. “I began to fix and raise my house before I had all the information,” Neeman said. “For now, we’re doing the best we can.”

Coughlin said that his house was not eligible for the full acquisition price. “It’s been a learning experience,” he said. “This whole process, it’s like the Stations of the Cross. I just want to go home."

Homes to be auctioned

Five houses in Seaford will be auctioned off at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge on May 19 and 20, at a fraction of their pre-Sandy value:

3900 Sands Lane
Pre-storm value: $390,000
Minimum bid: $144,625

3908 Sands Lane
Pre-storm value: $345,000
Minimum bid: $127,725

3595 Somerset Drive
Pre-storm value: $470,000
Minimum bid: $174,200

2472 Cedar St.
Pre-storm value: $330,000
Minimum bid: $81,250

2739 Ocean Ave.
Pre-storm value: $525,000
Minimum bid: $194,350