Feds Want Noncompliant Homeowners to Return $522M in Elevation Grants

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says New Orleans must return hundreds of millions of dollars paid in home elevation grants after Hurricane Katrina.

NOLA.com The Times-Picayune reports that the department wants names of nearly 18,000 homeowners who never raised their homes after getting the Road Home elevation grants.

A letter sent Oct. 1 also asks how much total grant money those people got.

State officials say they totaled $522.2 million.

The Louisiana Office of Community Development manages the Road Home program. A spokesman says the state does not have any immediate plans to renew its effort to force noncompliant homeowners to pay back their grants.

Office director Pat Forbes says he hopes Louisiana’s congressional delegation will intervene.