Report to Congressional Requesters

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO 

January 2010 DISASTER 

ASSISTANCE 

Federal Assistance for 

Permanent Housing 

Primarily Benefited 

Homeowners; 

Opportunities Exist to 

Better Target Rental 

Housing Needs 

GAO-10-17 
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

January 2010

DISASTER ASSISTANCE

Federal Assistance for Permanent Housing Primarily 

Benefited Homeowners; Opportunities Exist to Better 

Highlights of GAO-10-17, a report to Target Rental Housing Needs

congressional requesters 

In response to the 2005 Gulf Coast 

hurricanes, Congress provided 

about $130 billion in disaster 

recovery assistance, including 

assistance for permanent housing. 

Congress has expressed an interest 

in how this assistance has been 

allocated to homeowners and 

rental property owners, particularly 

for state-administered programs. 

GAO’s objectives were to review 

(1) how federal disaster-related 

assistance for permanent housing 

has been provided to homeowners 

and rental property owners, (2) the 

extent to which federally funded 

programs have responded to the 

needs of homeowners and rental 

property owners, and (3) the 

challenges that homeowners and 

rental property owners have faced 

in applying for and using federal 

assistance, and potential options 

for addressing these challenges. To 

address these objectives, GAO 

analyzed documentation for key 

programs and program data, and 

interviewed federal, state, and local 

officials regarding the challenges 

associated with these programs. 

What GAO Recommends

In planning for recoveries from 

future disasters, Congress should 

consider the merits of providing 

more specific direction to states 

regarding the allocation of disasterrelated CDBG assistance for 

homeowners and rental property 

owners. We received technical 

comments from federal and state 

agencies, which we incorporated as 

appropriate. 

Federal post-disaster assistance for permanent housing was made available to 

homeowners and rental property owners following the 2005 Gulf Coast 

hurricanes through grants, loans, and tax incentives. State agencies were 

largely responsible for administering the programs that delivered most of the 

assistance, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 

program, the most widely used source of federal funds. Congress provided 

states with broad flexibility in their use of CDBG funds.

Federal programs GAO reviewed addressed the repair and replacement needs 

of more homeowner units than rental units. In both Louisiana and Mississippi, 

more homeowner units were damaged than rental units, but the proportional 

damage to the rental stock was generally greater. Programs GAO reviewed 

provided about $13 billion in assistance for the repair and replacement of 

about 303,000 homeowner units, and about $1.8 billion for over 43,000 rental 

units. When the estimated number of assisted units is compared to the 

estimated number of damaged units, 62 percent of damaged homeowner units 

and 18 percent of damaged rental units were assisted, as shown below. The 

difference in the level of assistance for homeowner and rental units was 

largely due to states’ decisions to award the majority of their CDBG funds to 

programs for homeowners. 

When attempting to use the programs GAO reviewed, both homeowners and 

rental property owners encountered delays in funding availability and other 

challenges, which have likely contributed to the slow pace of recovery in 

some areas and fewer affordable units for renters. GAO and others have 

previously recommended options to minimize these challenges. However, 

without specific direction on how to better target disaster-related CDBG funds 

for the redevelopment of homeowner and rental units after future disasters, 

states’ allocation of assistance to homeowners and rental property owners 

may again result in significant differences in the level of assistance provided. 

Homeowner and Rental Units Damaged and Funded in Louisiana and Mississippi 

0 100 200 300 400 500

Sources: GAO analysis; DHS Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding (damage data).

Rental

units

Homeowner

units

Number of units in thousands

Total units damaged Units funded out of total damaged

489 303

(62%)

247 43

(18%)

($13.0B)

($1.8B)

Notes: Data are from Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf 

Coast Rebuilding, “Current Housing Unit Damage Estimates, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma” 

(Feb. 12, 2006). Unit counts refer to units that were occupied at the time of the storm. View GAO-10-17 or key components.

For more information, contact Mathew J. 

Scirè at (202) 512-8678 or sciremj@gao.gov. 
Page i GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Letter 1

Background 3 

Federal Assistance for Permanent Housing after the 2005 Storms 

Included Grants, Loans, and Tax Incentives, and States Designed 

Programs to Award the Majority of This Assistance 9 

Federal Disaster Housing Assistance Addressed the Repair and 

Replacement Needs of More Homeowner Units than Rental 

Units, and Progress in Completing Rental Units Has Been 

Limited 21 

Homeowners and Rental Property Owners Faced Challenges in 

Applying for and Using Federal Assistance, but Options Exist for 

Reducing These Challenges after Future Disasters 31 

Conclusions 43 

Matters for Congressional Consideration 44 

Agency Comments 45 

Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 46 

Appendix II Homeowner Programs Funded through the 

Community Development Block Grant Program 52 

Appendix III Small Rental Housing Programs Funded through the 

Community Development Block Grant Program 57 

Appendix IV Programs Funded through Tax Incentives 60 

Appendix V Home Disaster and Physical Disaster Business Loan 

Programs 67 

Appendix VI Other Programs Reviewed 73 

Contents 
Page ii GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Appendix VII Rental Units Funded and Completed 80 

Appendix VIII GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 81 

Tables 

Table 1: Federal Programs Available for the Repair or Replacement 

of Permanent Housing after the 2005 Gulf Coast 

Hurricanes 6 

Table 2: Federal Programs That Were Available to Benefit 

Homeowners and Renters through the Repair or 

Replacement of Damaged Housing, by Potential 

Household Type Served 10 

Table 3: Homeowner and Rental Property Units Funded by Federal 

Post-Disaster Programs in Louisiana and Mississippi 26 

Table 4: Federal Assistance Awarded for Permanent Housing in 

Louisiana and Mississippi (dollars in millions) 29 

Table 5: Number of Homeowner Units Funded and Total Amounts 

Awarded through the Road Home Homeowner Program 

(Louisiana) and the Homeowner Assistance Program 

(Mississippi), by State and Parish/County 53 

Table 6: Median Number of Days between Date Application 

Received and Date of First Disbursement for the Road 

Home Homeowner Program (Louisiana) and the 

Homeowner Assistance Program (Mississippi), by State 

and Parish/County 55 

Table 7: Number of Rental Units Funded and Amounts of Loans 

Awarded through the Road Home Small Rental Property 

Program (Louisiana) and the Small Rental Assistance 

Program (Mississippi), by State and Parish/County 58 

Table 8: Median Number of Days between Date Application 

Received and Date of Closing for the Road Home Small 

Rental Property Program (Louisiana) and the Small Rental 

Assistance Program (Mississippi), by State and 

Parish/County 59 

Table 9: Gulf Opportunity Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credit 

(GO Zone LIHTC) Units Funded and in Service, by State 

and Parish/County 61 
Page iii GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 10: GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds Issued for 

Homeowner and Rental Projects, by State and Amount 

Issued 63 

Table 11: New Markets Tax Credit Allocations for Use in the Gulf 

Opportunity Zone, Largest to Smallest 65 

Table 12: Homeowner Units Funded and Loan Amounts Approved 

through the Home Disaster Loan Program, by State and 

Parish/ County 68 

Table 13: Number of Loans Approved and Amounts Loaned 

through the Physical Disaster Business Loan Program, by 

State and Parish/County 71 

Table 14: Rental Units Assisted and Amounts Awarded through the 

2005 Capital Fund Emergency/ Natural Disaster Funding 

Program, by State 73 

Table 15: Approved Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Projects for 

Louisiana and Mississippi, by State 74 

Table 16: Individuals and Households Program: Repair or 

Replacement Assistance Awarded and Homeowner Units 

Assisted in Louisiana and Mississippi, by State and 

Parish/County 75 

Table 17: Units Funded and Completed and Amounts Awarded 

through Mississippi’s Long Term Workforce Housing 

Program, by Household Type 78 

Table 18: Public Assistance for Permanent Work Awarded to Public 

Housing Authorities in Louisiana and Mississippi, by State 

and Amount Obligated 79 

Figures 

Figure 1: Percentage of Homeowners and Renters That Paid More 

than 30 Percent of Their Annual Income on Housing in 

2004 8 

Figure 2: Post-Disaster Housing Assistance Program 

Administrators and Available Funding, by Funding 

Allocated or Available 13 

Figure 3: Dates When Post-Disaster Funds for Permanent Housing 

Became Available 20 

Figure 4: Homeowner and Rental Units That Sustained Damage for 

Selected Parishes and Counties in Louisiana and 

Mississippi 23 

Figure 5: Proportion of Homeowner and Rental Units That 

Sustained Damage in Selected Parishes and Counties 25 
Page iv GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 6: Homeowner and Rental Units Damaged and Funded in 

Louisiana and Mississippi 28 

Figure 7: Timeline for the CDBG-Funded Homeowner and Rental 

Programs in Louisiana and Mississippi 35 

Figure 8: Median Number of Days for Applications to Be Processed 37 

Abbreviations 

CDBG Community Development Block Grant 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency 

GO Zone Gulf Opportunity Zone 

HMGP Hazard Mitigation Grant Program 

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development 

IHP Individuals and Households Program 

LIHTC Low-Income Housing Tax Credit 

MDA Mississippi Development Authority 

MSA metropolitan statistical area 

OCD Louisiana Office of Community Development 

PHA public housing agency 

SBA Small Business Administration 

Stafford Act Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act 

Treasury Department of the Treasury 

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Page 1 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

January 14, 2010 

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman 

Chairman 

Committee on Homeland Security 

 and Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Mary L. Landrieu 

Chairman 

Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery 

Committee on Homeland Security 

 and Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, and 

was the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history in terms of 

geographic scope, the severity of its destruction, and the number of 

persons displaced from their homes. The storm caused damage in 

Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It devastated far more 

residential property than any other recent hurricane, destroying or making 

uninhabitable an estimated 300,000 homes. It displaced thousands of 

homeowners and renters and created a need for an unprecedented level of 

recovery assistance. Then, just 1 month later on September 24, 2005, 

Hurricane Rita struck, severely damaging or destroying more than 23,600 

housing units in southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas. 

In response to the damage caused by these hurricanes, the government 

provided significant funding for the recovery of the region, including funds 

for rebuilding housing. Congress provided about $130 billion in disaster 

recovery assistance, including about $19.7 billion in Community 

Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD) provided Louisiana and Mississippi—the two 

states most affected—with the majority of these supplemental CDBG 

funds, which were to be used in part for housing recovery. The Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and 

the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) also provided various 

resources—grants, loans, and tax incentives—for the recovery of 

permanent housing. However, while Congress has provided funding for the 

recovery of housing in the affected areas, some displaced residents are 

still unable to return to their homes, in part because of the slow pace of 

 

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 
 

Page 2 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

the repair and replacement of permanent housing and the lack of 

affordable housing. 

Congress has raised questions about how federal funds for housing 

recovery have been allocated for the repair of homeowner and rental 

housing units, particularly under programs for which states have 

discretion regarding the amount and types of assistance available to 

homeowners and rental property owners. In light of these questions, this 

report examines the federal assistance provided to homeowners and rental 

property owners after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. Our work focused 

on Louisiana and Mississippi, the states most affected by Hurricanes 

Katrina and Rita. Specifically, we reviewed (1) how federal disaster-related 

assistance for permanent housing has been provided to homeowners and 

rental property owners affected by the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes; (2) the 

extent to which federally funded programs responded to the needs of 

homeowners compared to rental property owners in repairing or replacing 

units damaged by these hurricanes; and (3) the challenges that 

homeowners and rental property owners have faced in applying for and 

using federal assistance, and potential options for addressing these 

challenges. 

To describe how federal disaster-related assistance for permanent housing 

was provided to homeowners and rental property owners, we identified 

federal programs that made assistance available for the repair and 

replacement of housing after the disasters, reviewed eligibility criteria and 

award processes, and determined when funds became available. We 

included programs that federal agencies, subject matter experts, and 

studies and reports identified as being key to the repair and replacement 

of permanent housing for homeowners and renters. As a result, we did not 

include every program that provides post-disaster housing assistance. To 

determine the extent to which these programs responded to the needs of 

homeowners and rental property owners in repairing or replacing units, 

we compared data on the number of homeowner and rental units damaged 

to the number that were assisted through various programs, compared the 

amounts of assistance awarded to homeowners and rental property 

owners, and determined the extent to which repairs have been completed. 

We assessed the reliability of these data and determined that they are 

sufficiently reliable for the purpose of our report. To identify challenges to 

homeowners and rental property owners, we reviewed studies and 

reports, interviewed program administrators, and analyzed the timeliness 

of funding availability and application processing. To identify potential 

options for addressing these challenges, we reviewed recommendations in 

studies and reports, suggestions from program administrators and 
 

Page 3 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

organizations that worked with disaster victims, and information on the 

congressional intent of post-disaster housing assistance. For more 

information on our scope and methodology see appendix I. 

We conducted our work from October 2008 through January 2010 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those 

standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, 

appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence 

obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions 

based on our audit objectives. 

After major disasters, various federal agencies provide a range of 

assistance to individual victims; state, territorial, and local governments; 

and nongovernmental entities. This assistance is administered through 

various federal programs, and is generally made available after the 

President issues a disaster declaration under the authority of the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act).1

While the federal government provides significant financial assistance 

after major disasters, the federal role is primarily to assist state and local 

governments, which have the central role in recovery efforts. State and 

local governments have the main responsibility of applying for, receiving, 

and implementing federal assistance. Further, they make decisions about 

what priorities and projects the community will undertake for recovery. 

The Stafford Act also specifies that federal agencies providing financial 

assistance after a major disaster cannot provide assistance to an individual 

for the same loss for which another federal program or private insurance 

company has provided compensation.2

 Therefore, homeowners that 

sustained damages from the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes must first seek 

assistance from their homeowner insurance or National Flood Insurance 

Program policies. Homeowners in the Gulf Coast area had varying levels of 

hazard and flood insurance coverage. Of the 331,070 homeowner units that 

sustained minor, major, or severe damage in Louisiana, 126,007 (38 

percent) had hazard insurance only, and 118,928 (36 percent) had both 

 

1

The Stafford Act is codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 5121 et seq. 

2

42 U.S.C. § 5155. 

Background 
 

Page 4 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

hazard and flood insurance.3 Of the 157,914 homeowner units that 

sustained damage in Mississippi, 94,792 (60 percent) had hazard insurance 

only, and 11,481 (7 percent) had hazard and flood insurance. Insurance 

industry estimates indicate that homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi 

received average payments of nearly $16,000 in each state for personal 

property claims related to Hurricane Katrina and average payments of 

$13,000 and $3,500, respectively, for personal property claims related to 

Hurricane Rita. For both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, our analysis shows 

that $9.7 billion was paid out through the National Flood Insurance 

Program to homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi, with a median claim 

payment of $74,000.4

 Less is known about the extent to which rental 

property owners had hazard and flood insurance coverage and the 

amounts paid out in claims after the 2005 hurricanes because data are not 

readily available. In addition, data are not available to determine the 

extent to which insurance settlements made to both homeowners and 

rental property owners addressed their damages. 

Through executive orders, the authority to provide disaster relief 

assistance has been delegated to FEMA. FEMA provides various forms of 

temporary housing assistance, such as direct financial assistance or a 

temporary housing unit after a disaster, typically for a period no longer 

than 18 months, as directed by the Stafford Act. HUD is the recognized 

federal authority for housing assistance (including permanent housing) 

and has provided assistance such as rental housing vouchers and grants 

for federally declared major disasters in the past and prior to FEMA’s 

creation in 1979. Over the years, Congress has provided several 

mechanisms for disaster assistance, including HUD’s CDBG program 

funds for recovery. After the 2005 hurricanes, HUD was responsible for 

providing assistance to clients that it had already been assisting and for 

providing CDBG funds. Through the Small Business Act as amended, SBA 

has the authority to provide home and business loans to repair or replace 

damaged or destroyed real estate not fully covered by insurance. 

 

3

According to DHS, minor damage is defined as damage that is less than $5,200; major 

damage is defined as damage that is greater than or equal to $5,200 and less than $30,000; 

and severe damage is that which is greater than or equal to $30,000. Hazard insurance 

generally provides coverage for property damage caused by fire, wind, storms, and other 

similar risks. 

4

This figure represents payments to homeowners with building coverage for their primary 

residence. The total was for 117,643 claims. 
 

Page 5 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

According to FEMA’s National Disaster Housing Strategy, which was 

issued in January 2009, throughout the Hurricane Katrina response, 

responsibilities and roles that had seemed clear in previous events became 

less clear as FEMA and other federal departments and agencies provided 

increasing levels of support to state and local officials. For example, 

FEMA typically does not provide housing assistance for more than 18 

months, and generally does not lead efforts to coordinate and deliver 

permanent housing assistance. However, in response to the 2005 Gulf 

Coast hurricanes, FEMA led the coordination with states and local 

communities and implemented many of the housing options, including 

permanent housing. According to a congressional study on deficiencies in 

post-disaster housing assistance, there was a lack of clarity in the longterm post-disaster housing-related responsibilities of HUD and FEMA, and 

concerns have been raised regarding HUD’s limited housing role after 

Hurricane Katrina and its role in future disasters.5

 The National Disaster 

Housing Strategy states that HUD is uniquely positioned to assist those 

affected by a disaster and will be given lead responsibility for permanent 

housing when such assistance is needed in the future.6

After the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, a variety of federal programs was 

made available to homeowners and rental property owners for the repair 

or replacement of permanent housing (see table 1). Four federal agencies 

have responsibility for these programs: DHS, HUD, SBA, and Treasury. 

DHS administers three different grant programs that can be used to repair 

or replace disaster-damaged housing and mitigate damages after disasters. 

HUD provides funding for two grant programs, including the CDBG 

program, through which states can develop post-disaster programs that 

benefit both homeowners and renters. The CDBG program has often been 

relied upon as a convenient source of flexible funding that can be applied 

to disaster situations to help states rebuild their communities. The SBA 

provides two different types of loans for homeowners and owners of 

residential rental properties. Both loan products can fund the repair or 

replacement of disaster-damaged properties. Finally, Treasury has 

responsibility for three programs that provide additional tax incentives to 

the states affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to encourage both 

 

5

Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery of the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs United States Senate, Far From Home: Deficiencies in Federal 

Disaster Housing Assistance After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Recommendations 

for Improvement (Washington, D.C., February 2009). 

6

FEMA, National Disaster Housing Strategy (Washington, D.C., Jan.16, 2009). 
 

Page 6 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

housing and economic development. Congress established the Gulf 

Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 to provide tax incentives to individuals and 

businesses in certain presidentially declared disaster areas. In contrast 

with grant programs, where funds come directly from the government, GO 

Zone incentives provide investors with relief from certain tax liabilities.7

Table 1: Federal Programs Available for the Repair or Replacement of Permanent Housing after the 2005 Gulf Coast 

Hurricanes 

Federal Agency Program Description 

Department of Homeland Security, 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Provides grants for projects that mitigate damages after 

disasters. 

 Individual and Households 

Program: Repair or Replacement 

Assistance 

Provides grants for the repair or replacement of disasterdamaged homes. 

Public Assistance for Permanent 

Worka

Provides grants to states, communities, and certain 

nonprofits, including public housing agencies (PHA). 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development 

Capital Fund Emergency/Natural 

Disaster Funding 

Provides grants to PHAs for the repair or replacement of 

public housing. 

Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Provides funds for the repair or replacement of housing, as 

well as other activities. 

Small Business Administration Physical Disaster Business Loan Provides loans for the repair or replacement of businesses, 

including loans to owners of residential rental properties. 

Home Disaster Loan Provides loans for the repair or replacement of homes. 

Department of the Treasury GO Zone Low-Income Housing 

Tax Credits 

Provides tax credits for the development of rental housing in 

the GO Zone. 

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private 

Activity Bonds 

Provides bond authority to encourage development in 

certain GO Zone areas. 

New Markets Tax Credits (GO 

Zone) 

Provides tax credits to encourage investment in low-income 

areas of the GO Zone. 

Source: GAO. 

Note: See apps. II through VI for summaries of each program. 

a

This program is officially known as the Public Assistance Grant Program. For the purposes of this 

review, we focused on the aspect of this program that funds permanent work and refer to it as the 

Public Assistance for Permanent Work Program. 

 

7

The GO Zone is the geographic area established in the Act for which additional tax 

incentives were made available to designated areas following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 

including Louisiana and Mississippi. 
 

Page 7 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Affordable housing challenges existed for both homeowners and renters in 

Louisiana and renters in Mississippi before the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, 

particularly in the areas most damaged by these storms. According to 

HUD, the generally accepted definition of “affordable” is for a household 

to pay no more than 30 percent of its income on housing. Families who 

pay more than 30 percent of their annual income for housing are 

considered cost burdened. Like renters nationwide, renters in Louisiana 

and Mississippi were generally more cost burdened prior to Hurricanes 

Katrina and Rita than homeowners. For example, according to the 2004 

American Community Survey, for the areas most damaged by the 

hurricanes, in the New Orleans metropolitan area (St. Charles, Orleans, St. 

Tammany, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parishes) 48 percent of renters 

and 24 percent of homeowners spent 30 percent or more of their income 

on housing costs, compared with 50 percent of renters and 21 percent of 

homeowners statewide. In the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula metropolitan 

area in Mississippi—which includes Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson 

counties—48 percent of renters and 21 percent of homeowners spent 30 

percent or more of their income on housing costs compared to 50 percent 

of the renters and 24 percent of homeowners statewide (see fig. 1). 
 

Page 8 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 1: Percentage of Homeowners and Renters That Paid More than 30 Percent 

of Their Annual Income on Housing in 2004 

Note: The metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) reported in this figure are the New Orleans MSA in 

Louisiana and the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula MSA in Mississippi. These MSAs contain the areas 

most damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita increased the need for affordable housing in 

both Louisiana and Mississippi. For example, of the 82,000 rental units that 

were damaged or destroyed in Louisiana, about 54,000 were affordable to 

individuals earning less than 80 percent of the area median income, 

according to state officials. Similarly, in Mississippi nearly one-fourth of 

the 25,000 affordable rental units in three Mississippi coastal counties 

were damaged, with Hancock and Harrison counties sustaining the most 

damage to their affordable rental housing stock.8

 

8

RAND Gulf States Policy Institute, Assessing Progress in Rebuilding the Housing Market 

in Mississippi in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, 

Calif., 2007). 

0

10

20

30

40

50

Homeowner Renter Homeowner Renter

Percent

Source: GAO analysis of Census Bureau data.

Metropolitan statistical area

Statewide

21

50

24

48

24

50

21

48

Louisiana

0

10

20

30

40

50

Percent

Mississippi
 

Page 9 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, federal assistance for the repair or 

replacement of permanent housing was made available to homeowners 

and rental property owners in three forms: grants, loans, and tax 

incentives. The largest source of assistance was the CDBG program. The 

majority of federal assistance was administered by the states, which 

designed the programs and used their discretion to prioritize beneficiaries. 

These programs made assistance available to applicants at different times, 

depending on the structure and requirements of each program. 

Ten federal programs that we reviewed provided grants, loans, and tax 

incentives after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes for the repair or replacement 

of housing. Grants were made available through five different programs to 

assist with the repair of disaster-damaged housing; to fund hazard mitigation 

projects, such as the elevation of housing; and to repair or replace public 

housing or other housing owned by a public housing agency (PHA). Loans 

were made available through three programs (including one program that 

also provides grants) for the repair of disaster-damaged housing for 

homeowners and renters. Finally, three different tax incentive programs were 

made available to encourage the redevelopment of housing in the GO Zone 

for both homeowners and renters. While all of these programs could 

potentially be used to repair, replace, or develop housing structures, some 

could also be used for other activities, such as economic development. 

Of the programs we reviewed, two were available to homeowners only—

the Individual and Households Program (IHP): Repair or Replacement 

Assistance and the Home Disaster Loan Program (see table 2).9

 Several 

programs could have potentially served either homeowners or renters, 

including the CDBG program, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program 

(HMGP), and some tax incentives. Finally, four of the programs we 

reviewed could have assisted renters by funding or providing incentives 

for the repair or replacement of rental housing. 

 

9

For this review, we focused on programs that provided assistance with structures only, 

not personal property. While some components of the IHP program assist with the 

replacement of personal property, the IHP Repair or Replacement grant programs do not. 

See app. I for more information about our scope and methodology. 

Federal Assistance for 

Permanent Housing 

after the 2005 Storms 

Included Grants, Loans, 

and Tax Incentives, and 

States Designed 

Programs to Award the 

Majority of This 

Assistance 

Grants, Loans, and Tax 

Incentives for the Repair 

or Replacement of 

Permanent Housing Were 

Available to Homeowners 

and Rental Property 

Owners 
 

Page 10 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 2: Federal Programs That Were Available to Benefit Homeowners and Renters through the Repair or Replacement of 

Damaged Housing, by Potential Household Type Served 

Program Assistance type Type of activities Purpose 

Homeownersa 

Home Disaster Loanb Loan Housing To provide loans for the repair or replacement 

of homes damaged by a presidentially 

declared or Small Business Administrationdeclared disaster. 

Individuals and Households 

Program: Repair or 

Replacement Assistance 

Grant Housing To assist with the repair or replacement of 

disaster-damaged homes. 

Homeowners and rentersa 

Community Development 

Block Grant Programc

Grants, forgivable loans Housing and economic 

development 

To provide funds for the repair or replacement 

of housing, as well as other activities. 

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private 

Activity Bonds 

Tax incentive Housing and economic 

development 

To help finance the development of private 

facilities and activities, including housing, in 

areas affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes. 

Hazard Mitigation Grant 

Program 

Grant Housing and other 

activities 

To fund hazard mitigation projects after 

presidentially declared disasters. 

New Markets Tax Credits 

(GO Zone) 

Tax incentive Housing and economic 

development 

To encourage investment in low-income areas 

affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes. 

Rentersa 

Capital Fund 

Emergency/Natural Disaster 

Funding 

Grant Housing To provide funds for the repair or replacement 

of public housing that was damaged or 

destroyed by emergencies or natural 

phenomena. 

GO Zone Low-Income Housing 

Tax Credits 

Tax incentive Housing To encourage the development of rental 

housing in areas affected by the Gulf Coast 

hurricanes. 

Physical Disaster Business 

Loanb

Loan Housing and other 

activities 

To provide loans for the repair or replacement 

of businesses damaged by a presidentially 

declared or SBA-declared disaster. 

Public Assistance for 

Permanent Workd

Grant Housing and other 

activities 

To provide assistance to states, local 

governments, and public housing authorities to 

restore a facility, through repair or restoration, to 

its pre-disaster design, function, and capacity. 

Source: GAO. 

Note: See apps. II through VI for summaries of each program. 

a

Potential households served. 

b

Funds were also available for personal property losses, but such losses are outside of the scope of 

this work. 

c

Programs funded with supplemental Community Development Block Grant funds. 

d

Public Assistance for Permanent Work can be used to restore critical services, such as those that 

provide power, communications, education, and emergency services. This program is included 

because at the time of the 2005 hurricanes, it could have been used to repair rental housing that was 

owned by a public housing agency only if the public housing agency was not eligible to receive repair 

assistance under HUD’s programs and authorities. 
 

Page 11 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Some programs made assistance available for housing-related activities 

only. For example, Home Disaster Loans, IHP Repair or Replacement 

Assistance, and GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) could 

only be used for housing-related activities. However, most of the programs 

we reviewed could be used for other activities as well. For example, 

CDBG funds could be used flexibly by states and were made available for 

economic development, infrastructure, historic preservation, and 

demolition. Similarly, GO Zone Private Activity Bonds could be used for 

the development of private facilities, such as hotels and retail facilities. 

Until recently, vouchers were made available to disaster victims to 

subsidize rents in existing housing as a temporary source of housing 

assistance.10 According to some housing experts, vouchers, specifically 

Housing Choice Vouchers, which are permanent, should have been 

provided to disaster victims, especially low-income renters, more quickly 

after the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Congress first made Housing Choice 

Vouchers available for families affected by the hurricanes in September 

2008.11

 

10HUD provided temporary vouchers to households that were receiving some form of 

housing assistance prior to the hurricanes through the Disaster Voucher Program. 

According to HUD, this program will end on September 30, 2010. Some recipients of these 

vouchers have transitioned to HUD’s regular Housing Choice Voucher program. FEMA and 

HUD, through an Interagency Agreement, provided temporary vouchers to households that 

were not receiving housing assistance prior to the hurricanes through the Disaster Housing 

Assistance Program. This program ended on October 31, 2009. 

11Pub. L. 110-329. In September 2008 Congress appropriated $85 million for Housing Choice 

Vouchers for families assisted under the Disaster Housing Assistance Program whose 

assistance would otherwise end on March 1, 2009. According to HUD, as a result of this 

appropriation, HUD converted over 11,000 families to the Housing Choice Voucher 

Program. 
 

Page 12 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State agencies administered the majority of federal assistance available for 

the repair or replacement of permanent housing, including nearly $19 

billion in CDBG disaster relief recovery funds, over $13 billion in tax 

incentives, and nearly $2 billion in HMGP funds (see fig. 2). Louisiana and 

Mississippi created new state offices to design and administer the 

programs funded with the supplemental CDBG funds, including housing 

programs. In Louisiana, the Louisiana Recovery Authority was created and 

charged with establishing spending priorities and policies related to the 

state’s use of the supplemental CDBG funds. In addition, a Disaster 

Recovery Unit was created within the state’s Office of Community 

Development, which has managed the state’s CDBG program over the past 

two decades, to administer the funds.12 In Mississippi, the Governor’s 

Office of Recovery and Renewal was established and given primary 

responsibility for designing housing recovery programs funded with 

supplemental CDBG funds. The Mississippi Development Authority’s 

Disaster Recovery Division was responsible for managing Mississippi’s 

share of CDBG disaster relief funds. 

 

12In 2008, the Office of Community Development merged with the Louisiana Recovery 

Authority to create a more centralized structure for authority and oversight of the state’s 

recovery activities. 

State Agencies 

Administered the Majority 

of Available Funds 
 

Page 13 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 2: Post-Disaster Housing Assistance Program Administrators and Available Funding, by Funding Allocated or 

Available 

Notes: For the description of funds available, figures refer to the total amounts appropriated or 

provided in allocation authority after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. Allocation authority refers to the 

maximum amount that can be awarded. 

a

Potential households served. 

GO Zone 

Tax-Exempt

Private

Activity

Bonds f

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond

(Louisiana)

Louisiana State Bond 

Commission

$7.84 billion in 

allocation authority

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond

(Mississippi)

$4.92 billion in 

allocation authority

Mississippi Development 

Authority

$12.8Ballocated

Community

Development

Block Grants

(CDBG)c

Louisiana

CDBG 

Program

Road Home Homeowner Program

Road Home Small Rental Property 

Program

Louisiana Recovery 

Authority, Office of 

Community Development

$13.4 billiond

Mississippi 

CDBG 

Program

Homeowner Assistance Program 

Small Rental Assistance Program 

Public Housing Program

Long Term Workforce 

Housing Program

Mississippi Development 

Authority

$5.5 billione

$18.9B allocated

Home Disaster Loanb Small Business $4.0 billion

Administration

Homeownersa

Homeowners

and rentersa

Source: GAO.

Program Administrator

State Federal

Description of 

funds available

Physical Disaster Business Loanb Small Business $270 million

Administration

Individuals and Households Program:

Repair or Replacement Assistanceb

Department of Homeland $684 million

Security, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency

Public Assistance for Permanent Workb Department of Homeland $33 million

Security, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency

Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster Funding Department of Housing and $29.8 million

Urban Development

Hazard

Mitigation

Grant

Program

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (Louisiana) Louisiana Governor’s Office 

for Homeland Security and 

Emergency Preparedness

$1.47 billion

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (Mississippi) Mississippi Emergency $393 million

Management Agency

$1.9B

allocated

GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

(Louisiana)

Louisiana Housing Finance 

Agency

$170 million in 

allocation authority

GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

(Mississippi)

$106 million in 

allocation authority

Mississippi HOME

Corporation

$0.3B

allocated

New Markets Tax Credits (GO Zone)g Department of the Treasury $1 billion in 

allocation authority

Rentersa

GO Zone

Low-Income

Housing Tax

Credits

(LIHTCs)

h 
 

Page 14 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

b

IHP Repair or Replacement Assistance and Public Assistance for Permanent Work are funded 

through the Disaster Relief Fund. Home Disaster Loans and Physical Disaster Business Loans are 

funded through regular appropriations, and received $1.3 billion in additional appropriations after 

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. For these four programs, we used the amount awarded in 

Louisiana and Mississippi. For the Public Assistance for Permanent Work Program, we used the 

amounts awarded to public housing agencies. 

c

CDBG funds were also available to Alabama, Florida, and Texas. 

d

Of these funds, the state of Louisiana made nearly $9 billion available for the Road Home 

Homeowner Program and $751 million for the Road Home Small Rental Assistance Program, as of 

January 2009. 

e

Of these funds, the state of Mississippi made $1.96 billion available for the Homeowner Assistance 

Program, $262.5 million available for the Small Rental Assistance Program, $350 million available for 

the Long Term Workforce Housing Program, and $105 million available for a Public Housing 

Program. 

f

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond authority was also available to Alabama. 

g

Within the Department of the Treasury, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund 

administers the New Market Tax Credit Program (GO Zone). These credits were available for 

redevelopment work in Alabama. 

h

GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits were also available in Alabama, Florida, and Texas. 

State agencies were responsible for administering two of the three tax 

incentive programs that we reviewed. For the GO Zone Private Activity 

Bond and LIHTC Programs, states were authorized to allocate additional 

tax-exempt bond financing and low-income housing tax credits.13 Each 

eligible state was responsible for setting up an application process and 

selecting qualified projects to receive allocations up to each state’s 

allocation authority under the GO Zone Act. As we previously reported, 

Louisiana and Mississippi generally allocated the GO Zone bond provisions 

on a first-come, first-served basis, and did not consistently target the 

allocations to assist recovery in the most damaged areas, although 

Louisiana did set aside some of its allocation authority for the most 

damaged parishes.14 In contrast, in allocating funds for the GO Zone LIHTC 

program, the state housing finance agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi 

gave priority to the GO Zone counties with the most hurricane-related 

damage. 

State agencies also administered FEMA’s HMGP. According to FEMA 

officials, state agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi accepted applications 

 

13For each of these two provisions, existing tax incentives were extended, granting 

additional authority to GO Zone areas in addition to regular, annual allocations available to 

the affected states. 

14GAO, Gulf Opportunity Zone: States Are Allocating Federal Tax Incentives to Finance 

Low-Income Housing and a Wide Range of Private Facilities, GAO-08-913 (Washington, 

D.C.: July 16, 2008).
 

Page 15 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

from local jurisdictions for the funds, and forwarded applications to FEMA 

for review and funding. State mitigation plans document the state’s 

priorities for the use of HMGP funds, and states are required to update an 

administrative plan for implementing HMGP funds after every disaster. 

Plans for the use of HMGP funds should include mitigation activities that 

are cost effective, environmentally sound, and either statewide or property 

specific. 

Federal agencies directly administered six of the sources of post-disaster 

housing assistance we reviewed, which accounted for approximately 

$5 billion in available funds and $1 billion in available tax incentives (see 

fig. 2). For example, the Community Development Financial Institutions 

Fund within Treasury administers the New Markets Tax Credit program, 

which competitively allocated tax credit authority—the amount of 

investment for which investors can claim a 39 percent tax credit over 

7 years—to Community Development Entities. FEMA administers both the 

IHP Repair or Replacement Assistance and the Public Assistance for 

Permanent Work programs. For the IHP Repair or Replacement Assistance 

Program, FEMA reviewed applications and awarded funds to homeowners 

for losses that were not covered by insurance. Through the Public 

Assistance for Permanent Work Program, FEMA reviewed applications for 

assistance from PHAs and could award assistance to PHAs for damages to 

PHA-owned rental housing that was not funded with HUD funds (i.e., 

public housing could not be funded). HUD was responsible for awarding 

Capital Fund/Emergency Natural Disaster funds to PHAs on a first-come, 

first-served basis for the repair or replacement of a public housing 

development damaged as a result of a natural disaster. PHAs that 

experienced an emergency situation or a natural disaster were eligible to 

apply for and receive funds from the reserve provided that they complied 

with certain requirements. For example, according to HUD’s Grant 

Handbook, funds provided because of a disaster were only available to the 

extent that needed repairs were in excess of payments from insurance 

claims and other federal sources, such as FEMA funds for disaster-related 

emergency work (but not permanent work).15 SBA was responsible for 

administering the Home Disaster and Physical Disaster Business Loan 

Programs. SBA reviewed applications for assistance and provided loans to 

 

15FEMA could award funds to PHAs for emergency work, such as debris removal, 

demolition of unsafe structures, or any actions necessary to reduce an immediate threat to 

life, property, and public health and safety. 
 

Page 16 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

eligible applicants. (See app. V for additional information about these 

programs.) 

Congress provided states broad discretion and flexibility in deciding how 

to allocate CDBG funds and for what purposes. The CDBG program is the 

federal government’s most widely available source of financial assistance 

to support state- and local government-directed neighborhood 

revitalization, housing rehabilitation, and economic development 

activities. Congress provided states with supplemental CDBG funding to 

help them recover from the Gulf Coast hurricanes, beginning in December 

2005. To provide the states additional flexibility in delivering disaster 

relief, many of the statutory and regulatory provisions governing the use of 

the funds were waived or modified. HUD issued guidance in February 2006 

stating that the funds should be used toward unmet housing needs in areas 

of concentrated distress. In addition, in June 2006 Congress required states 

to use at least $1 billion for the repair, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of 

affordable rental housing, including public and other HUD-assisted 

housing.16 This requirement was intended to ensure that states were not 

only investing in homeownership but also in the housing needs of all 

affected residents. 

To make CDBG funds available for the repair or replacement of permanent 

housing, both Louisiana and Mississippi created new programs for 

homeowners and small rental property owners (owners of rental 

properties with up to four units).17 As we recently reported, Louisiana 

created the Road Home Homeowner Program, through which funds were 

made available to homeowners to rebuild homes on their own property, 

sell their properties and relocate within the state, or sell their homes and 

relocate outside the state. Mississippi created the Homeowner Assistance 

Program for homeowners that sustained flood damage. The first round of 

funding was limited to homeowners that did not have flood insurance 

because they were located outside of a federally designated flood zone. 

(See app. II for additional information about these programs.) 

 

16Pub. L. 109-234. 

17The state administrators of supplemental CDBG funds in Louisiana and Mississippi also 

used the funds to finance smaller housing-related programs, such as the CDBG Piggy-Back 

Program in Louisiana. 

States Created New 

Programs to Deliver CDBG 

Funds to Homeowners and 

Rental Property Owners 

and Used Their Discretion 

in Prioritizing 

Beneficiaries and 

Designing Programs 
 

Page 17 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Louisiana also created the Road Home Small Rental Property Program for 

owners of small rental properties in the most damaged parishes and made 

forgivable loans available in two funding rounds.18 Property owners had to 

independently finance needed repairs and rent out their units to incomeeligible tenants. Once the units were ready for occupancy, the state would 

conduct inspections and authorize the disbursement of the loan. In 

December 2008 the state announced an additional option for program 

participants, designed to provide up-front financing. According to program 

administrators, this option was created to increase the production of 

rental housing with CDBG funds and to accelerate the distribution of 

funds to small rental property owners. According to program 

administrators, as of November 2009, 1,024 property owners had agreed to 

participate in this option. 

Mississippi created the Small Rental Assistance Program for owners of 

small rental properties in four counties (Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and 

Pearl River) and made forgivable loans available in two funding rounds. 

The program was designed to offer four types of assistance: (1) rental 

income subsidy, (2) repair or reconstruction of a Katrina-damaged 

property, (3) reconstruction or conversion reimbursement of a nonKatrina-damaged property, or (4) new construction reimbursement.19 The 

state of Mississippi generally disbursed loans in two installments, half 

when the property owner provided a building permit and the remainder 

when the property owner provided a certificate of occupancy. 

In addition, Mississippi used CDBG funds to address the need for 

workforce housing and public housing. Mississippi created a Long Term 

Workforce Housing Program to provide grants and loans to local units of 

government, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations to provide long-term 

affordable housing in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Pearl River 

counties. This program was designed to benefit households that earned 

120 percent of area median income or less. The program could be used to 

develop or repair housing for homeowners or renters. The state also 

designated CDBG funds for the repair or replacement of public housing 

units that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Using these funds, the state 

 

18Funding was available to the following parishes: Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, 

Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, 

Vermilion, and Washington. 

19In the second round, the third option was changed to the rehabilitation or conversion of 

an existing property to a rental property. 
 

Page 18 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

created a Public Housing Program to make grants available to five PHAs 

that sustained damage. 

Generally, the federal and state administrators of programs other than 

CDBG that we reviewed used existing processes to make post-disaster 

housing assistance available to homeowners and renters. For example, 

FEMA used its existing, but streamlined, processes to make IHP Repair or 

Replacement Assistance and Public Assistance for Permanent Work 

available to eligible homeowners and PHAs, respectively. FEMA accepted 

applications for IHP Repair or Replacement Assistance via phone and the 

Internet. Applicants who were awarded housing assistance, but who had 

remaining unmet housing needs because damages exceeded the maximum 

award, were referred to SBA for a disaster home loan application.20

Similarly, SBA used its existing processes to make Home Disaster and 

Physical Disaster Business Loans available to eligible homeowners. 

Consistent with its existing processes, SBA made loan applications 

available to applicants after they registered with FEMA and used its 

existing loan underwriting criteria to evaluate loan applications. The 

administrators of these programs did not create new programs to make 

post-disaster housing assistance available. As we have previously reported, 

SBA encountered challenges processing the large volume of applications 

after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita but has since taken steps to more 

effectively process large increases in application volume.21

Similarly, state agencies generally used existing procedures to award GO 

Zone LIHTCs and HMGP funds. Specifically, in both Louisiana and 

Mississippi, the state housing finance agencies announced the availability 

of the additional credits through qualified allocation plans, reviewed and 

scored the applications received, and awarded the credits to the highest 

scoring applicants. Likewise, the state administrators of HMGP funds in 

Louisiana stated they did not make changes to their normal application 

processes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In contrast, Mississippi 

changed its HMGP application process by developing a Web-based system 

to accept applications. This system allowed applicants to submit a preapplication for HMGP funds online. 

 

20If an applicant’s income exceeds certain thresholds, FEMA automatically refers him or 

her to the SBA. 

21GAO, Small Business Administration: Actions Needed to Provide More Timely Disaster 

Assistance, GAO-06-860 (Washington, D.C.: July 28, 2006). 

Other Assistance Was 

Made Available through 

Existing Programs and 

Processes 
 

Page 19 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Federal disaster assistance is generally authorized after a disaster 

declaration. Thus after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were declared as 

disasters, HMGP funds, IHP Repair or Replacement Assistance, and Public 

Assistance for Permanent Work were made available from FEMA and 

Home Disaster Loans and Physical Disaster Business Loans were made 

available from SBA. HUD’s Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster 

Funding does not require a presidential disaster declaration to become 

available; this program was available to PHAs that were affected by the 

hurricanes. 

CDBG-funded assistance for homeowners and small rental property 

owners did not become available until HUD accepted the program designs. 

Each state had to submit an Action Plan to HUD detailing the plans for the 

uses of its supplemental CDBG funds, and each had to submit 

amendments to these plans for substantial changes. HUD accepted 

Louisiana’s Action Plan for the Road Home Homeowner and Small Rental 

Assistance Programs in May 2006, and the state began accepting 

applications for the homeowner program in August 2006 and the small 

rental program in January 2007 (see fig. 3). According to an administrator 

of Louisiana’s CDBG-funded programs, the homeowner program was 

initiated first because homeowners lost real property, homeowners are 

less transient than renters, and the state perceived rental property owners 

as having other federal resources for recovery, such as tax credits and 

SBA loans. HUD accepted Mississippi’s Action Plan for the Homeowner 

Assistance Program in April 2006 and the Small Rental Assistance Program 

in July 2007. The state began accepting applications for the homeowner 

and small rental programs in April 2006 and September 2007, respectively. 

According to officials from the Mississippi Governor’s office, one of the 

reasons that the homeowner program was implemented first was because 

there were more homeowners than renters in the coastal counties. In 

addition, according to state officials, it was possible for the state to 

implement a compensation program for homeowners more quickly, 

because funds could be provided directly to homeowners without the 

requirement for environmental review assessments. In contrast, the 

officials stated that programs that are established as construction 

programs, like their Small Rental Assistance Program, trigger 

environmental review assessments, which take time to address. Delays in 

the availability of CDBG funding for homeowners and renters will be 

discussed later in this report. 

Programs Made Federal 

Funds and Tax Incentives 

Available at Different 

Times after the Storms 
 

Page 20 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 3: Dates When Post-Disaster Funds for Permanent Housing Became Available 

Notes: 

This figure does not include programs that were available immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and 

Rita: Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster Funding, HMGP funds, IHP Repair or Replacement 

Assistance, Home Disaster Loans, Physical Disaster Business Loans, and Public Assistance for 

Permanent Work. 

We defined the date when funds became available as the date when the administering agency 

announced or began accepting applications. For the GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond 

Program, we reported the dates that states either made the first final approval or allocation. 

Source: GAO.

2005 2006 2007 2008

Aug. Sept. Nov. Dec. Fe an. b.J April Aug. Jan. Sept. June

GO Zone 

LowIncome 

Housing 

Tax Credits

(Louisiana) 

GO Zone 

Low-Income 

Housing Tax 

Credits

(Mississippi) 

GO Zone Tax-Exempt 

Private Activity Bond 

(Louisiana)

GO Zone Tax-Exempt 

Private Activity Bond 

(Mississippi)

New 

Markets Tax 

Credits

(Go Zone)

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Rita

Small Rental 

Assistance 

Program 

(CDBGMississippi)

Homeowner

Assistance 

Program 

(CDBGMississippi)

Road Home 

Homeowner Program 

(CDBG-Louisiana)

Mississippi Public 

Housing Program

Road Home Small 

Rental Property 

Program 

(CDBG-Louisiana)

Long Term 

Workforce 

Housing Program 

(CDBGMississippi)
 

Page 21 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Federal programs we reviewed addressed the repair and replacement 

needs of more homeowner units than rental units. In both states, more 

homeowner units were damaged than rental units, but the proportional 

damage to the rental stock was generally greater. A comparison of the 

number of units damaged to the number of units funded shows that 

federal assistance addressed the repair and replacement needs of about 62 

percent of damaged homeowner units and about 18 percent of damaged 

rental units. The difference in the level of assistance for homeowner and 

rental units was largely due to states’ decisions to allocate most of their 

CDBG funds to programs for homeowners. States used their broad 

discretion under CDBG to decide what proportion of the funds went to 

homeowners and rental property owners. Of the rental units that have 

received funding, a limited number have been completed, and data are 

generally not available for the completion status of homeowner units. 

Federal Disaster 

Housing Assistance 

Addressed the Repair 

and Replacement 

Needs of More 

Homeowner Units 

than Rental Units, and 

Progress in 

Completing Rental 

Units Has Been 

Limited 
 

Page 22 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, an estimated 489,000 

homeowner and 247,000 rental units sustained minor, major, or severe 

damage in Louisiana and Mississippi. Specifically, in Louisiana an 

estimated 331,070 homeowner units and 184,179 rental units sustained 

damage, and in Mississippi 157,914 homeowner units and 62,470 rental 

units sustained damage. Most of the damage was concentrated in specific 

areas in Louisiana and Mississippi. In eight parishes in Louisiana 

(Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. 

Tammany, and Vermillion), an estimated 220,225 homeowner units and 

139,249 rental units sustained damage. In Mississippi, an estimated 60,344 

homeowner units and 33,964 rental units were damaged in three counties 

(Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson) (see fig. 4).22

 

22The eight parishes in Louisiana represent 70 percent of the total homeowner and rental 

units damaged statewide, and the three counties in Mississippi represent 43 percent of the 

total homeowner and rental units damaged statewide. Homeowner and rental unit damage 

data were not available for other parishes and counties in Louisiana and Mississippi. 

More Homeowner Units 

Were Damaged than Rental 

Units, but a Greater 

Proportion of the Rental 

Housing Stock Sustained 

Damage 
 

Page 23 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 4: Homeowner and Rental Units That Sustained Damage for Selected Parishes and Counties in Louisiana and 

Mississippi 

Notes: Data are from Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf 

Coast Rebuilding, “Current Housing Unit Damage Estimates, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma” 

(Feb. 12, 2006). Unit counts refer to units that were occupied at the time of the storm. 

20,000 or 

fewer units

Information on homeowner 

and rental units not available

20,001 to 

40,000 units

More than

40, 000 units

Orleans

Plaquemines

 St.

Bernard 

St. Tammany

Vermilion

Jefferson

Harrison Jackson

Cameron

Calcasieu

Hancock

Mississippi

Louisiana Texas

Alaba

ma

Renter occupied

Mississippi

Louisiana 139,249 units

33,964 units

Orleans

Plaquemines

 St.

Bernard 

St. Tammany

Vermilion

Jefferson

Harrison Jackson

Cameron

Calcasieu

Hancock

Mississippi

Louisiana Texas

Alaba

ma

Owner occupied

Mississippi

Louisiana 220,225 units

60,344 units

Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

Sources: GAO analysis; DHS, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding (damage data); MapInfo (map).
 

Page 24 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

A greater number of homeowner units were damaged compared to rental 

units in both Louisiana and Mississippi. However, in Louisiana a greater 

proportion of rental units were damaged. For example, in Louisiana, 35 

percent of the rental housing stock sustained damage, compared with 29 

percent of the homeowner stock.23 In Mississippi, the proportions of 

damaged homeowner and rental units were more similar: 22 percent of the 

rental housing stock damaged, compared to 21 percent of the homeowner 

stock. In the three counties in Mississippi that sustained the most damage, 

80 percent of the rental stock and 64 percent of the homeowner stock 

sustained damage. In the eight Louisiana parishes with the most damage, 

66 percent of the rental stock and 63 percent of the homeowner stock was 

damaged (see fig. 5). 

 

23References to damage in this report refer to the total number of units that sustained 

minor, major, and severe damage. 
 

Page 25 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 5: Proportion of Homeowner and Rental Units That Sustained Damage in Selected Parishes and Counties 

Notes: Data are from Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf 

Coast Rebuilding, “Current Housing Unit Damage Estimates, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma” 

(Feb. 12, 2006). Unit counts refer to units that were occupied at the time of the storm. 

While available damage estimates indicate the need for housing in 

Louisiana and Mississippi in the immediate period after Hurricanes Katrina 

and Rita, the housing markets in these states have changed over the past 

several years as a result of displacement and other demographic changes. 

Sources: GAO analysis of Census Bureau data; DHS, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding (damage data); 

MapInfo (map).

Orleans

Plaquemines

St. Bernard

St.

Tammany

Vermilion Jefferson

Cameron

Calcasieu

HancockHarrison Jackson

Louisiana Mississippi

Percentage of units damaged

Owner occupied Renter occupied

63% 66%

Percentage of units damaged

Owner occupied Renter occupied

64%

80%
 

Page 26 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

For example, a recent study noted that while the New Orleans 

metropolitan area is home to a population that is equal to about 90 percent 

of the pre-Katrina households receiving mail, school enrollment across the 

metropolitan area has slowed, suggesting that the population that has 

returned is different than the pre-storm population.24 A November 2008 

HUD report states that while the demand for affordable rental units is less 

than before Katrina, it is difficult to assess how much this population will 

grow—and therefore difficult to determine the demand for affordable 

rental housing.25

For the programs we reviewed for which data were available, federal 

assistance was provided to repair or replace more homeowner units than 

rental units in Louisiana and Mississippi (see table 3). Specifically, federal 

programs provided assistance to about 303,000 homeowner units 

compared to over 43,000 rental units. CDBG, IHP Repair or Replacement 

Assistance, and the Home Disaster Loan Program were the key federal 

sources of assistance for homeowners. Homeowners can be eligible to 

receive assistance from multiple federal programs, and we identified about 

115,000 units that received funding from two or more programs we 

reviewed. Of the programs that provided assistance to rental property 

owners, GO Zone LIHTC funded the largest number of rental units (about 

23,000). 

Table 3: Homeowner and Rental Property Units Funded by Federal Post-Disaster Programs in Louisiana and Mississippi 

Program Homeowner units funded Rental units funded

Homeownersa

Home Disaster Loanb76,296 Data not applicable

Individual and Households Program: Repair or Replacement Assistance 33,004 Data not applicable

Multiple Programsc114,511 Data not applicable

Homeowners and rentersa

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Programd 74,591 16,857

 

24Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and the Greater New Orleans Community Data 

Center, The New Orleans Index: Tracking the Recovery of New Orleans and the Metro 

Area (August 2009). 

25U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Post Katrina New Orleans: The 

State of Affordable Rental Housing, Impact 200 Key Initiative 8.2 (Washington, D.C., 

November 2008). 

Federal Assistance 

Addressed the Repair and 

Replacement Needs of 

More Homeowners than 

Rental Property Owners 
 

Page 27 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Program Homeowner units funded Rental units funded

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds Data not available 216

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program 4,167 0e

New Markets Tax Credits (GO Zone)f 217 493

Rentersa

Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster FundinggData not applicable 2,069

GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Data not applicable 23,140h

Physical Disaster Business Loan Data not applicable Data not available

Public Assistance for Permanent Work Data not applicable 24

OtheriData not applicable 631

Total 302,786 43,430

Source: GAO analysis of program data from program administrators. 

Note: Data are as of December 2008 unless otherwise noted. 

a

Potential households served. 

b

Data are as of July 2009. 

c

Homeowner units were funded by two or more of the programs we reviewed. 

d

Unit counts for both homeowner and rental units include data for the CDBG-funded homeowner 

programs, small rental programs, and the Public Housing (CDBG-Mississippi) and Long Term 

Workforce Housing Program (CDBG-Mississippi). Due to limitations in the availability of addresses for 

units funded by the Long Term Workforce Housing Program, we could not determine whether any of 

these units were also funded by the other programs we reviewed. Unit counts for all CDBG-funded 

programs in Mississippi are as of December 2008, except for the Small Rental Assistance and Long 

Term Workforce Housing Programs, which are as of April 2009. 

e

According to state administrators of HMGP funds, HMGP was not used to fund the repair or 

replacement of rental units in Louisiana or Mississippi. 

f

Data reflect activities undertaken through December 2008. 

g

Data for Mississippi are as of August 2009. 

h

We excluded units for which the status of financing was open as of June 2009. 

ijRental units funded by a $15 million dollar appropriation to HUD for the redevelopment of public 

housing damaged by Hurricane Katrina (HUD awarded these funds to the Housing Authority of New 

Orleans). 

When the estimated number of funded units is compared to the estimated 

number of damaged units in Louisiana and Mississippi, we found that 

federal programs funded about 62 percent of the estimated number of the 

damaged homeowner units and about 18 percent of the estimated number 

of damaged rental units in both states combined (see fig. 6). In Louisiana, 

federal assistance from the programs we reviewed funded about 65 

percent of the damaged homeowner units and 15 percent of the damaged 

rental units, while in Mississippi federal assistance funded about 56 

percent and 26 percent of homeowner and rental units, respectively. 
 

Page 28 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 6: Homeowner and Rental Units Damaged and Funded in Louisiana and 

Mississippi 

Notes: Data are from Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf 

Coast Rebuilding, “Current Housing Unit Damage Estimates, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma” 

(Feb. 12, 2006). Unit counts refer to units that were occupied at the time of the storm. 

While the Housing Choice Voucher Program was not in our scope, this 

program is the federal government’s major program for assisting very lowincome families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and 

sanitary housing in the private market.26 For fiscal years 2008 through 2009 

Congress appropriated $185 million to fund various types of vouchers for 

areas impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and for families that were 

assisted under the Disaster Housing Assistance Program.27 These funds 

would support over 20,000 vouchers. 

The difference in the levels of assistance to homeowner and rental units is 

reflected in the amounts of funding awarded. Although the proportional 

damage to rental units was greater, more federal dollars were awarded for 

homeowner units through the programs we reviewed. Specifically, federal 

and state agencies awarded around $13 billion for homeowner units and 

around $1.8 billion for rental units, with the majority of funding awarded 

through the CDBG program (see table 4). Of the CDBG funds that 

Louisiana and Mississippi awarded for housing-related activities, the 

 

26Through the Housing Choice Voucher program, a housing subsidy is paid to the landlord 

directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the 

difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by 

the program. 

27Congress appropriated funding for these vouchers in Pub. L. 110-252, Pub. L. 110-329, Pub. 

L. 111-32. 

0 100 200 300 400 500

Sources: GAO analysis; DHS Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding (damage data).

0 100 200 300 400 500

Rental

units

Homeowner

units

Number of units in thousands

Total units damaged Units funded out of total damaged

489 303

(62%)

43 247

(18%)

($13.0B)

($1.8B)
 

Page 29 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

majority was awarded through homeowner programs. According to state 

officials, both states created homeowner programs first because more 

homeowner units were damaged than rental units. In addition, Louisiana 

officials stated that CDBG funds were not intended to assist rental 

property owners with their business investments, and the state did not 

want to duplicate FEMA’s efforts in assisting displaced renters. Mississippi 

officials stated that many homeowners that sustained flood damage were 

not located in a flood zone because the federal government did not 

accurately identify flood zones, and as a result, these homeowners did not 

have flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. 

Mississippi officials further stated that by providing CDBG funds to these 

homeowners (excluding those sustaining wind damage), the state helped 

the homeowners with the greatest need. 

Table 4: Federal Assistance Awarded for Permanent Housing in Louisiana and Mississippi (dollars in millions) 

Program 

Estimated assistance awarded 

for homeownersa

Estimated assistance awarded 

for rentersa

Homeownersb

Home Disaster Loanc 4,023 Data not applicable

Individual and Households Program: Repair or 

Replacement Assistance 

684 Data not applicable

Homeowners and rentersb

Community Development Block Grant Programd 7,333 1,185

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds 708 16

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program 219 0e

New Markets Tax Credit (GO Zone)f 28 Data not available

Rentersb

Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster FundinggData not applicable 30

GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits Data not applicable 277

Physical Disaster Business LoanhData not applicable 270

Public Assistance for Permanent Work Data not applicable 33

OtheriData not applicable 15

Total $12,995 $1,826

Source: GAO analysis of program data from program administrators. 

Note: Data are as of December 2008 unless otherwise noted. 

a

Assistance awarded refers to the amount of funds, loans, or tax incentives provided to finance 

permanent housing for homeowner and rental housing units. 

b

Potential households served. 

c

Data are as of July 2009. 
 

Page 30 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

d

Amount awarded includes data for the CDBG-funded homeowner programs, small rental programs, 

and the Public Housing (CDBG-Mississippi) and Long Term Workforce Housing Program (CDBGMississippi). Amounts awarded through all CDBG-funded programs in Mississippi are as of 

December 2008, except for the Small Rental and Long Term Workforce Housing Programs, which are 

as of April 2009. 

e

According to state administrators of HMGP funds, HMGP was not used to fund the repair or 

replacement of rental units in Louisiana or Mississippi. 

f

Data reflect activities undertaken through December 2008. Data on allocations for rental units were 

not readily available for the New Markets Tax Credits (GO Zone) program because rental units were 

funded as a part of mixed-use projects, which include both commercial and residential activities. 

g

Data for Mississippi are as of August 2009. 

h

Data are as of August 2009. 

i

Congress provided a $15 million dollar appropriation for Public Housing (which HUD awarded to the 

Housing Authority of New Orleans) for the redevelopment of permanent housing damaged by 

Hurricane Katrina. 

A limited number of rental units have been completed through programs 

we reviewed that provided assistance for the repair or replacement of 

rental housing. Progress in the completion of CDBG-funded rental units 

has been limited. For example, through the CDBG-funded small rental 

housing programs, 14 percent of the 10,115 rental units funded in 

Louisiana and 25 percent of the 4,242 rental units funded in Mississippi 

were completed as of July and August 2009, respectively. Progress in the 

completion of rental units funded with GO Zone LIHTCs has also been 

limited. For example, approximately 36 percent of the 13,888 rental units 

funded in Louisiana and 51 percent of the 9,252 units funded in Mississippi 

were complete as of June 2009. Units funded with GO Zone LIHTCs are 

required to be placed in service by January 2011; otherwise the credits 

cannot be used. Information on the extent to which rental units were 

funded and completed through the other programs we reviewed can be 

found in appendix VII.28

The construction status of individual homeowner units was generally not 

readily available for the programs we reviewed.29 For example, according 

 

28For each program we reviewed, data are collected and maintained by individual program 

administrators or their contractors. For some of the programs we reviewed, program 

administrators stated that their information systems did not have “archive features,” 

meaning they could not provide data for previous dates but could provide only current 

data. As a result, for some programs, such as Mississippi’s Small Rental Assistance 

Program, program administrators could not provide information as of the dates we 

requested, but as of the date they ran the data request. See app. VII. 

29Information on the status of homeowner units was available for Mississippi’s CDBGfunded Long Term Workforce Housing Program. As of August 2009, 15 homeowner units 

were complete. 

A Limited Number of 

Rental Units Are 

Complete, and the 

Completion Status of 

Homeowner Units Is 

Generally Not Tracked 
 

Page 31 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

to administrators of the CDBG-funded homeowner programs in Louisiana 

and Mississippi, the states are not required to track the completion status 

of units funded because the programs provide compensation grants. 

Similarly, administrators of the Home Disaster Loan, IHP Repair or 

Replacement Assistance, and GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond 

programs do not track the completion status of homeowner units. 

Both homeowners and rental property owners have faced challenges in 

applying for and using federal assistance. These challenges include gaps in 

financing needed to complete repairs and delays in the availability of 

funds. Homeowners and rental property owners have also faced adverse 

economic conditions, including high insurance premiums and construction 

costs and tightening credit markets. These challenges have contributed to 

the slow pace of recovery in the Gulf Coast region. Options for addressing 

these challenges include changing the allocation of assistance between 

homeowners and rental property owners, improving guidance intended to 

help states in designing programs, and reconsidering which programs are 

used to deliver permanent-housing assistance after a disaster. 

Some homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi did not receive enough 

funding from insurance and federal assistance to complete repairs to their 

homes after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, and some were ineligible for 

key sources of federal assistance.30 A review of Louisiana’s Road Home 

Homeowner Program found that some homeowners received insufficient 

grant amounts to repair the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and 

Rita, and were challenged from resulting funding gaps.31 These gaps in 

funding may have resulted from Louisiana’s decision to use pre-storm 

 

30Homeowner’s insurance, flood insurance, and wind insurance can be used to repair real 

property. Flood insurance includes privately funded insurance and flood insurance funded 

by the National Flood Insurance Program. 

31Kalima Rose, Annie Clark, and Dominique Duval-Diop, Filling the Gaps in Recovery: New 

Orleans Non-Profits Address Voids Left by Housing Recovery Programs (New Orleans, 

La., PolicyLink, 2008). 

Homeowners and 

Rental Property 

Owners Faced 

Challenges in 

Applying for and 

Using Federal 

Assistance, but 

Options Exist for 

Reducing These 

Challenges after 

Future Disasters 

Homeowners and Small 

Rental Property Owners 

Faced Gaps in Financing 

Repairs 
 

Page 32 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

home values to determine grant amounts (as opposed to using the cost of 

repairs), incorrect grant calculations, and increasing construction and 

insurance costs, according to various researchers. In Mississippi, the state 

reduced the amount available under its homeowner program when it 

decided to dedicate $600 million from this program to a Port Restoration 

Program. While this change appears to reduce the amount of CDBG funds 

available for homeowners, according to state officials, all eligible 

applications for the homeowner program were funded. Program 

administrators in Louisiana stated that their CDBG-funded homeowner 

program was not intended to make homeowners “whole.” 

Other program requirements likely resulted in challenges to homeowners 

in obtaining program funds. For example, in Mississippi, homeowners with 

wind-only damage were ineligible for the first phase of the Homeowner 

Assistance Program. In addition, for the first funding round, only 

homeowners that sustained flood damage (in selected counties) were 

eligible for Mississippi’s Homeowner Assistance Program. According to 

state officials, this program was intended to assist homeowners that 

lacked flood insurance because they were not in a federally designated 

flood zone. State officials stated they targeted homeowners that were 

outside of a flood zone due to concerns about the reliability of FEMA’s 

flood zone designations. In addition, both states required homeowners to 

prove they had clear property titles. According to state officials, 

researchers, and organizations that worked with disaster victims, many 

Louisiana and Mississippi homeowners with damaged properties faced 

considerable difficulty in establishing clear title because their properties 

had been informally passed down through generations. 

Owners of rental properties also faced challenges in obtaining program 

financing due in part to decisions by the states of Louisiana and 

Mississippi to set aside a small portion of their supplemental CDBG funds 

for the repair of rental housing. While Louisiana and Mississippi allocated 

nearly $11 billion of their CDBG funds to homeowner programs, they 

targeted fewer funds (approximately $1 billion) to the owners of small 

rental properties. In Louisiana, demand for the Road Home Small Rental 

Property Program was seven or eight times what the funding would 

support, according to state officials. Mississippi officials said they initially 

had twice the demand for their small rental program than expected, 

representing 10,000 rental housing units. 

Availability of financing has also been a challenge for developers of larger 

rental housing developments, including recipients of GO Zone LIHTCs. 

Some recipients of GO Zone LIHTCs have encountered financing gaps due 
 

Page 33 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

to the declining value of the credits. More specifically, some developers 

were receiving less equity from investors in exchange for the tax credits 

awarded, which has resulted in large financing gaps and made some 

planned developments not feasible. In some cases, state housing finance 

agencies pulled GO Zone LIHTCs back from projects that could not secure 

additional funds to finance the project, or accepted the credits back from 

developers, and awarded the credits to other projects. 

PHAs have also faced limited available funding to make repairs to public 

housing that was damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Public housing 

agencies have faced considerable challenges in obtaining funding for the 

recovery of public housing units. Public housing is an important source of 

affordable housing for low-income households in the Gulf Coast region. 

The Gulf Coast states experienced a decline in the number of available 

units as a result of the storms, especially in the New Orleans area. For 

example, prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Housing Authority of New 

Orleans managed over 7,000 units of public housing in 10 different 

developments. Hurricane Katrina damaged about 80 percent of these units 

(approximately 5,600 units). Less than $30 million was available in 2005 for 

damage to all PHAs nationwide through HUD’s Capital Fund 

Emergency/Natural Disaster Funding Program. HUD acknowledged that 

these funds were not sufficient to repair the public housing that was 

damaged by the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. 

In the wake of the 2005 storms, both homeowners and owners of rental 

properties faced significant challenges in receiving assistance from key 

federal programs as quickly as possible. For instance, homeowners in 

Louisiana waited a year for the Road Home Homeowner program, the 

state’s CDBG-funded homeowner program, to begin accepting 

applications, and then encountered application processing times that were 

a median of 245 days. Although there were no specific time requirements 

for how quickly CDBG-funded programs should be implemented, federal 

disaster policy, as described in the Stafford Act, states that disaster funds 

and special measures must help to expedite the reconstruction and 

rehabilitation of devastated areas.32 In January 2009, FEMA issued a 

National Disaster Housing Strategy that included six goals related to post-

 

32The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Pub. L. 93-288, as 

amended) §101. 

Homeowners and Small 

Rental Property Owners 

Faced Delays in 

Availability of Key 

Recovery Funds 
 

Page 34 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

disaster housing.33 One of the goals states that housing assistance should 

help individuals and households in returning to self-sufficiency as quickly 

as possible, including obtaining permanent housing. As required by the 

supplemental appropriations acts, states submitted plans to HUD detailing 

their proposed use of CDBG funds and the design of their programs. After 

acceptance of the plans, each state issued descriptions of their programs, 

including eligibility requirements and application deadlines.34 As shown in 

figure 7, Mississippi opened its homeowner program to applicants 8 

months after Hurricane Katrina, and Louisiana opened its program 1 year 

after the storm. 

 

33FEMA, National Disaster Housing Strategy (Washington, D.C., Jan. 16, 2009). 

34HUD expresses its “acceptance” of grantee action plans rather than its “approval.” 

According to HUD officials, this distinction is important as it underscores the grantee’s 

legal responsibility to carry out CDBG activities in accordance with program requirements. 
 

Page 35 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 7: Timeline for the CDBG-Funded Homeowner and Rental Programs in Louisiana and Mississippi 

Note: The figure refers to the number of months after Hurricane Katrina. 

a

For the CDBG-funded Public Housing Program in Mississippi, there was not an official date on which 

the state began accepting applications. We reported the date that HUD accepted the Action Plan for 

this program. 

b

For the Long Term Workforce Housing Program, we reported the date that the state issued a 

Request for Proposals for this program. HUD accepted the Action Plan for this program in June 2008, 

thus no funds could be awarded prior to this date. 

Owners of small rental properties in Louisiana and Mississippi faced 

longer delays than homeowners in the availability of CDBG funds to repair 

or replace properties. Louisiana began accepting applications for its Road 

Home Small Rental Property Program 17 months after Hurricane Katrina 

Source: GAO.

Homeowner programs

Rental programs

1st 2nd 3rd

April 10:

Application 

period 

opens

September:

Long Term Workforce 

Housing Program 

(CDBG-Mississippi) beginsb

Mississippi

Mississippi

Aug. 22:

Application 

period 

opens

Louisiana

Jan. 29: Louisiana

Application 

period opens

Sept. 10:

Application 

period opens

August:

Public Housing Program 

(CDBG-Mississippi) 

beginsa

8 months

12 months

25 months

25 months

12 months

17 months

K R

Funding supplement approved by Congress (12/30/05, 6/15/06, 11/13/07)

Hurricane Katrina (8/29/05)

Hurricane Rita (9/24/05)

K

R

2005 2006 2007 2008
 

Page 36 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

and Mississippi began accepting applications for its Small Rental 

Assistance Program about 2 years after the storm. 

As indicated in our prior work, delays in the initial dates that states began 

accepting applications for their CDBG-funded homeowner and small 

rental housing programs may be due in part to the states’ lack of staffing 

capacity to suddenly manage CDBG programs of such unprecedented 

size.35 In addition, as previously noted, both states decided to implement 

programs for homeowners first, which delayed the initial dates states 

began accepting applications for the small rental housing programs. 

Furthermore, according to Mississippi officials, it took time to obtain 

HUD’s acceptance of plans for its Small Rental Assistance Program, in part 

because the state had to reach agreement with other entities, including 

state historic preservation offices, regarding the potential impacts of this 

program on the environment and other concerns. 

After submitting their applications for CDBG funds, some homeowners 

and small rental property owners faced significant delays in the processing 

of their applications, with rental property owners typically facing longer 

delays than homeowners. For example, homeowners in Louisiana and 

Mississippi waited a median of 245 and 240 days, respectively, from the 

date their application was received by the state until the date that they 

received grant funds. These processing times ranged from 32 to 948 days 

in Louisiana and from to 70 to 945 days in Mississippi (see fig. 8). For the 

small rental housing programs, successful applicants had a closing, at 

which point the terms by which forgivable loans would be disbursed to the 

owners were agreed upon. Small rental property owners in Louisiana and 

Mississippi waited a median of 494 and 405 days, respectively, from the 

date that their application was received by the state until the date of 

closing. This processing time ranged from 280 to 686 days in Louisiana and 

from to 75 to 799 days in Mississippi. 

 

35GAO, Gulf Coast Disaster Recovery: Community Development Block Grant Program 

Guidance to States Needs to Be Improved, GAO-09-541 (Washington, D.C.: June 19, 2009). 

Application Processing Times 

for CDBG Funds Further 

Delayed Assistance 
 

Page 37 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Figure 8: Median Number of Days for Applications to Be Processed 

Several factors may have contributed to delays in the processing of 

applications for each state’s homeowner and small rental housing 

programs, including program design changes, a lack of specific 

performance goals, and complex application processes. 

• Program design changes. Louisiana’s homeowner and small rental 

programs may have experienced delays in processing applications because 

of changes to the programs’ design after they were first established. For 

example, HUD ordered the state to cease operations for the homeowner 

program in March 2007. According to an e-mail from the HUD Assistant 

Secretary to key HUD staff involved in Gulf Coast recovery, there was an 

“apparent inconsistency” between Road Home Homeowner program 

operations and the approved action plan. While the state continued to 

accept and process homeowner applications after they were ordered to 

cease and desist the program, individual covenants had to be revised, 

homeowner grant awards had to be recalculated, and scheduled house 

closings were postponed.36 The state redesigned the program to provide 

 

36GAO-09-541. 

0

100

200

300

400

500

Louisiana Mississippi

Days

Source: GAO analysis.

Homeowner program (days from application receipt to first disbursement)

Small rental program (days from application receipt to closing)
 

Page 38 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

lump-sum compensation grants, and HUD accepted the new design in May 

2007. Also, in 2009 Louisiana created an additional option for property 

owners that had applied to the small rental property program but had not 

been able to secure up-front financing. Under the new option, the state 

will pay “advances” of funds to some rental property owners through a 

housing rehabilitation program. 

• Absence of performance goals. Neither Louisiana nor Mississippi initially 

established specific performance goals for processing homeowner or small 

rental program applications. According to state officials from both states, 

immediately after the storms it was difficult to determine what such 

performance goals should be. While each state’s initial plans for its 

homeowner programs indicated that applications should be processed in a 

timely manner or a manner that recognizes the urgency of the need for 

assistance, the plans did not quantify goals for processing complete 

applications.37 In March 2007 Louisiana established performance indicators 

to encourage the timely processing of homeowner grants and established 

similar performance indicators for the small rental program in April 2008. 

There were no documented performance goals for processing applications 

for Mississippi’s Homeowner Assistance or Small Rental Assistance 

Programs until March 2008. 

• Complexity of application process. According to both researchers and 

organizations that assisted disaster victims, the application processes for 

the CDBG-funded homeowner and small rental programs were complex, 

which made it difficult for some applicants to complete applications 

correctly. A 2008 report on Louisiana’s CDBG-funded post-disaster 

housing programs stated that both the homeowners and applicants for the 

small rental program faced rule changes, which caused confusion for 

applicants and likely contributed to delays.38

 

37According to a 2008 RAND report on Louisiana’s Road Home Homeowner Program, while 

specific goals were not initially established for timeliness of grant processing, goals were 

established for the quantity of activities to be conducted in different time periods. RAND 

Gulf States Policy Institute, Timely Assistance: Evaluating the Speed of Road Home 

Grantmaking (Santa Monica, Calif., RAND Corporation, 2008). 

38Kalima Rose, Annie Clark, and Dominique Duval-Diop, A Long Way Home: The State of 

Housing Recovery in Louisiana (New Orleans, La., PolicyLink, 2008). According to a 

Louisiana-based organization that worked with disaster victims, the list of required 

documents was incorrect on the state’s Web site for a period of time, which created 

confusion for applicants and caused delays when applicants had to resubmit application 

paperwork. 
 

Page 39 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Homeowners and small rental property owners affected by Hurricanes 

Katrina and Rita have also experienced challenges in their rebuilding 

efforts as a result of local market conditions, particularly high insurance 

premiums and construction costs.39 For example, according to a report by 

the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, premiums for homeowners 

insurance escalated to four times their pre-Katrina level for some areas of 

Louisiana that were severely impacted by the storm.40 Such increases have 

likely made it difficult for some homeowners to rebuild. Researchers have 

stated that rising construction costs in both Louisiana and Mississippi pose 

challenges for redevelopment. 

The current national economic climate has also made it more difficult for 

both homeowners and developers of rental housing to secure adequate 

financing. Due to the tightening credit markets and storm-related credit 

issues, many homeowners in the area affected by the 2005 storms are 

finding it extremely difficult to access credit to cover repair costs. 

According to an organization that has researched recovery efforts in New 

Orleans, tightened credit markets are one of the key reasons that many 

homeowners in New Orleans have been unable to fully recover their 

homes. Also, as we have previously reported, as investors’ interest in tax 

credit projects declines, developers must seek additional funding sources 

to make up for the equity shortfall.41 According to state administrators of 

the GO Zone LIHTC programs in Louisiana and Mississippi, given the 

financial crisis, it is increasingly difficult to find investors for tax credit 

projects, and it will be a challenge to meet the December 2010 deadline for 

units to be placed in service. 

 

39GAO, Disaster Housing: FEMA Needs More Detailed Guidance and Performance 

Measures to Help Ensure Effective Assistance After Major Disasters, GAO-09-796

(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 28, 2009); Margery Austin Turner, Barika X. Williams, Glenn Kates, 

Susan J. Popkin, Carol Rabenhorst, Affordable Rental Housing in Healthy Communities: 

Rebuilding After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, The Urban Institute (Washington, D.C., 

May 2007). 

40GCR & Associates, Inc., Louisiana and New Orleans Metro Housing Needs 

Assessment—Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (New Orleans, La., Feb. 15, 2008). 

41GAO-08-913. 

Adverse Economic 

Conditions Following the 

Storms Hampered 

Rebuilding Efforts 
 

Page 40 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Both homeowners and renters have been negatively affected by financing 

gaps, delays in the availability of federal resources, and adverse economic 

conditions. Cumulatively, these and other issues have contributed to slow 

progress in repairing and replacing housing in the Gulf Coast. This slow 

progress is putting additional pressure on the already strained housing 

market.42 Slow redevelopment also contributes to neighborhood blight. 

According to a recent Brookings report, New Orleans had 65,888 vacant or 

blighted residential addresses as of March 2009, and nearly 59,000 of these 

addresses were blighted or empty lots.43 This was a slight decrease from 

69,727 as of September 2008. 

Another negative impact of these challenges is a lack of affordable 

housing, especially for rental households. HUD’s fair market rent for a 

two-bedroom unit in the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area 

increased from $676 to $1,030 or about 52 percent, between fiscal years 

2005 and 2009.44 As a result of such rent increases, low- and moderateincome renters who could afford housing in New Orleans before the storm 

may no longer be able to find affordable housing. In Mississippi’s coastal 

counties, both for-sale and rental housing are estimated to be less 

affordable than before Hurricane Katrina, according to a 2009 study.45

HUD’s fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit in the Gulfport-Biloxi 

metropolitan area increased from $592 to $844, or about 43 percent, while 

the general price level for rent nationwide increased about 15 percent over 

the same time period. While it is projected that there will be more than a 

full recovery of subsidized rental housing units in Mississippi’s coastal 

counties, it is also estimated that there will be an increased need for 

additional rental assistance in these counties, such as housing choice 

vouchers, to make available units more affordable.46

 

42DHS, Office of the Federal Coordinator, Gulf Coast Affordable Rental Housing 

Roundtable (Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 2009). 

43A residential address could represent either homeowner or rental units. 

44HUD annually estimates the fair market rent for all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan 

areas nationwide for the Housing Choice Voucher program. Fair market rents represent the 

cost of modest housing (equal to the 40th percentile in the distribution of rents) in specific 

markets. 

45The Compass Group LLC and the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development 

District, Mississippi Housing Data Project; Executive Summary Mississippi Gulf Coast 

(January 2009). 

46Ibid. According to this report, by 2011 there is projected to be a less-than-full recovery of 

small rental and market rate rental units. 

Challenges Have 

Contributed to Several 

Negative Effects, Including 

Slowed Recovery of 

Housing 
 

Page 41 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Finally, some of the residents who were displaced from their communities 

have not returned, especially lower-income renters. As previously noted, 

while the New Orleans metropolitan area is home to a population that is 

equal to about 90 percent of the pre-Katrina population, school enrollment 

across the metropolitan area has slowed, suggesting that the 

characteristics of the population that has returned are different than those 

of the pre-storm population.47 According to the Urban Institute, the slow 

recovery of housing—especially moderately priced rental housing—in the 

greater New Orleans region prevents many families from returning. 

We reviewed prior GAO work and reports by agencies and research groups 

and identified four sets of options that may help address the challenges 

faced by homeowners and rental property owners in using program funds. 

First, to address the challenges related to the gaps in funding available to 

repair and replace damaged housing—specifically rental housing—federal 

funds for permanent post-disaster housing could be allocated between 

homeowners and rental property owners based on need, and take into 

account all of the programs and resources that are available. For example, 

Congress could provide more direction to states on how to allocate 

appropriations for the CDBG program. Directing how grantees allocate 

CDBG funds would entail trade-offs. For example, states may have less 

discretion in designing post-disaster housing programs and deciding how 

much funding is to be made available for rebuilding units occupied by 

homeowners and renters and for economic development activities. While 

such trade-offs exist, Congress has previously provided specific direction 

to recipients of CDBG funds. For example, Congress provided direction to 

recipients of funds under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which 

is based on the CDBG program and focuses on redevelopment of 

abandoned and foreclosed homes. Congress directed recipients of these 

funds to focus on areas of greatest need, including areas with high 

concentrations of foreclosed homes. Without specific direction on how to 

better target disaster-related CDBG funds for the redevelopment of 

homeowner and rental units after future disasters, states’ allocation of 

assistance to homeowners and rental property owners may again result in 

significant differences in the level of assistance provided. 

 

47Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and the Greater New Orleans Community Data 

Center, The New Orleans Index: Tracking the Recovery of New Orleans and the Metro 

Area (August 2009). 

Options for Addressing 

Challenges Include Better 

Allocating Assistance for 

Homeowners and Renters 
 

Page 42 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

To address the financing gaps faced by homeowners, larger amounts of 

assistance could be made available to households. Several of the reports 

we reviewed indicated that additional funds should be provided to 

homeowners that did not receive sufficient CDBG funds to recover from 

the storms. For example, one private research organization recommends 

that the federal government allocate funds to close the gaps created by the 

formula for the Road Home Homeowner Program, the CDBG-funded 

homeowner program in Louisiana.48 In addition, this organization has 

stated that grants should have been calculated based upon either the 

higher of the assessed value or the damage estimate repair costs rather 

than the pre-storm estimated value of homes. For future disasters, basing 

grant amounts on repair costs rather than property values may be helpful 

to households in closing financing gaps—especially those households that 

live in distressed or less desirable communities where property values are 

less than the cost of repairs and replacement. However, in providing larger 

amounts of assistance to individual households, fewer households may be 

served with the same amount of overall program funding. 

To help reduce delays in delivering funds for the recovery of housing, 

guidance could be developed, eligible uses of funds could be clarified, 

states could design programs to provide funds up front, and application 

processes could be simplified. We previously recommended that HUD 

issue guidance for CDBG disaster-assistance programs that provides 

information on acceptable program designs and discusses program 

elements that trigger federal environmental reviews.49 We also 

recommended that HUD coordinate with FEMA to clarify options and 

limits of using CDBG funds with other disaster-related federal funds.50

Such guidance could help states in the future by clearly articulating 

applicable legal and financial requirements, as well as the types of 

activities that may trigger federal environmental review requirements. 

State officials in Louisiana have acknowledged that delays in making 

CDBG funds available to small rental property owners could have been 

minimized by designing a program that provided funds up front, rather 

than after property owners independently financed repairs. Such program 

designs for the use of CDBG funds after future disasters could potentially 

 

48Kalima Rose, Annie Clark, and Dominique Duval-Diop, A Long Way Home: The State of 

Housing Recovery in Louisiana (New Orleans, La., PolicyLink, 2008). 

49GAO-09-541. 

50GAO-09-541. 
 

Page 43 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

reduce delays. Furthermore, organizations that represented disaster 

victims have stated that complex application processes contributed to 

delays in Louisiana, suggesting that for future disasters, delays could be 

minimized if application processes are clear and transparent. 

Decision makers could also reconsider what federal programs should 

deliver assistance for permanent housing. A report by the Office of the 

Federal Coordinator indicated that the CDBG program should be reevaluated to determine whether it should be the primary funding vehicle 

for replacing housing stock following a disaster.51 The Office of the Federal 

Coordinator also indicated that experts should convene to discuss how 

challenges associated with the current federal funding vehicles for postdisaster recovery and rebuilding—such as CDBG, Public Assistance, 

Individual Assistance, and HMGP—could be addressed and to explore 

ideas for potential new vehicles and/or frameworks. According to HUD 

officials, the CDBG program is not one of the federal government’s official 

disaster recovery programs. However, to date the supplemental CDBG 

funds that have gone to the Gulf Coast have been the largest amount of 

CDBG disaster relief provided to one area in the history of the program. A 

previous GAO report stated that HUD should continue to work with the 

administration to determine what role the CDBG program should have in 

disaster recovery.52 HUD officials have also stated that a permanently 

authorized disaster CDBG program may be more effective in delivering 

post-disaster housing assistance. HUD officials have stated that if a 

disaster-specific CDBG program is given a permanent role, they would 

issue permanent regulations and program guidance. In addition, there 

would be less need after each disaster for HUD to consider the use of 

waivers and write federal notices to guide the use of CDBG funds. 

The response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita highlights the need to reevaluate how housing assistance for homeowners and rental property 

owners is delivered after a disaster. If the federal government adopts a 

similar approach in the future, it will likely encounter many of the same 

challenges, including gaps in available financing for permanent housing 

and delays in the availability of program funds to victims. The state 

programs, funded under the CDBG program, the largest single source of 

 

51DHS, Office of the Federal Coordinator, Gulf Coast Affordable Rental Housing 

Roundtable (Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 2009). 

52GAO-09-541. 

Conclusions 
 

Page 44 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

federal assistance for permanent housing after the 2005 Gulf Coast 

hurricanes, focused much of their resources on addressing the needs of 

homeowners. Our analysis shows that recovery funds addressed a 

substantially larger percentage of the rebuilding needs of homeowners 

compared to rental property owners and that state-designed programs 

have not fully accounted for the needs of renters in their decisions 

regarding how to allocate funds. As a result, there continues to be an acute 

need for affordable rental housing in the Gulf Coast area, and many 

displaced residents may not be able to return to their communities. States, 

which had broad flexibility in their use of CDBG funds, did not prioritize 

the repair or replacement of rental housing for several reasons, including 

their decisions to rely on other sources of federal funding for rental 

housing, such as SBA loans and GO Zone LIHTCs. However, the GO Zone 

LIHTC program addressed only a small part of the repair and replacement 

needs of rental properties and furthermore, according to program 

administrators, investors’ demand for tax credits in the current economy 

has been weak. In the event of a future disaster, the lack of specific 

direction to states on how to target disaster-related CDBG funds may 

again result in a significant difference in the amounts of assistance for the 

redevelopment of homeowner and rental property units. Within the 

programs, administrative improvements could be made. In fact, we have 

previously recommended that HUD issue guidance for CDBG disaster 

assistance that provides information on acceptable program designs and 

that HUD coordinate with FEMA to clarify options and limits of using 

CDBG funds with other disaster-related federal funds. We believe that 

implementing these recommendations would help minimize delays in 

making CDBG funds available for homeowners and rental property owners 

after future disasters. Furthermore, we continue to believe that HUD 

should work with the administration to determine what role the CDBG 

program should have in disaster recovery. 

To the extent that the CDBG program continues to be the primary vehicle 

used to provide post-disaster assistance for permanent housing, Congress 

may wish to consider providing more specific direction regarding the 

distribution of disaster-related CDBG assistance that states are to provide 

for homeowners and renters. If Congress wishes to change the proportion 

of assistance directed to homeowners and rental property owners in 

future recovery efforts, Congress could, for example, require states to 

demonstrate to HUD that they are adequately addressing the needs of both 

homeowners and renters with their CDBG allocation and other resources 

as a condition for receiving funds. Alternatively, Congress could direct 

HUD to develop a formula that accounts for the housing needs of both 

Matters for 

Congressional 

Consideration 
 

Page 45 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

homeowners and renters. Such a formula could be used by states to 

determine the proportions of their disaster CDBG funds that should be 

used for housing, specifically rental housing. Further, the formula could 

also reflect the anticipated production levels of other programs that 

provide permanent housing assistance, such as the Low-Income Housing 

Tax Credit program. 

We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of 

the Treasury, and the Small Business Administration. We received 

technical comments from all of the agencies and incorporated them as 

appropriate. We also provided relevant sections of this report to state 

officials in Louisiana and Mississippi, and incorporated their technical 

comments as appropriate. 

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of 

this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the 

report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to interested 

congressional committees, the Secretary of the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland 

Security, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the Small 

Business Administration. In addition, the report will be available at no 

charge on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff have any questions on matters discussed in this report 

or would like additional information, please contact me at (202) 512-8678 

or sciremj@gao.gov. Major contributors to this report are acknowledged in 

appendix VIII. 

Mathew J. Scirè 

Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment 

Agency Comments 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Page 46 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Our objectives were to (1) describe how federal disaster-related assistance 

for permanent housing has been provided to homeowners and rental 

property owners affected by the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes; (2) evaluate 

the extent to which federally funded programs responded to the needs of 

homeowners and rental property owners in repairing or replacing units 

damaged by these hurricanes; and (3) describe the challenges that 

homeowners and rental property owners have faced in applying for and 

using federal assistance, and potential options for addressing these 

challenges. 

In reviewing post-disaster assistance for permanent housing provided after 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we focused on Louisiana and Mississippi 

because these two states sustained the most damage of the five states 

affected by these hurricanes. To identify federal programs that provided 

this assistance, we reviewed statutes and regulations, studies and reports 

by government agencies and research organizations, and agency Web sites. 

In addition, we interviewed officials from the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 

Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and the Small Business 

Administration (SBA); state and local housing agencies in Baton Rouge 

and New Orleans, Louisiana, and Biloxi, Gulfport, and Jackson, 

Mississippi; and various housing groups. We selected programs that were 

disaster-related and provided funds or tax incentives to encourage the 

development of permanent housing, which included repairing or replacing 

housing. We defined assistance for permanent housing as assistance for 

housing that is intended for long-term occupancy. Given our methodology, 

we did not include every program that provides post-disaster housing 

assistance. The programs in our review include the following:1

• Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster Funding (HUD) 

• Community Development Block Grant Program (HUD) 

• GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (Treasury) 

• GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds (Treasury) 

 

1

Although we did not include the Housing Choice Voucher program in our review, we 

acknowledge the role of the voucher program in making rental housing affordable in the 

areas affected by the 2005 hurricanes and included information about the number of 

vouchers that were made available. 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Page 47 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

• Home Disaster Loan and Physical Disaster Business Loan (SBA) 

• Individuals and Households Program: Repair or Replacement Assistance 

(DHS) 

• GO Zone New Markets Tax Credits (Treasury) 

• Public Assistance for Permanent Work (DHS) 

For each of the programs identified, we determined whether homeowners, 

rental property owners, or both were potentially eligible to benefit from 

the program; whether the assistance was in the form of a grant, loan, or 

tax incentive; the types of activities that could be funded; and the 

program’s purpose. We also identified whether the program was 

administered by a federal or state agency, the amount of funds available, 

and how the administering agency awarded funds. For most programs, we 

used the amount appropriated by Congress as the amount available. 

However, for programs that were funded through the Disaster Relief Fund 

(Individuals and Households Program: Repair or Replacement Assistance 

and Public Assistance for Permanent Work), we used the amounts 

awarded in Louisiana and Mississippi. More specifically, for the Public 

Assistance for Permanent Work Program, we reported the amount 

awarded to public housing authorities. We generally used the date that the 

initial application period opened, if applicable, to describe the dates that 

the programs we reviewed became available. For the Gulf Opportunity 

(GO) Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond Program, we reported the 

dates that states made either the first final approval or the first allocation. 

For Mississippi’s Public Housing Program, which was funded through the 

Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), we reported the 

date that HUD approved the program design. 

To determine the extent to which the programs we reviewed responded to 

the needs of homeowners and rental property owners in repairing or 

replacing homeowner and rental units, we compared the available data on 

units funded to the estimated number of units damaged for homeowner 

and rental units. We first obtained data on the number of homeowner and 

rental units with minor, major, and severe damage in Louisiana and 

Mississippi from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Page 48 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

published estimates.2 We used this information as an indicator of housing 

need at the time of the disaster. We also used this information to highlight 

the Louisiana parishes and Mississippi counties that sustained the most 

damage. Based on available data for damaged homeowner and rental 

units, we determined that eight parishes accounted for 70 percent of the 

total homeowner and rental units damaged in Louisiana and that three 

counties accounted for 43 percent of the total homeowner and rental units 

damaged in Mississippi. To determine the proportion of homeowner and 

rental units that sustained damage in each state and in the most damaged 

areas, we compared the estimated number of homeowner and rental units 

damaged to the number of occupied homeowner and rental units 

statewide and in the most damaged areas from the 2000 Decennial 

Census.3

We obtained data from program administrators on the numbers of 

homeowner and/or rental housing units that were funded. For each 

program, we requested data on the number of units funded as of 

December 2008, although for some programs, program administrators 

could not provide data as of this date. Specifically, data for Mississippi’s 

Small Rental Assistance and Long Term Workforce Housing Programs 

were available as of April 2009; data for the Home Disaster Loan Program 

were available as of July 2009; data for the Capital Fund 

Emergency/Natural Disaster Funding Program for Mississippi and the 

Physical Disaster Business Loan Program were available as of August 

2009; and data for the New Markets Tax Credits (GO Zone) Program were 

available for activities that were undertaken through December 2008. We 

do not believe that the different dates for the count of units funded under 

these programs will have a material impact on the results, as month-tomonth unit count changes have been small for the key programs. For 

Louisiana’s Road Home Homeowner Program and Mississippi’s 

Homeowner Assistance Program, we counted awards to homeowners as 

homeowner units funded, although homeowners are not required to use 

their grant funds to repair their homes. We were not able to include data 

on the number of rental units funded through the Physical Disaster 

 

2

Damage data are from DHS, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, 

Current Housing Unit Damage Estimates, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma (Feb. 

12, 2006). Minor damage is defined as damage that is less than $5,200; major damage is 

defined as damage that is greater than or equal to $5,200 and less than $30,000; and severe 

damage is that which is greater than or equal to $30,000. 

3

Data from the Decennial Census accessed from American Factfinder on www.census.gov. 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Page 49 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Business Loan Program because SBA did not have readily available 

information on the number of rental units funded. To determine the 

number and amount of Physical Disaster Business Loans for the repair of 

residential rental properties, we obtained data categorized by the North 

American Industry Classification System.4

 We included approved loans for 

real estate repairs only. Due to data limitations, we may not have included 

all physical disaster business loans that were provided for real estate 

repairs to residential rental properties. While we did not include a $15 

million appropriation for the repair of rental housing damaged by 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as one of the programs in our review, we 

included these funds as well as data on the number of rental units funded 

with this appropriation as a part of our analysis because it is an additional 

source of funding for permanent rental housing. With available data, we 

compared the total number of homeowner units funded to the total 

number of homeowner units damaged in each state. 

Because some funded units may have received assistance from multiple 

programs, we took steps to avoid double counting. We compared the 

addresses of homeowner units funded by Louisiana’s Road Home 

Homeowner Assistance Program, Mississippi’s Homeowner Assistance 

Program, Individuals and Households Program: Repair or Replacement 

Assistance, and the Physical Home Disaster Loan Program for both 

Louisiana and Mississippi. This comparison allowed us to determine 

whether a unit was funded by only one program or by multiple programs. 

In order to ensure that an address was counted only once, we converted 

the addresses of the homeowner units funded by each of the programs we 

reviewed into a consistent format and applied standardization rules (for 

example, “Street” was consistently changed to “St.”). This allowed us to 

look for double counting for over 99 percent of the addresses we 

compared. We could not compare addresses for homeowner units funded 

by the HMGP, Long Term Workforce Housing Program, and New Markets 

Tax Credits (GO Zone) Program, because unit-level data on rental property 

street addresses were not readily available. 

In addition, we summarized the amounts of assistance awarded (and loans 

approved) to homeowners and rental property owners through the 

programs we reviewed as of December 2008, unless program 

 

4

The North American Industry Classification System is the standard used by federal 

statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, 

analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Page 50 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

administrators could not provide funding data as of this date. For example, 

administrators of Mississippi’s Small Rental Assistance and Long Term 

Workforce Housing Programs did not have archival data for December 

2008, and thus they provided data as of April 2009. For the New Markets 

Tax Credit Program (GO Zone), funding data were available for activities 

that were undertaken through December 2008. However, while we could 

determine funding amounts for homeowner units, we could not determine 

funding amounts for rental units for this program because rental units are 

funded as a part of mixed-use projects (that is, projects with both 

commercial and residential uses). It was not possible to determine the 

amounts funded only for the rental units associated with mixed-use 

projects. 

We also obtained and analyzed data from program administrators to 

determine the extent to which funded homeowner and rental units were 

complete as of summer 2009. We were unable to determine the extent to 

which homeowner units were complete because either program 

administrators were not required to collect data or the data were not 

readily available. For most of the programs that funded rental units, data 

were available on the extent to which they were complete as of June, July, 

and August 2009 (see app. VII). Data on the extent to which rental units 

funded through the New Markets Tax Credit Program (GO Zone) were 

complete were not readily available. 

To assess the reliability of agency data on the numbers and location of 

homeowner and rental units funded as well as the amount of assistance 

provided, we (1) performed electronic testing for obvious errors in 

accuracy and completeness; (2) reviewed related documentation, 

including audit reports on data verification for some programs we 

reviewed; and (3) worked with agency officials or contractors to identify 

any data problems. When we found discrepancies, such as unpopulated 

fields or data entry errors, we notified agency officials or contractors and 

worked with these officials to correct the discrepancies before conducting 

our analysis. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the 

purposes of our report. 

To identify challenges to homeowners and rental property owners, we 

reviewed studies and reports about housing recovery in the areas affected 

by the hurricanes, interviewed the administrators of the programs we 

reviewed, interviewed organizations that worked with disaster victims to 

obtain permanent housing, and analyzed data on the timeliness of funding 

availability and application processing. To describe the timeliness of 

funding availability, we interviewed program administrators, reviewed 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Page 51 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

prior GAO and other reports, and obtained documentation of the dates on 

which HUD accepted plans for CDBG-funded programs. Also, in 

examining application processing times for CDBG-funded programs, we 

obtained data from program administrators on each loan or grant 

awarded. We determined the median number of days between the date the 

application was received by the state and the date funds were awarded 

(for the homeowner programs) or the closing occurred (for the small 

rental programs). We excluded outliers and records with missing data to 

determine the median number of days elapsed between these points. 

Further, we summarized available information from program 

administrators and other reports on factors that may have contributed to 

processing delays. 

To identify potential options for mitigating the challenges we identified, 

we reviewed recommendations in studies and reports, suggestions from 

program administrators and organizations that worked with disaster 

victims to obtain permanent housing, and information on the 

congressional intent of post-disaster housing assistance, including the 

Stafford Act and FEMA’s Disaster Housing Strategy. We discussed these 

options and their potential limitations. 
Appendix II: Homeowner Programs Funded 

through the Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Page 52 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

The Louisiana Road Home Homeowner Program was designed to provide 

a one-time compensation grant payment, up to a maximum of $150,000, to 

eligible homeowners whose primary residence was damaged by the 2005 

Gulf Coast hurricanes and who wished to (1) repair or rebuild their home, 

(2) purchase another home in Louisiana, or (3) sell their home and 

relocate outside of the state. After the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, 

Congress made $13.4 billion available to Louisiana for disaster recovery. 

Louisiana allocated $11.5 billion of these funds to the Road Home 

Homeowner Program. To award assistance, the Office of Community 

Development (OCD) reviewed applications to determine and verify 

program eligibility. After an application was received and determined to be 

preliminarily eligible, the OCD conducted an on-site evaluation. After this 

evaluation, grant calculations were conducted based on the lesser of either 

the property’s pre-storm value or the estimated cost of damage to the 

property. A final determination of eligibility was also made. Other 

assistance received—such as insurance proceeds or assistance from the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the Small Business 

Administration (SBA)—was deducted from the final grant amount 

awarded. 

The OCD also offered an Additional Compensation Grant up to a 

maximum of $50,000 to eligible homeowners who had a household income 

of 80 percent of the parish median income or less. The Additional 

Compensation Grant was intended to assist with any gap between the 

estimated cost of damage and the amount(s) the homeowner received 

from the Road Home compensation grant and other assistance. 

The Mississippi Homeowner Assistance Program was designed to provide 

a one-time grant payment, up to a maximum of $150,000, to eligible 

homeowners who lived outside of the flood plain and suffered flood 

damage to their primary residence as a result of Hurricane Katrina. After 

the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, Congress made $5.5 billion available to 

Mississippi for disaster recovery. Mississippi allocated $1.96 billion for this 

program. To award assistance, the Mississippi Development Authority 

accepted applications during its open application period to determine 

program eligibility. Once eligibility was established, grant calculations 

were conducted based on the largest of the following values: (1) the preKatrina insured value adjusted by an inflation factor of 35 percent; (2) the 

damage amount estimated by SBA, not to exceed 135 percent of the 

insurable value; or (3) the Mississippi Development Authority damage 

assessment cost to repair. Once the homeowner was determined to be 

eligible, funds were made available to the homeowner through a closing 

Appendix II: Homeowner Programs Funded 

through the Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Road Home 

Homeowner Program 

(Louisiana) 

Homeowner 

Assistance Program 

(Mississippi) 
Appendix II: Homeowner Programs Funded 

through the Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Page 53 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

process using a mortgage lender or escrow or closing agent, or potentially 

by electronic funds transfer. In exchange for the grant payment, a 

qualifying homeowner had to agree to a covenant on their property that 

established building code, flood insurance, and elevation requirements for 

them or any future owner of the land. 

The Mississippi Development Authority later expanded the Homeowner 

Assistance Program applicant pool by implementing a second phase 

(Phase II). Phase II offered up to a maximum of $100,000 in grant 

assistance to homeowners who resided inside or outside of the flood plain 

and who had a household income at or below 120 percent of the area 

median income. 

Table 5: Number of Homeowner Units Funded and Total Amounts Awarded through 

the Road Home Homeowner Program (Louisiana) and the Homeowner Assistance 

Program (Mississippi), by State and Parish/County 

State Parish/County 

Homeowner 

units funded 

Amount of grant 

assistance awarded

Louisiana Acadia 279 5,544,470

 Allen 487 10,075,978

 Ascension 136 3,957,068

 Assumption 200 3,486,988

 Beauregard 912 19,027,802

 Calcasieu 12,313 313,703,052

 Cameron 1,482 58,486,809

East Baton Rouge 174 4,581,435

 East Feliciana 27 516,317

 Evangeline 51 905,100

 Iberia 977 26,138,919

 Iberville 51 1,215,867

 Jefferson 23,218 928,511,348

 Jefferson Davis 819 19,783,362

 Lafayette 107 1,917,445

 Lafourche 743 17,400,332

 Livingston 203 4,686,996

 Orleans 40,783 2,455,013,610

 Plaquemines 2,436 86,614,182

 Pointe Coupee 14 356,394

 Sabine 27 412,876
Appendix II: Homeowner Programs Funded 

through the Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Page 54 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County 

Homeowner 

units funded 

Amount of grant 

assistance awarded

 St. Bernard 10,221 645,792,150

 St. Charles 914 26,488,864

 St. Helena 252 4,911,715

 St. James 355 7,874,097

St. John the Baptist 1,168 21,771,460

 St. Landry 156 4,158,029

 St. Martin 95 1,464,994

 St. Mary 786 13,017,832

 St. Tammany 10,463 538,165,766

 Tangipahoa 1,440 33,307,532

 Terrebonne 2,350 57,426,077

 Vermilion 1,541 51,310,723

 Vernon 139 2,706,415

 Washington 1,252 23,559,492

West Baton Rouge 13 487,795

 West Feliciana 3 115,534

All parishes 116,587 $5,394,894,825

Mississippi Hancock 6,278 517,112,976

 Harrison 8,364 654,079,862

 Jackson 10,113 658,319,634

 Pearl River 92 4,666,521

 All counties 24,847 $1,834,178,993

Louisiana 

and 

Mississippi 

All parishes and 

counties 

141,434 $7,229,073,818

Source: GAO analysis of data from the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority. 

Notes: Mississippi’s Homeowner Assistance Program was made available to residents in the state’s 

four coastal counties (Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Pearl River). Data are as of December 2008

for Louisiana and Mississippi. 
Appendix II: Homeowner Programs Funded 

through the Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Page 55 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 6: Median Number of Days between Date Application Received and Date of 

First Disbursement for the Road Home Homeowner Program (Louisiana) and the 

Homeowner Assistance Program (Mississippi), by State and Parish/County 

State Parish/County Median number of days 

Louisiana Acadia 244

 Allen 281

 Ascension 248

 Assumption 303

 Beauregard 275

 Calcasieu 236

 Cameron 340

East Baton Rouge 244

 East Feliciana 340

 Evangeline 284

 Iberia 301

 Iberville 371

 Jefferson 202

 Jefferson Davis 283

 Lafayette 267

 Lafourche 272

 Livingston 345

 Orleans 248

 Plaquemines 377

 Pointe Coupee 350

 Sabine 338

 St. Bernard 316

 St. Charles 230

 St. Helena 330

 St. James 281

St. John the Baptist 226

 St. Landry 279

 St. Martin 301

 St. Mary 304

 St. Tammany 216

 Tangipahoa 280

 Terrebonne 289

 Vermilion 294

 Vernon 279
Appendix II: Homeowner Programs Funded 

through the Community Development Block 

Grant Program 

Page 56 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County Median number of days 

 Washington 265

West Baton Rouge 222

 West Feliciana 130

State median 245

Mississippi Hancock 266

 Harrison 248

 Jackson 219

 Pearl River 387

State median 240

Source: GAO analysis of data from the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority. 

Note: Data are as of December 2008 for Louisiana and Mississippi. 
Appendix III: Small Rental Housing Programs 

Funded through the Community Development 

Block Grant Program 

Page 57 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

The Louisiana Road Home Small Rental Property Program was designed to 

provide gap financing to small rental property owners in the form of 

forgivable loans for the repair of rental units.1

 The restored units must be 

offered at affordable rents to income eligible renters. After the 2005 Gulf 

Coast hurricanes, $751 million was made available through the small rental 

program. To award assistance, the Office of Community Development 

(OCD) accepted and reviewed applications during two rounds of funding. 

OCD verified basic eligibility information and then scored and ranked 

eligible applications. OCD then conditionally awarded loan assistance to 

applicants with the highest scores. Applicants who ranked below the cutoff point could apply for a later round of funding. After an applicant was 

conditionally awarded assistance, OCD completed verification of eligibility 

and issued a loan commitment letter to the applicant. OCD disbursed the 

award at closing, after the units were repaired and income eligible tenants 

were identified. Only owner occupants of three- and four-unit properties 

who received compensation for their home were required to deduct other 

benefits—including insurance payments, assistance from the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), assistance or funds from the 

Small Business Administration (SBA)—from their award. 

In December 2008, OCD announced an additional option for program 

participants, which provided up-front financing. The option was created to 

increase the production of rental housing with Community Development 

Block Grant (CDBG) funds and to accelerate the distribution of funds to 

owners. In exchange for up-front financing, owners must provide 

affordable housing once the property is repaired. According to OCD, 

program participants were sent letters informing them of this option in 

2009. 

Mississippi’s Small Rental Assistance Program was designed to provide 

forgivable loans to small rental property owners in Hancock, Harrison, 

Jackson, and Pearl River Counties for the repair of rental units as an 

incentive to provide affordable rental housing to income-eligible renters. 

After the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, about $263 million was made 

available through the small rental program. To award assistance, the 

Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) accepted and reviewed 

applications during two rounds of funding. MDA offered four types of loan 

 

1

Small rental properties in Louisiana and Mississippi are properties with one to four rental 

units. 

Appendix III: Small Rental Housing Programs 

Funded through the Community 

Development Block Grant Program 

Road Home Small 

Rental Property 

Program (Louisiana) 

Small Rental 

Assistance Program 

(Mississippi) 
Appendix III: Small Rental Housing Programs 

Funded through the Community Development 

Block Grant Program 

Page 58 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

assistance: (1) rental income subsidy assistance, (2) repair or 

reconstruction reimbursement for Katrina-damaged property, (3) 

reconstruction or conversion reimbursement for non-Katrina damaged 

property, and (4) new construction reimbursement. To apply for loan 

assistance, applicants were required to complete an application, choosing 

one of the four types of assistance. Once applicant eligibility was 

determined, MDA contacted the applicant to schedule the closing. Upon 

closing, applicants were given 24 months to complete all work on the 

structure and obtain a certificate of occupancy. The loan was awarded in 

two installments: half when the property owner provided a building 

permit, and the remainder when the owner provided a certificate of 

occupancy. 

Table 7: Number of Rental Units Funded and Amounts of Loans Awarded through 

the Road Home Small Rental Property Program (Louisiana) and the Small Rental 

Assistance Program (Mississippi), by State and Parish/County 

State Parish/County Units funded 

Amount of loan 

assistance awarded

Louisiana Acadia 4 $321,000

 Calcasieu 220 11,090,246

 Cameron 9 701,000

 Iberia 13 678,000

 Jefferson 457 38,169,659

 Orleans 4,459 371,709,913

 Plaquemines 20 1,596,200

 St. Bernard 533 42,853,623

 St. Tammany 164 10,927,515

 Tangipahoa 11 334,150

 Terrebonne 8 400,500

 Vermilion 8 275,000

 Washington 26 923,550

Subtotal 5,932 $479,980,356

Mississippi Hancock 226 13,804,500

 Harrison 660 37,083,735

 Jackson 323 16,022,500

 Pearl River 82 4,727,000

Subtotal 1,291 $71,637,735 

Total 7,223 $551,618,091

Source: GAO analysis of data from the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority. 

Note: Data are as of December 2008 for Louisiana and April 2009 for Mississippi. 
Appendix III: Small Rental Housing Programs 

Funded through the Community Development 

Block Grant Program 

Page 59 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 8: Median Number of Days between Date Application Received and Date of 

Closing for the Road Home Small Rental Property Program (Louisiana) and the 

Small Rental Assistance Program (Mississippi), by State and Parish/County 

State Parish/County Median number of days

Louisiana Calcasieu 510

 Jefferson 520

 Orleans 494

 St. Bernard 484

 St. Tammany 521

 Vermilion 624

State median 494

Mississippi Hancock 439

 Harrison 418

 Jackson 350

 Pearl River 383

State median 405

Source: GAO analysis of data from the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority. 

Note: We only reported data for the parishes and counties for which they were available. Data are as 

of December 2008 for Louisiana and April 2009 for Mississippi. 
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 60 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

The Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) Act of 2005 included tax incentives 

to assist recovery and economic revitalization for individuals and 

businesses in designated areas in several states, including Louisiana and 

Mississippi, following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.1

 The tax 

incentives included in this review are extensions of existing federal tax 

incentives, including low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt private 

activity bonds, and new markets tax credits. 

The GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program was 

designed to provide tax incentives to encourage the development of 

affordable rental housing between 2006 and 2008 in the areas affected by 

the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. A $170 million allocation was made 

available to Louisiana and $106 million was made available to Mississippi 

to fund the development of affordable rental housing. To award the tax 

incentives, the state housing finance agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi 

used their existing procedures; they announced the availability of the 

credits through qualified allocation plans, processed applications, and 

competitively awarded credits in multiple funding rounds. During some 

funding rounds, each state gave priority to projects proposed in the most 

damaged counties. 

Recipients of credits use them or sell them through an investment vehicle 

to investors to obtain equity for the development of rental housing. 

Investors receive a direct reduction in their tax liability. They can claim 

GO Zone LIHTCs for eligible projects each year for 10 years from the time 

the housing developments are placed in service. All of the GO Zone LIHTCfunded units must be in service before January 1, 2011. 

 

1

GO Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credits were also available to areas affected by 

Hurricane Wilma. 

Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

GO Zone Low-Income 

Housing Tax Credits 
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 61 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 9: Gulf Opportunity Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (GO Zone LIHTC) 

Units Funded and in Service, by State and Parish/County 

 Total GO Zone LIHTC 

units funded 

GO Zone LIHTC units 

in service 

 

Number of units 

Number 

of units

Percent in 

service

Acadia 199 199 100

Calcasieu 1,458 437 30

Cameron 30 0 0

East Baton Rouge 566 144 25

Iberia 174 174 100

Jefferson 1,010 410 41

Lafayette 79 79 100

Lafourche 112 112 100

Livingston 100 100 100

Orleans 7,655 2,933 38

St. Bernard 288 00

St. James 132 32 24

St. Tammany 890 112 13

Tangipahoa 479 239 50

Terrebonne 148 00

Vermilion 513 62 12

Washington 32 0 0

West Baton Rouge 23 23 100

Louisiana 

Subtotal 13,888 5,056 36

Attala 120 48 40

Bolivar 60 0 0

Copiah 50 0 0

Covington 80 40 50

Forrest 366 366 100

George 72 72 100

Grenada 32 0 0

Hancock 893 36 4

Harrison 3,103 746 24

Hinds 1,949 1,581 79

Holmes 24 0 0

Jackson 983 488 50

Mississippi 

Jones 152 152 100
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 62 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

 Total GO Zone LIHTC 

units funded 

GO Zone LIHTC units 

in service 

 

Number of units 

Number 

of units

Percent in 

service

Lauderdale 130 130 100

Lowndes 129 106 82

Madison 382 382 100

Neshoba 32 32 100

Pearl River 179 136 76

Pike 108 108 100

Simpson 45 0 0

Warren 108 108 100

Wayne 60 0 0

Winston 80 80 100

Yazoo 96 96 100

Subtotal 9,233 4,707 51

Total 23,140 9,763 42

Source: Louisiana Housing Finance Agency and the Mississippi Home Corporation. 

Note: Data on units funded are as of December 2008; data on units in-service are as of June 2009. 

GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds were made available to 

governmental entities after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes to help finance 

the development of private facilities and activities, including single-family 

and multifamily rental housing. Louisiana received $7.8 billion in GO Zone 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond allocation authority, and Mississippi 

received $4.9 billion. In accordance with the GO Zone Act of 2005, in 

Louisiana, the bond commission had the final authority to award GO Zone 

bonds, and in Mississippi, which did not have a bond commission, the final 

authority rested with the Governor. To award allocation authority, the 

states of Louisiana and Mississippi accepted and reviewed applications 

and allocated bond authority on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Governmental entities issue the bonds, which are repaid by the borrowers’ 

payments on their loans. The GO Zone bonds allowed states to exceed 

their annual state volume caps and could be used for a broader range of 

facilities than tax-exempt private activity bonds, which are subject to 

annual state volume caps. GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds 

must be used between 2006 and 2010. 

Data on the number of homeowner units funded through GO Zone TaxExempt Private Activity Bonds were not readily available from either state 

GO Zone Tax-Exempt 

Private Activity Bonds 
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 63 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

program administrator. In Louisiana, 216 rental units were funded as of 

December 2008, and GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds were 

not used to fund rental housing in Mississippi. 

Table 10: GO Zone Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds Issued for Homeowner and Rental Projects, by State and Amount 

Issued 

State Issuer Approved project Amount issued Parish 

Louisiana Projects for homeowner units 

Louisiana Housing Finance Agency Single-Family Mortgage $50,000,000 Multiple 

Louisiana Housing Finance Agency Single-Family Mortgage 50,000,000 Multiple 

Louisiana Housing Finance Agency Single-Family Mortgage 49,995,340 Multiple 

Jefferson Parish Finance Authority Single-Family Mortgage 41,920,250 Jefferson 

East Baton Rouge Mortgage Finance 

Auth. (Mortgage Backed Sec.) 

Single-Family Mortgage 40,850,968 East Baton Rouge 

Finance Authority of St. Tammany 

Parish 

Single-Family Mortgage 39,754,080 St. Tammany 

Jefferson Parish Finance Authority Single-Family Mortgage 31,402,598 Jefferson 

St. Bernard Parish Home Mortgage 

Authority 

Single-Family Mortgage 29,999,719 St. Bernard 

Lafayette Public Trust Financing 

Authority 

Single-Family Mortgage 29,999,520 Lafayette 

Jefferson Parish Finance Authority Single-Family Mortgage 28,645,000 Jefferson 

Jefferson Parish Finance Authority Single-Family Mortgage 20,899,968 Jefferson 

Houma-Terrebonne Public Trust 

Financing Authority 

Single-Family Mortgage 15,726,000 Terrebonne 

Denham Springs/Livingston Housing 

& Mrg. Finance Authority 

Single-Family Mortgage 14,998,875 Livingston 

Projects for rental units 

Louisiana Housing Finance Agency Canterbury House 

Apartments - Sherwood 

Project 

16,000,000 East Baton Rouge 

Mississippi Projects for homeowner units 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., Series 

2006A-1 & 2006A-2 

$59,997,500 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. Single-Family Mortgage, 

Series 2006B 

37,080,000 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. Single-Family Mortgage, 

Series 2007A 

20,623,054 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. Single-Family Mortgage, 

2006E 

20,600,000 Multiple 
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 64 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Issuer Approved project Amount issued Parish 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., 

Revenue Bonds, Series 

2007C-1 

20,587,600 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., 

Revenue Bonds Series 

2007B-1 

20,579,040 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. Single-Family Mortgage, 

2006C-1 AND C-2 

19,947,500 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., SingleFamily Series 2008A-1 18,000,000 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., 

Revenue Bonds Series 

2007D-1 

15,475,713 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., 

Revenue Bonds Series 

2007E-1 

15,463,775 Multiple 

Mississippi HOME Corp. MS Home Corp., SingleFamily Series 2008B-1 $15,000,000 Multiple 

Source: GAO analysis of Louisiana State Bond Commission and Mississippi Development Authority data. 

Notes: Bonds for mixed-use projects are excluded. Louisiana data are as of March 2009. Mississippi 

data are as of December 2008. 

The New Markets Tax Credit program is designed to provide a tax 

incentive to investors (including financial institutions, individuals, and 

corporations) to invest in Community Development Entities, which then 

reinvest the funds in qualified low-income community investments.2

 Such 

investments include, but are not limited to, residential projects. The GO 

Zone Act of 2005 authorized $1 billion of special allocation authority to be 

used for the recovery and redevelopment of the GO Zone.3

 To award 

assistance, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in the 

Department of the Treasury evaluated applications for credit allocations 

from Community Development Entities proposing activities in the GO 

 

2

Community Development Entities are domestic partnerships or corporations with a 

primary mission of serving or providing investment capital for low-income communities or 

low-income purposes. 

3

Pub. L. No. 109-135 (Dec. 21, 2005). 

New Markets Tax 

Credits for the GO 

Zone 
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 65 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Zone.4 The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund also 

allocated tax credit authority in 2006 and 2007. 

According to our analysis of Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund data, 217 homeowner units and 493 rental units had been 

funded with GO Zone New Markets Tax Credit allocation authority 

through 2008.5

 While about $28 million in authority was awarded for 

homeowner units, it is not possible to determine the amount of authority 

awarded for rental units that are funded as a part of mixed-use projects. 

Table 11: New Markets Tax Credit Allocations for Use in the Gulf Opportunity Zone, Largest to Smallest 

Year Applicant name Award amount Predominant financing activity Market 

2006 Hibernia Community Renewal 

Fund, LLC 

 $100,000,000 Business financing LA 

National Cities Fund, LLC 75,000,000 Real estate financing: for-sale 

housing 

LA, MSa 

Liberty Bank and Trust 

Company 

 60,000,000 Business financing LA 

Urban Development Fund, LLC 60,000,000 Real estate financing: retail LA, MSa

Chase New Markets 

Corporation 

50,000,000 Real estate financing: retail LA, MSa

Chevron NMTC Fund, LLC 50,000,000 Real estate financing and mixeduse (housing and commercial) LA, MSa

CCG Community Partners, LLC 43,000,000 Real estate financing: mixed-use 

(housing and commercial) 

LA, MSa

 American Community 

Renewable Energy Fund, LLC 

42,000,000 Business financing LA, MSa

 Greystone Community 

Development Entity, LLC 

35,000,000 Real estate financing: mixed-use 

(housing and commercial) 

LA, MSa

 National Tribal Development 

Association 

30,000,000 Business financing LA, MSa

National New Markets Fund, 

LLC 

 25,000,000 Real estate financing: mixed-use 

(housing and commercial) 

LA, MSa

 

4

For additional information about how the NMTC program works, see GAO, Tax Policy: 

New Markets Tax Credit Appears to Increase Investment by Investors in Low-Income 

Communities, but Opportunities Exist to Better Monitor Compliance, GAO-07-296

(Washington, D.C.: Jan. 31, 2007). 

5

Community Development Entities are required to report the status of their New Market 

Tax Credit projects to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund once a 

year. 
Appendix IV: Programs Funded through Tax 

Incentives 

Page 66 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Year Applicant name Award amount Predominant financing activity Market 

Enterprise Corporation of the 

Delta 

 15,000,000 Business financing LA 

Capital Link, Inc. 15,000,000 Real estate financing: community 

facilities 

LA, MSa

2007 Capital One Community 

Renewal Fund, LLC 

60,000,000 Real estate financing: retail LA 

National Trust Community 

Investment Corporation 

60,000,000 Real estate financing: community 

facilities 

LA, MSa

St. Bernard Parish 

Redevelopment, LLC 

50,000,000 Real estate financing: mixed use 

(housing and commercial) 

St. Bernard 

Parish, LA 

Whitney New Markets Fund, 

LLC 

50,000,000 Real estate financing: for-sale 

housing 

LA, MSa

CCG Community Partners, LLC 40,000,000 Real estate financing: mixed use 

(housing and commercial) 

LA, MSa

 American Community 

Renewable Energy Fund, LLC 

30,000,000 Business financing LA, MSa

Advantage Capital Community 

Development Fund, LLC 

28,000,000 Business financing LA, MSa

HFHI-SA NMTC I, LLC 25,000,000 Real estate financing: for-sale 

housing 

LA, MSa

 Community Development 

Funding, LLC 

20,000,000 Real estate financing: community 

facilities 

LA, MSa

 MBFC Community 

Development Entity, Inc. 

20,000,000 Business financing MS 

The Valued Advisor Fund 17,000,000 Financing of other Community 

Development Entities 

LA, MSa

Total $1,000,000,000 

Source: Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. 

Note: Data are for activities undertaken through December 2008. 

a

The market included Alabama. 
Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 

Page 67 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides federal long-range 

recovery funding after a presidentially declared or SBA-declared disaster 

through the Disaster Loan Program. After the 2005 hurricanes, 

homeowners could apply to this program for a Home Disaster Loan up to a 

maximum of $200,000 for real estate repairs.1

 Business owners (including 

rental property owners) could apply for a Physical Disaster Business Loan 

up to a maximum of $2 million for real estate and personal property. 

Homeowners and business owners could use loan funds to repair or 

replace damaged or destroyed real estate not covered by insurance or 

other assistance. Business owners could also use loan funds for inventory, 

supplies, machinery and equipment, and other business assets owned by 

the business and not covered by insurance or other assistance.2

 After the 

hurricanes, SBA sent a loan application package to homeowners and 

business owners that first registered with the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) and met initial income eligibility criteria. 

To make a disaster loan, SBA reviewed the loan application package, and 

applicants were approved or denied based on their ability to repay the 

loan and other criteria, such as credit history. After the application was 

approved, SBA began the loan process, which included loss verification, 

underwriting (which includes the decision to loan funds), approval, 

closing for loan authorization and agreement, and initial disbursement. 

SBA loan applications became available after the hurricanes occurred and 

incremental application deadlines were determined for each state. For 

Louisiana and Mississippi, the application period for Hurricane Katrina 

was October 2005 through April 2006. For Louisiana, the application 

period for Hurricane Rita was November 2005 through April 2006. 

 

1

Homeowners and renters could also apply for a maximum of $40,000 for personal 

property. 

2

Amounts loaned for any purpose other than real estate repairs are not included in this 

appendix. 

Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 
Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 

Page 68 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 12: Homeowner Units Funded and Loan Amounts Approved through the 

Home Disaster Loan Program, by State and Parish/ County 

State Parish/County 

Homeowner units 

funded Amount loaned

Louisiana Acadia 128 $4,385,700

 Allen 67 2,453,800

 Ascension 107 2,447,600

 Assumption 42 861,800

 Avoyelles 2 15,000

 Beauregard 271 10,009,040

 Calcasieu 2,309 103,538,121

 Cameron 635 54,997,352

East Baton Rouge 236 5,066,500

 East Feliciana 17 283,000

 Evangeline 18 387,100

 Iberia 273 11,862,700

 Iberville 24 833,800

 Jefferson 8,829 281,729,853

 Jefferson Davis 198 7,732,000

 Lafayette 79 1,964,300

 Lafourche 444 10,354,700

 Livingston 203 4,679,900

 Orleans 15,614 1,141,120,125

 Plaquemines 1,482 114,393,447

 Pointe Coupee 10 292,000

 Rapides 3 67,500

 Sabine 25 645,600

 St. Bernard 8,005 792,869,473

 St. Charles 573 12,166,884

 St. Helena 42 832,500

 St. James 79 1,921,600

St. John the Baptist 343 6,625,800

 St. Landry 54 1,263,600

 St. Martin 38 1,042,000

 St. Mary 97 2,506,564

 St. Tammany 5,761 277,961,281

 Tangipahoa 540 13,825,000

 Terrebonne 586 19,489,074
Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 

Page 69 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County 

Homeowner units 

funded Amount loaned

 Vermilion 559 32,443,837

 Vernon 95 2,332,585

 Washington 558 19,477,830

West Baton Rouge 23 823,000

 West Feliciana 1 10,000

 Winn 1 38,200

Subtotal 48,371 $2,945,750,166

Mississippi Adams 22 435,400

 Amite 23 459,100

 Attala 6 106,700

 Choctaw 4 220,600

 Claiborne 13 190,943

 Clarke 80 1,542,000

 Clay 1 25,000

 Copiah 58 1,501,572

 Covington 154 3,126,600

 Forrest 664 17,666,135

 Franklin 6 152,700

 George 306 7,928,500

 Greene 74 1,922,700

 Hancock 3,505 256,455,013

 Harrison 7,849 413,763,541

 Hinds 175 2,584,079

 Holmes 6 108,700

 Humphreys 2 51,000

 Jackson 5,800 271,344,095

 Jasper 119 2,004,200

 Jefferson 9 378,900

 Jefferson Davis 84 1,229,500

 Jones 492 12,652,400

 Kemper 14 213,000

 Lamar 312 8,387,300

 Lauderdale 132 2,082,500

 Lawrence 68 1,311,800

 Leake 8 257,200

 Lincoln 92 2,126,800
Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 

Page 70 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County 

Homeowner units 

funded Amount loaned

 Lowndes 17 413,000

 Madison 33 480,300

 Marion 195 5,385,300

 Neshoba 17 247,700

 Newton 44 950,300

 Noxubee 8 205,200

 Oktibbeha 9 231,300

 Pearl River 1,169 36,874,217

 Perry 82 1,691,400

 Pike 119 2,271,600

 Rankin 50 905,100

 Scott 23 372,000

 Simpson 59 1,067,100

 Smith 65 899,800

 Stone 381 8,754,800

 Walthall 150 3,860,900

 Warren 18 358,000

 Wayne 71 1,644,200

 Wilkinson 17 282,500

 Winston 10 187,100

 Yazoo 10 152,800

Subtotal 22,625 $1,077,462,595

Total 70,996 $4,023,212,762

Source: GAO analysis of SBA Home Disaster Loan data. 

Notes: Data are as of July 2009. Data include amounts loaned to homeowners for real estate repairs 

only through the Home Disaster Loan program. Amounts loaned for other eligible uses under the 

Home Disaster Loan Program are not included. 
Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 

Page 71 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 13: Number of Loans Approved and Amounts Loaned through the Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Program, by State and Parish/County 

State Parish/County 

Number of loans 

approved Amount loaned

Louisiana Acadia 2 $87,000

 Allen 2 3,125

 Ascension 5 121,075

 Assumption 1 6,250

 Beauregard 3 15,958

 Calcasieu 89 5,574,946

 Cameron 8 730,225

East Baton Rouge 10 227,117

 Iberia 5 114,825

 Jackson 1 71,700

 Jefferson 454 19,804,222

 Jefferson Davis 1 9,000

 Lafayette 3 140,158

 Lafourche 16 655,940

 Livingston 3 24,862

 Orleans 1,883 142,494,756

 Plaquemines 25 946,059

 St. Bernard 301 24,915,985

 St. Charles 13 872,327

 St. James 3 25,914

St. John the Baptist 16 431,773

 St. Landry 2 19,000

 St. Martin 1 37,500

 St. Mary 2 94,900

 St. Tammany 158 9,192,034

 Tangipahoa 22 413,456

 Terrebonne 4 120,200

 Vermillion 4 205,300

 Vernon 4 67,422

 Washington 16 425,550

Subtotal 3,057 $207,848,578

Mississippi Clarke 2 5,100

 Covington 3 29,085

 Forrest 38 1,198,488
Appendix V: Home Disaster and Physical 

Disaster Business Loan Programs 

Page 72 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County 

Number of loans 

approved Amount loaned

 George 10 274,450

 Hancock 167 10,605,634

 Harrison 492 31,372,768

 Hinds 5 113,628

 Jackson 264 14,790,614

 Jasper 2 79,900

 Jefferson 1 11,000

 Jefferson Davis 2 19,700

 Jones 15 554,811

 Lamar 4 42,182

 Lawrence 1 31,800

 Lincoln 2 111,900

 Lowndes 3 608,225

 Madison 1 56,400

 Marion 5 128,100

 Newton 1 10,000

 Noxubee 1 10,000

 Pearl 28 1,548,274

 Pike 9 421,800

 Simpson 1 10,000

 Stone 10 164,060

 Walthall 4 98,267

 Warren 3 46,275

 Wayne 4 63,789

 Wilkinson 2 51,900

 Yazoo 3 24,600

Subtotal 1,083 $62,482,749

Total 3,790 $270,331,328

Source: GAO analysis of SBA Physical Disaster Business Loan data. 

Notes: Data are as of August 2009. Data include amounts loaned for real estate repairs for residential 

rental properties only through the Physical Disaster Business Loan program. Due to data limitations, 

these data may not include all loans made for the repair of residential rental properties. 

Unit-level data are not readily available for the Physical Disaster Business Loan Program. 

Some loans included properties in multiple counties, parishes, and/or states. The total includes these 

loans only once, therefore county- or parish-level numbers will not add up to the totals for each state. 

For loans made for properties in multiple counties, the loan amounts by county were estimated based 

on the number of properties in each county. 
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 73 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

The Capital Fund Emergency/Natural Disaster Funding Program is 

administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD) and is designed to provide grants to public housing authorities 

(PHA) for the repair or replacement of public housing that is damaged or 

destroyed by emergencies or natural phenomena, such as hurricanes, 

flooding, or earthquakes. Congress appropriates funds to this program 

each year. For 2005, a total of $29.7 million was appropriated for the 

Capital Fund reserve. To award assistance after the 2005 Gulf Coast 

hurricanes, HUD reviewed applications from PHAs and awarded grants on 

a first-come, first-served basis. Grant funds pay for a PHA’s needs that are 

in excess of its insurance coverage or other federal assistance, such as 

assistance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA). 

Table 14: Rental Units Assisted and Amounts Awarded through the 2005 Capital 

Fund Emergency/ Natural Disaster Funding Program, by State 

State Housing authority 

Rental units 

assisted Amount awarded

Louisiana Housing Authority of New Orleans 1,684 $21,804,000

Mississippi Biloxi Housing Authority 385 $7,881,000

Source: The Housing Authority of New Orleans and the Biloxi Housing Authority. 

Notes: Unit data are as of December 2008 for Louisiana and August 2009 for Mississippi. Parish 

Housing Authority of Alabama was awarded the balance of the funds available in the reserve fund for 

damage related to Hurricane Katrina. 

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is administered by FEMA. 

The HMGP provides grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes 

for long-term hazard mitigation projects following a major disaster 

declaration. The program is intended to reduce the loss of life and 

property in future disasters by funding mitigation measures. HMGP 

funding is calculated based on the percentage of the funds spent on Public 

and Individual Assistance for each presidentially declared disaster. 

Generally about 12 months after a disaster, FEMA determines the amount 

of HMGP funds to be allocated to each affected state. 

To be eligible for HMGP assistance, a project must provide a long-term 

solution to a specific risk, such as elevating a flood-prone property or 

acquiring a flood-prone property for demolition or relocation. During the 

recovery phase of a disaster, local jurisdictions select projects that could 

reduce property damage from future disasters and submit grant 

applications to the state, and the state submits applications to FEMA. 

Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Capital Fund 

Emergency/Natural 

Disaster Funding 

Hazard Mitigation 

Grant Program 
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 74 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

FEMA conducts a final eligibility review to ensure compliance with federal 

regulations. FEMA generally requires states to submit their project 

applications within 12 months of the date the disaster was declared. 

However, after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, FEMA provided a number 

of deadline extensions for Louisiana and Mississippi, with the final 

deadline for Mississippi set at June 30, 2009, and at October 30, 2009, for 

Louisiana. 

Table 15: Approved Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Projects for Louisiana and 

Mississippi, by State 

State Number of properties approved Amount of federal funds obligated

Louisiana 4,016 $210,098,045 

Mississippi 151 9,234,429 

Total 4,167 $219,332,474 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA HMGP data. 

Note: Data are as of December 2008. Unit-level data were not available. 

The Individuals and Households Program (IHP) makes grants and direct 

services available to disaster victims. Several types of assistance are 

available through IHP, including Repair Assistance and Replacement 

Assistance.1

 Repair and Replacement Assistance was available for the 

repair of homes to safe and sanitary living conditions, and to help replace 

disaster-damaged homes. Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the 

maximum allowance for repair assistance was $5,200 and the maximum 

allowance for replacement assistance was $10,500. 

FEMA reviews applications and conducts property inspections to 

determine eligibility and grant amounts. Generally, FEMA accepts 

applications for 60 days from the disaster date, but the application period 

was extended to April 2006 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. To be 

eligible for assistance, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, a non-citizen 

national, or a qualified alien, and must have owned a home in a 

presidentially declared disaster area. 

 

1

The IHP also provides temporary housing assistance, permanent housing construction 

assistance in insular areas or remote locations, and other needs assistance, which provides 

funds for expenses such as transportation and personal property. For this review, we 

focused on programs that provided assistance with structures only, not personal property. 

Individuals and 

Households Program: 

Repair or 

Replacement 

Assistance 
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 75 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Table 16: Individuals and Households Program: Repair or Replacement Assistance Awarded and Homeowner Units Assisted 

in Louisiana and Mississippi, by State and Parish/County 

State Parish/County 

Repair 

assistance 

awarded 

Units 

receiving 

repair 

assistance

Replacement 

assistance 

awarded 

Units 

receiving 

replacement 

assistance 

Both repair 

and 

replacement 

assistance 

awarded

Units 

receiving both 

repair and 

replacement 

assistance

Louisiana Acadia $2,317,692 1,203 $245,234 25 $18,130 2

 Allen 1,285,448 925 147,000 14 16,700 2

 Ascension 1,721,933 1,323 178,500 17 43,770 5

 Assumption 1,605,648 927 42,000 4 9,824 2

 Beauregard 3,042,163 1,755 406,283 39 26,837 3

 Calcasieu 14,782,400 6,797 3,943,716 383 620,976 62

 Cameron 2,135,633 489 8,465,520 824 1,173,795 116

East Baton Rouge 2,827,233 2,765 42,000 5 10,500 1

 East Feliciana 665,467 502 0 0 15,700 1

 Evangeline 463,930 352 63,000 6 14,551 2

 Iberia 4,975,644 2,197 656,319 64 139,622 14

 Iberville 1,169,652 892 31,500 3 37,151 4

 Jefferson 28,903,886 9,769 7,713,267 801 494,059 51

 Jefferson Davis 1,660,503 950 283,392 27 44,134 4

 Lafayette 1,747,921 1,087 157,500 15 10,500 1

 Lafourche 4,249,156 2,455 660,392 63 248,765 25

 Livingston 3,606,550 2,559 409,500 40 99,700 10

 Orleans 25,699,952 6,812 159,311,004 15,487 5,987,241 617

 Plaquemines 2,469,772 683 24,398,166 2,394 1,093,364 113

 Pointe Coupee 359,617 249 21,000 2 0 0

 Sabine 624,801 436 73,500 7 21,000 2

 St. Bernard 8,734,478 1,827 33,239,976 3,253 2,759,724 280

 St. Charles 2,360,106 1,306 281,722 27 126,000 12

 St. Helena 644,216 488 73,500 7 10,500 1

 St. James 1,465,395 853 63,000 6 10,500 1

St. John the Baptist 2,373,360 1,334 366,585 35 34,972 5

 St. Landry 1,662,531 1,391 52,500 5 0 0

 St. Martin 1,344,000 911 52,500 5 21,000 2

 St. Mary 2,940,521 1,745 336,100 33 93,903 9

 St. Tammany 26,910,824 9,201 5,585,873 551 1,337,662 136

 Tangipahoa 7,761,196 5,306 1,032,549 102 312,773 32

 Terrebonne 11,144,445 4,582 838,990 80 203,735 20
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 76 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County 

Repair 

assistance 

awarded 

Units 

receiving 

repair 

assistance

Replacement 

assistance 

awarded 

Units 

receiving 

replacement 

assistance 

Both repair 

and 

replacement 

assistance 

awarded

Units 

receiving both 

repair and 

replacement 

assistance

 Vermilion 8,624,493 2,843 1,420,556 136 200,221 21

 Vernon 1,626,824 1,071 132,496 12 21,962 2

 Washington 6,572,981 2,894 959,907 93 345,687 33

West Baton Rouge 335,327 315 10,500 1 10,500 1

 West Feliciana 149,564 107 0 0 0 0

Subtotal $190,965,263 81,301 $251,695,546 24,566 $15,615,457 1,592

Mississippi Adams $684,598 598 $31,500 3 00

 Amite 533,378 620 31,500 3 10,500 1

 Attala 134,242 134 21,000 2 10,500 1

 Choctaw 62,968 57 0 0 0 0

 Claiborne 412,378 400 31,500 3 31,500 3

 Clarke 1,140,112 702 189,000 18 63,000 6

 Copiah 1,036,412 983 73,500 7 10,500 1

 Covington 1,277,046 925 262,500 25 134,876 13

 Forrest 4,351,696 2,149 651,000 62 220,411 22

 Franklin 259,946 213 21,000 2 0 0

 George 3,262,715 1,506 491,357 47 431,771 42

 Greene 1,222,950 673 199,500 19 159,007 16

 Hancock 18,479,544 4,082 20,903,327 2,033 4,225,390 425

 Harrison 34,452,180 9,058 22,421,997 2,194 5,035,254 499

 Hinds 1,885,691 1,828 41,003 4 10,500 1

 Holmes 393,861 355 21,000 2 10,500 1

 Humphreys 86,991 83 10,500 1 0 0

 Jackson 44,405,898 10,711 6,490,725 637 1,744,454 176

 Jasper 1,454,331 773 280,361 27 21,000 2

 Jefferson 566,201 422 73,500 7 31,500 3

 Jefferson Davis 1,064,136 663 105,000 10 31,500 3

 Jones 3,964,442 2,232 1,008,000 96 304,187 29

 Kemper 445,062 302 31,500 3 21,000 2

 Lamar 2,806,719 1,332 519,842 50 134,380 13

 Lauderdale 2,048,831 1,424 199,500 19 106,223 10

 Lawrence 1,075,712 743 115,500 11 52,500 5

 Leake 183,383 240 21,000 2 0 0

 Lincoln 1,155,520 869 94,500 9 42,000 4
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 77 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

State Parish/County 

Repair 

assistance 

awarded 

Units 

receiving 

repair 

assistance

Replacement 

assistance 

awarded 

Units 

receiving 

replacement 

assistance 

Both repair 

and 

replacement 

assistance 

awarded

Units 

receiving both 

repair and 

replacement 

assistance

 Lowndes 314,907 266 0 0 0 0

 Madison 362,219 338 0 0 10,500 1

 Marion 2,228,746 1,314 367,500 35 136,064 14

 Neshoba 261,327 205 10,500 1 17,850 2

 Newton 508,450 346 42,000 4 10,500 1

 Noxubee 370,989 322 42,000 4 24,173 3

 Oktibbeha 267,048 187 105,000 10 21,000 2

 Pearl River 5,624,843 2,593 1,486,406 143 899,031 88

 Perry 1,310,804 706 273,000 26 117,267 12

 Pike 2,026,500 1702 244,469 23 92,353 9

 Rankin 593,941 551 123,321 12 42,000 4

 Scott 567,655 510 73,500 7 51,403 5

 Simpson 1,104,176 834 115,500 11 42,000 4

 Smith 624,210 422 94,500 9 31,500 3

 Stone 2,624,852 1079 783,306 75 446,143 43

 Walthall 2,037,464 1022 266,700 26 107,433 10

 Warren 522,453 427 31,500 3 00

 Wayne 1,459,841 981 126,000 12 145,125 15

 Wilkinson 418,924 453 10,500 1 0 0

 Winston 128,234 114 0 0 0 0

 Yazoo 270,074 277 52,500 5 10,500 1

Subtotal $152,474,601 58,726 $58,588,812 5,703 $15,047,293 1,495

Statewide Totals $343,439,863 140,027 $310,274,358 30,269 $30,662,750 3,087

Source: GAO analysis of IHP Repair or Replacement Assistance data as of December 2008. 

The Long Term Workforce Housing Program was designed to provide 

grants and loans to local units of government, nonprofit organizations, and 

for-profit organizations to develop permanent affordable housing for 

homeowners and renters in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Pearl River 

counties. For this program, housing must benefit those who earn 120 

percent of area median income or less. The state of Mississippi made $350 

million of its disaster Community Development Block Grant funds 

available for this program. To award the assistance, the Mississippi 

Development Authority reviewed proposals from applicants, evaluated 

them based on specific selection criteria, and awarded funds to the highest 

Long Term Workforce 

Housing (Mississippi) 
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 78 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

scoring applicants. The selected projects were projected to produce 

approximately 5,850 affordable homeowner and rental units. 

Table 17: Units Funded and Completed and Amounts Awarded through 

Mississippi’s Long Term Workforce Housing Program, by Household Type 

Household type Units funded Units complete Amount awarded

Homeowner 2,502 15 $103,593,204

Rental 906 0 $41,577,949

Source: Mississippi Development Authority. 

Notes: Data on units funded and amount awarded are as of April 2009. Data on units complete are as 

of August 2009. 

FEMA’s Public Assistance for Permanent Work Program can be used to 

provide state and local governments, including PHAs, with grants to 

restore damaged facilities, through repair or restoration, to their predisaster condition.2

 To award assistance, FEMA reviews requests for 

assistance and awards grants to states. Grant amounts are generally 

determined by evaluating repair costs and reducing grant amounts by the 

amount of funding awarded or anticipated to be awarded by other sources 

(such as assistance from other federal agencies or insurance settlements). 

States are then responsible for notifying applicants that funds are available 

and for disbursing those funds, generally on a reimbursement basis. While 

Public Assistance generally provides 75 percent of repair costs, the cost 

share for projects related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been adjusted 

to provide 100 percent of federal funding. 

PHAs that did not qualify for assistance for permanent restoration costs 

from HUD under the Housing Act of 1937 were able to apply directly to 

FEMA for permanent restoration work. Such work could include repairs to 

PHA-owned rental units. 

Data on the number of units funded and completed with Public Assistance 

Funds for Permanent Work were not available from FEMA. According to 

the Housing Authority of New Orleans, which received the largest 

 

2

 Permanent work includes restoring a facility to its pre-disaster design, function, and 

capacity. Aside from permanent work, FEMA funds other types of work under its Public 

Assistance Grant Program so that communities can quickly respond to and recover from 

presidentially declared disasters. These activities include debris removal and emergency 

protective measures. Debris removal and emergency protective measures are considered 

“emergency work.” 

Public Assistance for 

Permanent Work 
Appendix VI: Other Programs Reviewed 

Page 79 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

obligation of funds, no units had been funded or completed as of August 

2009. According to the Region VIII Housing Authority in Mississippi, the 

only PHA in Mississippi that was awarded funds, 24 units were funded and 

completed in 2006. 

Table 18: Public Assistance for Permanent Work Awarded to Public Housing 

Authorities in Louisiana and Mississippi, by State and Amount Obligated 

State Public housing agency 

Parish or 

county 

Federal share 

obligated

Louisiana The Housing Authority of New Orleans Orleans $31,840,846 

Housing Authority of Slidell St. Tammany 473,305 

Lake Charles Housing Authority Calcasieu 11,436 

Southwest Acadia Consolidated Housing 

Authority 

Acadia 5,695 

Jennings Housing Authority Jefferson Davis 5,000 

Covington Housing Authority St. Tammany 4,265 

Subtotal $32,340,547 

Mississippi Region VIII Housing Authority Harrison 329,567 

Subtotal $329,567 

 Total $32,670,114 

Source: FEMA’s Louisiana Temporary Recovery Office; FEMA’s Mississippi Temporary Recovery Office. 

Notes: Louisiana data are as of May 2009. Mississippi data are as of June 2009. 

The Mississippi Public Housing Program was designed to provide grants to 

PHAs for the repair or replacement of public housing that was damaged by 

Hurricane Katrina. The state made $105 million of its disaster Community 

Development Block Grant funds available for this program. To award 

assistance, the Mississippi Development Authority reviewed applications 

from PHAs and determined award amounts based upon documentation of 

damage and funding the PHA received or expected to receive from 

insurance or from the Capital Fund for Emergency/Natural Disaster 

Funding Program. According to the Action Plan for this program, funds 

were to be made available to eligible PHAs when construction 

commenced, and would be paid on a “draw down” basis as the obligation 

to pay occurred. According to the Mississippi Development Authority, $48 

million had been awarded to five PHAs for the funding of 1,594 public 

housing units as of December 2008. As of August 2009, 1,210 public 

housing units were complete and in service. 

Public Housing 

Program (Mississippi) 
Appendix VII: Rental Units Funded and 

Completed 

Page 80 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

 Louisiana Mississippi 

 Program 

Units 

funded 

Units 

complete 

Funded 

as of:

Complete 

as of:

Units 

funded

Units 

complete 

Funded 

as of:

Complete 

as of:

Capital Fund 

Emergency/Natural 

Disaster Funding 

1,684 1,684 Dec. 2008 Aug. 2009 385 385 Aug. 2009 Aug. 2009

GO Zone Low-Income 

Housing Tax Credits 

(LIHTCs) 

13,888 5,056 Dec. 2008 June 2009 9,252 4,707 a Dec. 2008 June 2009

GO Zone Tax-Exempt 

Private Activity Bonds 

216 216 Dec. 2008 Aug. 2009 0 0 Dec. 2008 Aug. 2009

Long Term Workforce 

Housing Program 

(CDBG-Mississippi) 

 906 15 Apr. 2009 Aug. 2009

New Markets Tax 

Credits (GO Zone) 

351 Data not 

available 

Dec. 2008 Data not 

available

142 Data not 

available 

Dec. 2008 Data not 

available

Public Assistance for 

Permanent Work 

0 0 Dec.2008 Aug. 2009 24 24 Dec.2008bAug. 2009

Public Housing 

Program (CDBGMississippi) 

 1,594 1,210 Dec. 2008 Aug. 2009

Road Home Small 

Rental Property 

Program (CDBGLouisiana) and Small 

Rental Assistance 

Program (CDBGMississippi) 

10,115 1,406 Dec. 2008 July 2009 4,242 1,072 Apr. 2009 Aug. 2009

Public Housing 

(Housing Authority of 

New Orleans)c

631 0 Dec. 2008 Aug. 2009 

Total 26,885 8,362 16,545 7,413 

Source: GAO analysis of program data. 

a

We excluded units for which the status of financing was open as of June 2009. 

b

According to the Region VIII Housing Authority in Mississippi, 24 units were funded and completed in 

2006 with funds from the Public Assistance for Permanent Work. Based on this information, we 

asserted that 24 were funded as of December 2008 and complete as of August 2009. 

c

This table includes units funded by a $15 million appropriation for the redevelopment of permanent 

housing damaged by Hurricane Katrina. HUD awarded these funds to the Housing Authority of New 

Orleans. 

Appendix VII: Rental Units Funded and 

Completed 
Appendix VIII: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

Page 81 GAO-10-17 Disaster Assistance 

Mathew J. Scirè, (202) 512-8678 or sciremj@gao.gov

Major contributors to this report were Daniel Garcia-Diaz, Assistant 

Director; Vanessa Dillard; Shamiah Kerney; and Lisa Moore. Johnnie 

Barnes, Cindy Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, John McGrail, John Mingus, and 

Jennifer Schwartz also made key contributions to this report. 

Appendix VIII: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

(250414) 
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