As most people who know me are aware, my house, on Long Island’s south shore, suffered heavy flooding on October 29, 2012 as a result of Hurricane Sandy, when the water level of a nearby bay rose several feet above its historic high and filled my house up like a bucket. My house was not in a flood plain – even today it’s not considered a flood risk according to the latest maps – so we didn’t have flood insurance.
We stayed as long as we could, and planned to ride out the entire storm in our house, but once water started pouring down the driveway and filling up our garage and first level (finished living space) we decided to vacate. We spent the night at a friend’s house, far from the water.
I went back to the house where we’d spent the night, and as soon as President Obama declared an emergency, I logged onto FEMA’s website and requested aid. The details of the next few days are murky in my mind almost 5 years later, but the inspector came on Halloween. We received some emergency money from FEMA relatively quickly, which let us get heat and hot water back once the power was restored, but it was well below the cap of $31,000, and far short of what we’d need to get everything fixed and replace what we’d lost.
I should add that our homeowner’s insurance explicitly didn’t cover any flood-related damage, and as I said above, the area had never flooded before and is even today not considered a flood risk.
We were without power for 9 days, which we spent hauling waterlogged stuff out of the basement and onto the curb. It was depressing work, but since there was no power at home or at work (in lower Manhattan at the time) it at least gave us something to do. Our lifeline to the rest of the world was our iPhones, which we charged using solar chargers we’d picked up at a county fair the previous year. In hindsight, we were lucky it was a warm few days, since we had no heat.
I had some contractors come by and asked them to give quotes to repair the damage. Since hundreds, maybe thousands of houses in my area had been damaged by the storm it was really difficult to get anyone even to return our call. We finally had three different contractors come by, and they gave verbal quotes ranging from $40,000 to $80,000, but each of them refused to give a written quote unless we agreed to hire them first. This seemed backwards, and frankly shady, but it was their market and they had hundreds of other jobs they could do.
We went back and forth with FEMA about increasing their award but they refused. Ultimately they directed us to the Small Business Administration about getting a loan. We really didn’t want to take out a loan, but on November 22nd I filled out the application beginning the months-long process of securing a disaster relief loan.
At some point, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo put together the New York Rising program to handle disbursement of federal funds for storm recovery. Going through my email history, I applied for this program on September 16th, 2013. On October 12, 2013, I received a letter from New York Rising informing me of my award of $193,728.73. We were pretty excited, as this meant we wouldn’t need to move forward with the SBA loan, and could use grant money for the repairs. By this point we had settled on a contractor, one who had been highly recommended by friends and had no problem getting all necessary permits, inspections, and most importantly, doing everything to town code. We were told he was very good, but also expensive, and his quote was over $80,000. We informed SBA we wouldn’t be moving forward with the loan since the NY Rising grant would more than cover the repair cost.
Several months passed and we didn’t hear anything from NY Rising, until February 7, 2014, when I received an email from NY Rising informing me of my award in the amount of $16,633.30. This was confusing, so I called our NY Rising rep to ask if this was in addition to the $193,728. She informed me that the $193,728 was “a mistake” and I should ignore that letter. NY Rising estimated that my total project cost should be $36,362.91. I was shocked. That amount was lower than the lowest quote I had received. I asked repeatedly for further explanation but never got one, and eventually they stopped returning my phone calls. I ended up actually receiving $12,689 from NY Rising – 75% of the $16,633.30 they gave me in their “revised” award.
In the end, I secured the SBA loan and the repair began on March 15, 2015 – two and a half years after the storm. The work was completed that July. The final bill for the repair and replacing furniture and appliances inside was well over $100,000, which I’ll be paying off over the next 27 years. The lower level is nice, and it’s nice to have that half of the house back after having been crammed into the upstairs for two years. But most importantly, as part of the rebuild, we filled in the driveway. Prior to Sandy, the driveway sloped down from the street level to the garage, which was what made the flood so disastrous for us in the first place. With the driveway filled in, another similar flood shouldn’t affect us so badly.
That’s not the end of the story, however. On Feb 21, 2017, I received a letter from NY Rising informing me that because I had received an SBA loan in the amount of $117,543.20, and their estimated cost for the repair was $36,362.91, the entire amount they had given me was considered “duplication of benefits” and I had to repay the $12,689 I had received.
I called the latest NY Rising representative assigned to my case and asked about this and was told that I was free to appeal the decision. I sent in my appeal on March 30, 2017, explaining that the repair cost well over $100,000 and their original estimate of $36,000 was absurd. I also explained that filling in the driveway alone cost over $10,000, and it would have been foolish to do any repairs at all without filling in the driveway, as it would just leave us open to flooding again in the future.
I received a letter on April 19, 2017, informing me that my appeal was denied:
The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery’s (GOSR) NY Rising Reconciliation Evaluation Team met on April 18, 2017 to review the appeal received on March 30, 2017. After careful consideration, your appeal is denied.
When you applied to the Program for assistance, an Inspector came to the damaged property address to calculate the extent of the damage to the property from the storm. The total of this amount was the Total Project Cost and is reflected above as $36,030.74. Subsequently, your Total Project Cost increased to add an additional design allowance for work completed prior to inspection. Your Reconciled Total Project Cost is $36,362.91. The documentation submitted with your appeal was reviewed and it was determined that even if all of the repairs in your contractor’s estimate were Program‐eligible, the total DOB funds you received would still exceed your Total Project Cost. Your current Total Project Cost includes a 10% design allowance to cover expenses such as architect’s fees. Additionally, content, such as furniture and personal property, and driveway repairs are not eligible for Program funds.
Since receiving that letter I’ve contacted every elected official I can think of, from federal through county representatives, and received responses from Congresswoman Kathleen Rice’s office and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office. However, I have little expectation anything will change before NY Rising puts the account into collection, as they’ve threatened to do with each letter.
I hope that by writing and sharing my experience, others who have had similar issues with NY Rising changing their award amounts out from under them repeatedly, and ultimately demanding money back that was used to repair their homes, as it was originally intended, will similarly speak out and convince Governor Cuomo to stop this recapture program.
Evan Hoffman's Blog 
I hope more people come forward to help right the wrong that is happening to you guys. Good luck with everything.
I am having a similar problem with NY Rising. My husband and I wanted to know if there are any pro bono lawyers to help
Have you received any responses? My sister-in-law is in desperate need. After jumping thru hoops for so many years for NY Rising,she received a summons giving her 20 days to come up with $36,000.
No they stopped doing Sandy cases. I’m in so much trouble with this mess.There must be some help. !
Yes New York Rising is not only a scam but even worse, It is destroying lives and causing financial ruin and destroying the health of those who have already suffered. Our home and our lives and health were destroyed first ny Super Storm Sandy and then by New York State, Gov, Cuomo and New York Rising, They will have to face their maker and hell will not be hot enough for them
Arlene- does she understand why they are asking for money back? Does she agree with their calculations? Has she FOILED her file at NYR? If she disputes their calculations has she submitted a formal appeal with supporting documentation?
NY Rising is accusing her of “double-dipping,” she’s appealed it & was denied. She filled out a hardship application and they say they never received it, which they’ve said before about many other forms & paperwork. Luckily, she keeps copies of everything, but this summons has thrown her into a tailspin. She has 20 days to respond in Schoharie County. That’s all she knows. Respond how? With the money? Where? What date (besides “within 20 days”)? We’ve never had to deal with anything like this. She has absolutely no money besides her Social Security.
I too are a victim of NY Rising SCAM -or the Cuomo Scam to be precise. We were “awarded” about $90,000. Our lives and home completly destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. No amount of money could make up for that but that promised “award” seemed a little “blessing” after so much suffering. It did cost us $240,000. to repair our home not including many thousands more for appliances, water heater, furniture, clothing, landscaping.
We fought with State Farm, our village. After many attempts to scam by contractors we lucked out and found an excellent one. We did follow every instruction from NYR and received 1/2 of promised “award”. We were in deep debt. We were told the rest of the “award” was “in the mail” as soon as final inspection. Then things turned to a second disaster from NYR. They demanded a refund for no reason given. I appealed with full documents. Appealed denied- no reason, no interview. We are threatened by lawyers and forced to hire an
attorney. Found out that Governor Cuomo gave contracts in $$millions to friends and donors, one, the LIRO Group to give phony final inspections lowballing final cost. Let me say, they will rot in hell and mostly Andrew Cuomo, an evil person.
Good luck. Blessings to you all.
.
It is almost 2021, and we, fully flood and hazard insured senior homeowners are still not repaired and elevated, as granted in 2016 by NY Rising, which was one of 4 prior grants. In 2017, NY Rising was still “clarifying” our award. And they continued through 2017 to make changes to our ECR. The last management team who was in there should be put in jail. We actually have proof of their across the board 10% reduction to each line item on the ECR. Our bathroom ECR went from an unbelievable $2.70 cost, to a blaring criminal charge of $0.27 to repair the floor, subfloor, clean and repaint the walls in the bathroom. Unlike Patrick, we found LiRo to be professional and helpful. And like Patrick, our entire project from calling the flood insurance “agent” we knew for 40 years in the family, to today, was a mess of unprofessional, mouthy, abusive, mean and manipulative people working within the electronic version of our project – AND THEY WERE EITHER PRESENT OR EX STATE FARM EMPLOYEES. Our “agent” listed as such on our Flood Policy Declaration page over and over again for years was STATE FARM AGENT IN FARMINGDALE, NY. This is a man who refused to even come to the phone for 5 times we called him between 2012 and 2014. He would just have his “Karen” tell us they have nothing to do with our claim. Which is what left us to seek information on the process of repair with everyone else around us. some which was good, some was not good, but what were we to do? We also found two people at FEMA Region II in Maryland? who gave excellent advice and understood even the most intricate details we were experiencing through 2015 with NY Rising personnel, but, their hands were tied because of who was controlling the electronic version of our project at NY Rising, which we have come to believe was STATE FARM or ex STATE FARM adjusters. We believe this because we learned that the States of Mississippi and Louisiana REMOVED STATE FARM from the NFIP FEMA Program because of their criminal activities AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA. We spoke to many, many, in those States and found the exact same processes that were placed on homeowners, especially poorer, senior, and limited income homeowners after Katrina, were the same exact methods we had done to our project. Tying this with the fact that only those homeowners that were wealthy enough to hire lawyers to get their projects completed, were actually the only projects completed, points to the full dysfunctional and abusive actions that Gov. Cuomo and his NY Rising program placed on so many who could not afford legal representation. Thus, most then had to walk away from their damaged homes, some of which were paid off and almost paid off, and had to start again as seniors with a new mortgage somewhere else and/or buy a condo in Florida. This is economic white collar abuse of the poor. I can’t say how much longer we can hang in here and continue to be economically battered by the Feds, State of NY, Town and County, while trying to survive another winter in a substantially damaged little home that never received the correct amount of funding/grants and always left a percentage off just so no contractors would start the job, but I will say the insurance industry in the United States needs to be removed from everyone’s lives, especially STATE FARM. I think they even started lowballing auto repairs grossly, too. Some governors protect their people by removing the criminals. New York’s gov has failed to do so and may have even permitted the criminal activity to flourish here on Long Island by looking the other way, by not responding to written correspondence, by refusing telephone calls, by putting seniors and the disabled out of their homes – while taking their homes, rebuilding them for themselves and making money from doing so. We are sure of this because there has never been one list released to the public of which homes received what amounts for repair, and why, so homeowners themselves could have seen it and refuted false data. Not one list made public. All hidden. Anyone who wants to see, I will show you. Our ECR’s repair was lowballed so much via lack of footage, that when you put all the rooms together, our window next to our back door was actually opening in the bathroom? They purposely left off individual room space while stating all the correct house footprint feet wall to wall. And still, Gov. Cuomo, NY Rising, GOSR, and the Town and County have done nothing about this. Across the board percentages shorted for each ECR line item over and over again! And they did it so poorly that they didn’t care if it was identified. They felt they had their criminal backs covered. Bathroom repair went from an astonishing $2,70 to an even more astonishing .27 CENTS! And let’s not even attempt to get into our mandatory I/OWTS system that was not waived for us BEFORE our repair and elevation building permits were allowed to be given to us! $20,000 to $25,000 were estimates, some saying that grants covered the costs, but those were not true total costs for us – it was almost double that for us at $38,000 when you figure in all the applications costs, geotechnical costs, geo engineer plans, the closer you are to the Great South Bay or Bellport Bay, the larger the sewer contractor costs are. No grants covered those. And the two-day mess of your property will bring you to tears, as well as lost yard space and demolished walkways and driveways for all this extra heavy equipment. No, it’s not LiRo. IT’S THE INSURANCE COMPANIES AND THEIR LEGAL HEADS THAT ARE BATTERING HOMEOWNERS AND REDTAPING THEM TO DEATH and grabbing their homes they’ve worked for 25 – 30 years to pay off. And these people are at the Fed level, State level, County level and Town level, from NFIP to GOSR, to County Health Departments. FEMA gave the State of New York billions, where did it go? Let’s see the list. It didn’t go to the aged homeowners who cannot start over homeownership again. They’ll be dead before they can pay off a new mortgage. It’s a sin on the part of insurance companies and politicians and their legal representatives.
I was also apart of the recovery program and was awarded money. I was told that the first part I received was for money and repairs I already did and could use it for anything, the second half I had to get an engineer in to give a detailed report on what to do to stabilize my home, and it was in the amount of over $150000.00, of course that was denied by NY Rising, since my home wasn’t worth more then $75000.00. I was told in order to get the rest of the Grant money I had to make repairs and submit receipts. I fought with them for well over two years, and my husband died. I went bankrupt because I lost a major job and told them this. They left me alone for almost 2 years now and then I just got a letter saying I didn’t complete the program so in short I have to pay all the funds back. I can’t believe this and it is going to b extremely hard to get money back from me…my life didn’t get any easier…what does our governor think that they can harass and bully people…
Give them the receipts for what you did do. They have certain price amounts that they allow and will cover for each item.
I had to prove every dollar what I spent on foundations and so on. Just because it cost me so much didn’t mean they were going to credit me what I spent. They have their own cost per job and don’t care if you had to pay more. No one tells you these things when your going through the process. I fought and fought for years they wanted money back from me and I proved the value for the jobs done in detail . At the end I didn’t have to repay and it was like a war back and forth.
They Want $200000 back from me and my disabled son. And how’s being so sick I could stay in it we had to do a short sale. I’ve moved 28 times can’t tell you how many countless hotels and now they want all this money back I don’t even know what happened to it. I went to the receipt review it went down to a 112000 but now it’s backup to 200.000 I’m jobless 65
Klez007@aol.com
Unfortunately you’re going to have to go to a higher court. Drop the furniture and driveway part, don’t give them any single part they can counter or explain away, focus on what they said they would cover, those actual costs for the prices you paid and the letters they sent promising you a certain level of aide for those pieces.
I would sue on false information based on the original estimate they gave you and include any cost from having lost access to 1/2 your house for 2+ years as well as emotional stress from dealing with their bullshit as well as harassment. Unfortunately $12k isn’t worth that hassle but until someone takes a stand in that way they’re just not going to care. The fact is they have jerked you around for 3 years, giving you 2 letters of differing amounts from the amount they eventually awarded you and that you made plans based upon and after all of that demand it back. It’s beyond fraud, it’s negligence that has lead to extreme stress on your part.
My name is HENRY MENDELSOHN, we had a similar experience with NY Rising. We received an original estimate from them for $101,000.+
It took almost a 18 months of repeated inspections by NY Rising & tons of paper work before we saw our first check , which guess what , it was the exact same amount that you got and that’s not the only coincidence, the amount of your finale settlement of $36 Thousand dollars plus was the exact amount of mine from them as well. My wife and I contacted the very same people you had contacted as well. Over the next Year we had a few more people coming in to our home and they finally told us they were going to forgive the 16 Thousand plus Dollars. Almost 4years later , August 1, 2018 to be exact,they called us demanding the money back and then sending us a letter. We called numerous lawyers and law schools for help, like Touro College, who told us they were being swamped with calls from all over Long Island for the same reason that I called. / We were told to try to submit a hardship letter to NY Rising, who it turns out to be a consulting firm out of FAIRFAX VIRGINIA, UNDER the name of ICF INTERNATIONAL. I was told by an attorney that even if we had not borrowed money from the Small Businesses Administration, that NY Rising would have still asked for the money back, simply because the money was available to us by The S.B.A..
WE only borrowed a quarter of the $100,000+ from the S.B.A. .We figured we would repair the most important stuff first, and when we got the Grant from NY, we would pay back The S.B.A. & use the rest of the money to fix the House. We were forced to put a lot of money on our credit cards and we still have a lot more to do. Both my wife and I are retired and on a fixed income and I’m a Disabled Military Veteran.
I still don’t understand how is it Considered DOUBLE DIPPING IF I BORROW MONEY THAT I HAVE TO PAY BACK WITH INTEREST — COMPARED TO A GRANT .
My Insurance company The Hartford Insurance , Just gave us $1400 towards the repair of a broken Fence and shed. Their agent , a contractor from Texas who drove up here to examine our home, practically accused me of spraying my the inside of my house with water in order to bilk the Insurance company. He said that the only thing that was wrong with my roof were most of the water damage was from , occurred because we had hired a lousy roofer 5years earlier. He came to that conclusion because when he went up on the roof , he said, all the nails were sticking up ! My Insurance agent, based on his contractor’s results threatened to have our Insurance dropped if we pursued the claim. When FEMA came over and looked at the roof, the FEMA AGENT said that the Insurance Contractor had to be purposefully lying or he was an Imbecil. He said, ” What, he never heard of wind lifting the shingles ? That’s the reason the nails were sticking up, the Schmuk. !”
Henry- it’s not a duplication anymore. The new law isn’t retroactive to Sandy, however. NYR opted to only use the portion you borrowed as DOB, so your attorney is incorrect. It’s is NOT the entire $amount for which you qualified.
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_2a3e6134-c8f4-11e8-ad94-9bd7de23a7ba.html
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_2a3e6134-c8f4-11e8-ad94-9bd7de23a7ba.html
Henry – new law passed last year. SBA is no longer DOB, but law is not retroactive to Sandy.
Nyr only applies the amount you borrowed as DOB, not the entire amount for which you qualified.
I’m going through the same thing in Long Beach My house burned down and my insurance was not enough to pay for all the new regulations they wanted applied to NY rising (worked with an approved contractor) received a grant and of course submitted documents showing cost of house and by the way my house was paid off and I never received the full loss of use from my insurance company …very expensive to live while your house is being built anyway make it to the point they are asking for the full amount back and with all the threatening letters and all those legal programs to help Sandy people no good waste of time …Shumer’s office and Gillibrand forgot about us …like others we always paid our insurance and property taxes on time and I’m a registered nurse in my 60’s that still has to work my husband on social security disability …it seems so many special interest groups are getting help financially …nobody is doing anything for this group of tax payers that are just being punished even more …
I received my NY Rising “Final Award” amount to elevate my house nearly two years ago. I finished the project in September 2016. However, because the Town of Hempstead was slow to issue the COO I did not get the final payments from NY Rising.
Last month, out of nowhere, I get a letter saying they reduced my award by $20K (so instead of owing me $12K, I owed $7K). The reason give was my contractor filed for some cost overruns and that entitled NY Rising to reevaluate my award under their current standards. My position is that the “Final Award” should not change based on changes to policies after it is determined.
I have appealed this decision and I’m awaiting a reply. However, my contractor is owed by me on the full amount of the award no matter whether its reduced under my contract. Crazy!!
I’ve written to Gov. Cuomo and Todd Kaminsky. Kaminsky was responsive but he people say a lot of people are in the same boat.
We have lost our battle to pay back the $66,000 we were given by NY Rising. Our story is very different—but i have rock solid proof that the money is not a dupliction of benefits, however, after 2 years of fighting, the breakup of my marriage and being forced to sell the house we have run our of options and money to fight them. It is an aboslute horror show and Gov Cuomo could care less. 😦
DISABLED due to Storm & NOW THIS!!! I am JUST about to start my “FIGHT” as I didn’t realize everything would escalate so quickly to now Attorney letters and threats. My life is STILL deemed a disaster because every day is a reminder of Hurricane Sandy because I FELL THROUGH my rotted floor, into the 3 ft crawl space, severely damaging my hip, back and YES, my head. I live in pain 24/7, walk with assistance from multiple devices and have suffered seizures due to my head. I am now on Disability, ane Sandy because I FELL THROUGH my rotted floor, into the 3 ft crawl space, severely damaging my hip, back and YES, my head. I live in pain 24/7, walk with assistance from multiple devices and have suffered seizures due to my head. I am now on Disability, after once being a quite successful businesswoman( & single Mom for 25 years of 4 children, with no support!!) in Financial Sales. My mostly ranch-style home (I have 2 small bedrooms upstairs, with doggie-dormer windows & slanted ceilings, where the original cape-style “Summer” home, built in 1944 in Suffolk County-South Shore, & is also where 6 people lived for a year following the storm while repairs were done downstairs, including myself, my live-in boyfriend, my incredible now 11yo nephew I have had custody of since his birth, and then my now 32-year-old son, who moved back home from California, with his family,-his GF & her daughter he is helping to raise-, to help his Mother, out of pure love) also had 3-4 Ft of water with Homeowners Ins & Flood Ins. My issue lies with the foundation, the entire under-belly & supports for the house. Neither Ins covered it. This was found out after multiple people & then an engineer from the Ins Co. came out, and I too after giving ALL amounts of monies upfront, that I was receiving, to NY Rising, was given a $ amount and then check for $51K for the “Repairs”/ items (the foundation and other various repairs-ALL DOCUMENTED) NOT listed on the Ins Companies line-by-line accounting. My sister is on my Mortgage due to when the Recession hit, and I had to refinance because I had then taken a Massive hit to my Salary. Let me also mention that I also moved my father into my wrecked home with no sheetrock on the walls & plywood floors, to become his caregiver, within the 1st year after the storm, right before I succumbed to my injury after he was given 3 WEEKS to LIVE due to Cancer. God, the amazing Dr, all of us in the house, & his incredible WILL to LIVE helped him to live and give us another 3 years with him. As you can see I have & am STILL living through all this, now diagnosed with PTSD, and this CRAP is TRULY ruining my Life!! I am going to have to pull all the strength I have now to FIGHT these BASTARDS that have been threatening me with “Re-Capture” of ALL the MONIES. I am a very intelligent woman and I KNOW I know HOW to DO this, but I NEED HELP. If any of you are going through this as I know a lot of you are, then E-Mail me at “Geminifni@gmail.com” and we will FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT together because this is pure insanity…and also what is going to happen to those affected by “Harvey” & “Irma” if we can get the word out now, as it is happening to us & once “Katrina” victims. I want to hear from ALL the way up to President Trump, Ben Carson & others to find out if they know what is going on. I can DO that….. Thank you for your attention to this….With LOVE, Gina in Babylon – GEMINIFNI@GMAIL.COM
Hi Evan,
Can you give us a status update of your appeal?
I’d recommend you request to broaden your scope of work to include items that may not have otherwise been initially included in your Repair ECR. This can offset the amount which NYR is attempting to recapture.
Good luck,
Beth
My appeal was denied and I was told if I didn’t repay the money within 90 days they would start collection proceedings.
We are also going through the same claw back problem with ny rising. Rices office was totally useless and waiting to hear back from schumers office. Has anyone reached out to an attorney to see if there is a class action suit to be brought? How can there not be a statute of limitation on what they can do five years later? They are incredibly incompetent, amoral and useless. They caused and created the issues and now we suffer
We are also going through the same claw back problem with ny rising. Rices office was totally useless and waiting to hear back from schemers office. Has anyone reached out to an attorney to see if there is a class action suit to be brought? How can there not be a statute of limitation on what they can do five years later? They are incredibly incompetent, amoral and useless. They caused and created the issues and now we suffer
One of the problems with an appeal is that there doesn’t seem to be any checks and balances in play. They do not appear to have an outside independent group handling the appeal process, it’s all internal ny rising people which means it’s in their best interests to deny any appeal. Total conflict of interest
Thank you all for sharing!
Your personal disaster stories are validating and very similar to ours.
The system seems to be set up to collect funds regardless of the circumstances.
NYRISING is a government sponsored scam preying on survivors of Super Storm Sandy.
They have us all over a barrel because when we were extremely vulnerable we submitted copies of many personal documents, financials, SS#, bank accounts, insurance documents etc.
They have the means to intimidate individuals to pay back monies that were used to restore damaged homes and properties. This is an abusive tactic on their part, adding insult to injury.
We have a better chance to appeal if we stand together to face these bullies.
I’ve been considering a class action lawsuit. Any suggestions? I would be open to pursue that path before considering how to pay back money already spent.
My heart goes out to all of you. We had 5ft of water on the 1st floor and no power till Thanksgiving. It was brutal and now they want money back, what vultures!
I am ready for class action lawsuit …don’t know where to begin….
Wow, I had no idea there were others in the same hopeless/ridiculous situation as me and my 86 year-old mother, who owns the property where the damage occurred. I think a class action lawsuit is the best idea I have heard. How can we band together to get this going?? I am definitely interested/
I would like to know of a lawyer to help me. NYR said In have a DOB. They gave me a check for $27,000 and now they want $14,000 back. I had given the money to my contractor…….and I also had taken out an SBA loan. I needed a total rebuild. I received this letter last week from NYR, and I sent in an appeal. Any suggestions. I don’t have $14,000 to send back as it was used to finish my house.
I have similar situation Richard, please let me know if you follow through with a class action lawsuit. TY
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Hi, I am willing to be part of a class action suit. These people are bullies!
Class action lawsuit for NY Rising – I’m in.
Did anyone here ever start a class action lawsuit?
Has anyone started a class action suit. How do I find out about it
Start here:
This is the IG report identifying NY Rising failures, issuing awards without properly verifying benefits.
https://www.hudoig.gov/reports-publications/audit-reports/program-control-weaknesses-lessened-assurance-new-york-rising
This report too:
https://www.hudoig.gov/reports-publications/audit-reports/new-york-state-did-not-always-disburse-community-development
Me too, I am all for a class action lawsuit. Unfortunately, I was scarred and agreed to start making payments. I have more money going out then coming in because of these payments to NY Rising. Any suggestions?
does anyone know of a lawyer on long island that can help fight ny rising.I too must pay back $70,000 to them i spent….need help
Yes – I am using Attorney John Ryan in Floral Park New York Give him a call. He is excellent. Good Luck Blessings
Hi Patrick, wondering how things turned out with John Ryan. I was going to call him tomorrow. TX
Did you resolve your case?
Me too I am all for a class action suet.
Hi Evan, did you end up paying back NYR? I just received a similar letter and am having a problem paying back money that was used to rebuild my house
Yes, I finished paying it back late last year. I gave up trying to fight it after involving every elected official I could think of and none of them could/would do anything about it.
Hier Evan. Samedi happened heure last August. Went though whole routine. Théo finally reduced Théo 35000 tour 18000 offre which 14000 is SBAloan. Theyre thieving bastards. S’ils sont inox chat action tour tale other than an attorney
Evan
I also was flooded similar to you and had no flood insurance and received a NYRising grant.
Part of issue is a SBA loan is always DOB and you should have not applied.
FEMA most likely gave a low payout as any part of house considered a basement which is even one inch below ground level a lowpayour.
The driveway thing has nothing to do with Sandy
Also NYR paid out folks for most part at what they estimated repair costs to be based on white appliances, Formica countertops, vinyl floors etc anything extra not covered.
You are not in a flood zone so no permits etc would have been asked for so Best route would be do work yourself or hire cheap handiman and have all work done prior to first inspection.
But flood insurance and be thankful you are not in a flood zone
After reading through the numerous post-Sandy horror stories posted here and living with this ‘noose’ around my neck for nearly 6 years now, I have come to the conclusion that if you don’t live in certain privilege zip codes (i.e., Long Beach, the Hamptons) NY Rising doesn’t give a flying monkey whether or not you ever get back into your home. I thought my battle was unique, but after reading some of the stories posted here, I know it is not. I think all the people who posted on here should find a way to meet up and start a class action lawsuit against NY Rising. They have our hands tied, and I don’t see any forward movement forthcoming anytime soon.
I have a lawyer friend who said your pricing was completely mismanaged and the money was given to an inappropriate agency to distribute to the public now it’s a secret who is actually administering the entire project. I would gladly join a group if we could find a lawyer that would be willing to take the case. However I contacted The Nassau county bar association. They gave me two lawyers I left messages for them two weeks ago and I’ve had no reply. They didn’t seem to think that there was any Nassau County lawyers that they knew of the willing to take on this case. It is extremely convoluted. Please contact me if you have any other information. If I get any information I will post it.
I am on my third lawyer in this matter, and we have gotten nowhere with NY Rising. They seem to have their own laws, which are definitely not in our favor. I had 3 hardship – 3 – applications turned down. I don’t know what their definition of a hardship is, yet I see in Newsday people in certain areas getting hardships approved for a mere foundation – when I can’t get a whole house completed!! I have contacted numerous attorneys from Suffolk County to Manhattan, and no one wants to go near this thing.
I am the latest NYRising victim…..
I think we have to all keep bombarding the Governor directly with e-mails, letters and calls. Don’t know where else to go.
I think we should really come together and start a class action suit against them.
I started googling for an attorney that does Class Action on Long Island … a lot of numbers came up…If anyone has the time in the next few days to make some calls and get some feed back from the lawyers.
Just google class action attorneys Long Island
I will follow up when I get home from work
Similar situation – 96 year old mothers house – ny rising 163k estimate, no flood insurance, FEMA paid 16k should have been 31k, insurance paid 10k, 12 case managers, 8 inspections, 7 ECR updates, ny rising considered FEMA and insurance as DOB but none items were included in ECR – we had 5 feet of water in basement but AA said HVAC ok,
finally paid for part of furnace and boiler,
– denied hardship, NYR had list 69-100k additional scope, pre-award work, corrections, change orders items found during Samdy construction
– cp2gl architect left replacement submitted 6100 only for elevation and mitigation design, elevation assuming 5.5 feet elevation ignored additional scope inspectors confirmed
• ny rising were assisting scope based bills & edtimates – last minute required 6100
• only been able to live in house a few months/year – insurance hasn’t paid “loss if use”
Jeez. Lord have mercy. NY Rising is the new gov-run Suffolk County Child Support Collection Bureau. Anyone remember that nightmare, too? It was run by elderly first wives who knew nothing about accounting on computers and they made huge mistakes. NY Rising is no different. Their “program procedures and software’ was created by a Nassau County financial card shark, and even if you were fully flood insured like me, you were screwed right at the start without knowing it. The personnel hired to “work it” know nothing about insurance, engineering, land surveys, reading schematics, (and don’t even get me started on the 6100 form bs), county building rules & regs to rebuilding, etc. All foreign to these NY Rising employees. They were taken from NYS unemployment list and set out to help victims with a preset system that was just not going to help anyone but Gov Cuomo – because he was able to choose his real awarded projects wisely, those that were county or state projects in the millions that made him alot of friends. The common public with limited income he does not consider a friend. The proof is in the fact that each time a NY Rising employee saw where a small NY Rising project was shorted and began to correct issues, he/she was taken out of the Program and a new team was placed in it. Everyone around me who fell for the promise of award ended up paying at least ten thousand out of pocket to get back into their homes after repair & elevation – many paid more out of pocket for what was supposed to be gov aid. Most used their retirement funds to save their only lifelong investment. And its getting worse. Has anyone heard about the “enviro” detail of putting in new nitrogen fighting cesspool systems on top of your repair & elevation final walk-through? The cost is about $20,000 each home. Guessing no C/O will be issued without them. But hey, listen, NY Rising may give you $10,000 toward it! HA ha ha ha hahaha! What a deal when you’ve already lost all of your life-savings and investments over the last 5 years. I don’t know how to fix this, but I do know this is how revolutions start. People get tired of being sh*t on and they begin to lose their self-control & good manners when their backs are against the wall. Me, personally, I believe in karma. They’ll all get theirs. And if not them, then their loved ones. And like we’ve suffered, no one will be able to help them.
We are in the same boat as all of you. NY Rising gave us an award, they paid right along through each phase and inspection. They explained that. we would need to secure a loan to lay out the last 83,000 but that after final inspection we would receive a check for that amount in 6 weeks. Mind you, we have printouts of it in writing.
That was 1 1/2 years ago and since then we have been told:
1. that errors were made and they are not responsible
2. We must have misunderstood
3. No one told you that, prove it, when shown all their own documents they went back to, it was a mistake we are not responsible.
4. Those case workers don’t work here anymore and you could start again. Mind you, we are completed reconstruction and living home over a year. Sure, we should just knock it down and start again, yeah sure just for you and you will be canned just like the last 6 case workers.
5. There was no final inspection. When presented with the message he left me afterward as well as his name and an email he sent, I was then told he no longer works there and they couldn’t find the papers! I should redo the inspection or refund everything.
I could go on, but I am sure everyone got BS stories when calling there. I contacted a Peter King. They could not help us. They put us into debt.
If there is a class action lawsuit you will have several families here in Babylon Village. They did similar to other neighbors right on our block. It’s horrible.
We really need to band together and start a class action against NY Rising. Several people on this blog have indicated that they would be interested. How can we accomplish this? Any thoughts?
Has anyone had any success at all? Any ideas on who we can contact? Does anyone have Governor Cuomo’s email address? I’ve called his office 1 million times and either nobody answers the phone or nobody gets back to me. I just received my final review after appeal and they were telling me I owe them $32,254.54.
Wish I could help. I ended up just repaying it to get them off my back. The whole experience was terrible. Cuomo sucks.
I was told by New York rising four years ago that when Coumo was up for reelection he just gave out all of the money to get votes. You would think now that he is again up for reelection he would be rethinking his mistake and helping us out! I wonder how Cynthia Nixon feels about this!
Same boat…got to find the time to pull together figure out how to file a class action lawsuit
Sad to hear so many similar stories.
Did anyone at least get to negotiate down what they owe back?
HVe been fighting myself….
In the same boat as everyone else. After me for 54,000. What an outrageous scam!
I literally just gave up after fighting them for years! Tried every congressman/woman, 7 on your side, attorneys! Nothing!!! Literally just signed the paperwork today… I’m on the 10 year repayment plan!!!!! Totally sucks!!!!!
The entire thing is a scam as far as I’m concerned. Where is this money actually going if not to the people who needed it?
I recently received a lawsuit from an attorney on behalf of NY Rising to recover the over $50k they “granted” me. I am currently looking for an attorney to fight it and will gladly join any suit or take any advice.
I used to like Cuomo but seeing this kind of thing, and living through it myself, has made me hate him.
Matt- Can you tell me the particulars as to how their demands are worded? Thanks
NY Rising has failed to understand that the money paid to me by insurance for things that NY Rising did not cover should not count as duplication of benefits. Let’s say NY Rising only paid me for A, and the insurance paid me for A,B, and C. I owe them back the amount the insurance paid me for A, which is the only thing covered by NY Rising. They say payment from insurance for B and C are also duplication of benefits and just cant seem to understand that it should not work that way. My file has been transferred from one case worker to another, different departments, they’ve screwed up “clarification” of what insurance paid me by telling me it was double what I actually got. I’ve sent documentation over and over and every time I follow up the case has been handed to someone else. Now it’s with the reconciliation department, and I spoke to the case worker five days ago. She was going to email me documents that they got showing what my insurance had paid me for. So great, because together we’d be able to see that if insurance paid for my deck and NY Rising didn’t then that insurance money isn’t a DOB because NY Rising had nothing to do with my deck. The email never came. I called two days later… she said she had to talk to her supervisor and that she’d email me after that. I called another two days later and was told she doesn’t work there anymore and now I have a new case worker who does NOT YET HAVE A TELEPHONE SET UP BUT WILL CALL ME WHEN SHE DOES. I am fed up. They were supposed to be a program that helps people who were having trouble related to Sandy. Now they say I owe them $35000 and they don’t want to share my file with me (which I should have a right to see, this is not a criminal matter, or corporate litigation, even a patient has the right to see their chart from a hospital). They don’t listen to reason, and dont treat me with dignity and respect. It’s disgusting.
Like others here I consider a lawyer but don’t want to get rejected anymore. I’ll try writing to public officials, but as other people have said, they’re not much help. So I’ll have to go into debt to pay back money they don’t have a right to take back, simply because they don’t want to listen to reason and admit they’re miscalculating things and asking for money I don’t owe them.
So, just so you know, I was told that they go to the city and take these people out of unemployment and force them to work there. Clearly they would rather stay home and collect unemployment so once They start working there they screw up and then they probably get fired or they quit or never come back and go back to collecting unemployment! These are the people that are in charge of our lives! And in charge of assisting in ruining our lives!
I have retained 3 different attorneys to assist me with all the NY Rising nonsense, and not one has been able to do anything. They have their own ‘laws’, apparently. All of us who have blogged here about similar experiences should get together and start a class action suite against them. But nobody seems to want to proceed with such an action.
Hi Nd,
File a foil request for the documents you are looking for. If you want some information on doing so, contact me @ robertsplacela@ Gmail.com
Hi Robert, Can you send me info on how to do that please. Email address is infoevolvenwm@gmail.com. Thank you.
Five years later I am being told to return $15,000 because of “duplication of benefits”, as well. FEMA’s estimation for repairs was $100,000. Allstate gave us $20,000. We received an SBA loan, which was repaid when the house was sold. NYRising gaves us $60,000+. So, in my eyes we were still SHORT $15,000. Can we think about a class action lawsuit to stop this?
I have contacted News12. we need to start contacting various media Outlets. Nobody likes their name in the news, especially not a politician!
I will call news 12 also … how did you reach them phone or email…
Don’t bother. I was interviewed by News 12 4 years ago, and the reporter gave me all her contact info. and asked me to let her know of any progress, etc. with my case. There hasn’t been any progress for over 2 years. When I reached out to her, she ignored my email. Screw News 12. They are only interested in reporting on Long Beach or any upscale communities on the North Shore. Elitists.
I tried News 12, Newsday, and every lawmaker from Steve Rhoads to Kathleen Rice to Steve King (even though he’s a different district) to Schumer and Gillibrand and Cuomo. Rice and Gillibrand at least replied but ZERO of the local reps even bothered that and nobody was any use. In my case it was cheaper to pay back the money than it would have been to fight them. They never bothered explaining how I went from a $193k award to a $36k award (“just ignore that” they told me!) and then ultimately zero?
Someone should ask Cuomo about this at one of the gubernatorial debates coming up.
Don’t think Long Beach is getting special treatment, I’m on the hook for $47,000 and I live in Long Beach. They reduced my grant by $110,000. Stop talking about a class action suit and let’s do it already!!! If we can’t find a Lawyer on Long Island, let’s go out of state for a nasty SHARK who’ll fight for us. No question that NYRising is incompetent, unscuptulous and downright ridiculous. How could anyone (other than NYRising), not agree that we are suffering this stress due to the incompetence and stupidity. LET’S FILE A CLASS ACTION SUITS AGAINST BASTARDS!!!
Hey Evan, Maybe I’m nuts but I’m going to pursue finding a lawyer to start this suit, in state or out. I’m sure there’s someone competent to bring down this idiots. I’ll let you know how I make out. I sure a lawyer with this number of clients in need of help will present a nice payday even for them. Let me know if you make any progress with NYRising or any relevant info you come across. There are enough of us to try and cause an avalanche of discontent to attract more attention to this ripoff. Barry Popkin
>
I sent a letter to Como with no response. Today I mailed 3 letters to 3 different addresses to his executor director of storm recovery Lisa Bova -Hiatt.. I don’t think I will get a response but wanted to try one more time …if you find an attorney willing to help I am ready … the few I spoke to don’t know enough about NYR to get involved or care to.
Seems you were hoping to luck out with that 193,000 dollar amount which is ABSURD as you know. The damage your pictures show including the cost for basic appliances are under 50K. TOO MANY people got over from the storm and I am glad my tax money did not line your pockets from your ABSURD claims.
I had twice as much damage as you show that only cost 75K to more than repair, I was smart enough to have insurance living on the water in Lindenhurst NY – SO DON’T BS ME!
Mark you are incorrect .Our home was destroyed in Super Storm Sandy. Our lives and health and a lose of several years while we lived in the basement as our home was “repaired.” We were inspected and inspected and inspected and followed every direction from Case Workers( unemployed people who were hired and let go at a whim), I doubt if anyone who received an Award Grant from NYR were over paid-almost impossible. We lost thousands and more in intangibles that were not covered, We were scammed by the insurance company and then New York Rising, The Grants were only awarded after a thorough and complete inspection. It was NYR who renged, I sincerely believe that less than 1% got away with anything they did not deserve, That was impossible.
For those of you that have commented here does this “clawback” apply to a home that you lifted through NY rising, or just repaired (without lifting) through NY rising? I’m currently getting my home raised and these stories are scaring the heck out of me because if they are going to start asking or money back that that approved and that I’ve already paid to contractors I have no idea how I will pay them back. Thanks in advance for any responses.
NY rising is considering the SBA loans some of us took to lift as a Duplication of Benefit so they want any grant funds that were given towards the lift back. Those of us now have a mortgage, a SBA loan and now a repayment with NY Rising.
That is how the NYR program took care of those destroyed …We are now buried in debt.
Also, is anybody else on this board going to be affected by the end of the Interim Mortgage Assistance (IMA) Program? Unless it gets extended again, this program is supposed to be ending on 12/31/18. In my own case my family of six have been in an apartment since this past April while our house is raised and although the contractor is doing his best I really don’t think we’re going to be getting back home by the IMA deadline. This means in January I will need to figure out how to start paying both a $3000 mortgage and a $3000 rent! More importantly what about the thousands of people who are enrolled in NY Rising but, due to delays that are no fault of their own, have not even started the lifting process yet? If the IMA program s not extended the vast majority of these people will not be lifting their homes because they would need to pay their mortgage and rent too. This means that these houses will still be at risk during any future storm, the flood insurance on these homes will be astronomical, and the property values on all these houses will go down. I’ve tried to reach Gov Cuomo, Peter King and Nassau Executive Laura curran on this issue but nobody is replying to my calls/emails. Perhaps if we could get a few dozen people in the same boat together they might have to listen. Any thoughts on his?
My sister-in-law is still having major problems with NY Rising 7 years after losing her home to Hurricane Irene. Please, please, if EVER anyone can get a group together, we need to know about it. No one can fight this alone. There is power in numbers.
Saleena, and others;
Lisa Bova-Hyatt has been gone for a year. Thebia Hiwot is the new ED of GOSR.
I volunteer in storm recovery and have helped many dissect and re-evaluate their award calculation tables, DOB, etc. to reduce recapture. It is possible to broaden your scope of work (AA) by cross referencing your Flood ins POL with this AA to include line items that were missed at initial NYR inspection.
I serve on a Suffolk Sandy Task Force organized by Leg. Duwayne Gregory, where we are currently evaluating recovery looking to identify best/worst practices and make recommendations.
Zachary Tierney, NYR Gov. Liaison is in my subgroup on the task force, and may be able to have Constituent Services look deeper into your cases.
I am a part of quite a few support/advocacy groups, COADs, and VOADs across LI with members that have dealt with similar experiences.
I, myself flooded in both Irene and Sandy. I jumped through all NYR’s hoops in both the repair/elevate and bulkhead programs.
I know attorneys who have represented in NYR recapture cases, but I will tell you few if any will take on a governmental program with everchanging rules and guideline.
I’m working now with a few Senators on state legislative proposals for contractor fraud.
As far as NYR, I have a good handle on all aspects, with contacts (although few remain). Please feel free to reach out if you think there’s any way I may be able to help or offer insight.
Regards,
Beth Walters
Email stew22@optonline.net
sent you a message with my contact info
We are the lastest victoms of the NY rising nightmare. We used to the money to fix our Sandy damaged home and had a final inspection a year ago to make sure work was completed and to close out our file and got a letter today that we will need to repay the money. It’s ridiculous. The inspectors clearly indicated that the work was done and all the money was accounted for. We need to fight this! A class action lawsuit is needed! We can’t let them take advantage of us anymore! These people have jobs because we were all devastated by Hurricane!
Question for those of you that have had your final inspection, had the case closed out and then were later told by NY Rising that you owe them money back. How can they come back and change the rules after the case is closed out? When you close out aren’t you given some kind of documentation that they accept that you have met the obligation of fixing your home and that they agree with the amount they reimbursed you? This is like if you went and bought a car and then two years later the salesman calls you back and says that he made a mistake and was supposed to charge you twice as much as you paid so you now owe him another $20,000. There have to be rules written down somewhere on how the program works and if the rules change it should not apply retroactively to closed cases, am I right?
Absolutely 100% correct! We received a NY rising Recapture bill for $93,000 for the repairs due to damage from Hurricane Sandy. The reason we got that award was because our mortgage was paid off, therefore, we weren’t required to have flood insurance. After our home was fully repaired with our own life savings, which Governor Cuomo said: ‘get into your homes as fast as you can and try to find a contractor that will work with you (msg relayed on radio and tv). After the repairs were inspected by FEMA/HUD, the Town of Hempstead made a rule that because we were deemed ‘significantly damaged’ that we had to raise the house. After living in the house for over 6 yrs w/out raising the house they now want their money back. Originally, the money was allotted for the repair of the house with no mention of raising it. The rules changed late in the game by The Town of Hempstead; a veritable bait and switch. It is up to Governor Cuomo to nullify these Recapture bills because these rules were made up as the years went by.
Jerry Salerno-
At what point were you notified by TofH you were SD? If you were one of the homeowners whose file was color coded and you were only recently notified, you can possibly fight this determination with supporting documentation.
Thank you for your rapt response. My name is Tom, Jerry’s son, I wanted to reach out on behalf of my father in search of a supportive network of people with similar experiences. Never heard the term ‘color coded’. Sounds like you have informative,material knowledge to share with him. I reached out online because my father is old school (not technically looped into social media). He is most comfortable with talking over the phone via landline phone. He is solidly informed but could use a little support by people in the know. He is a fighter and has documentation to prove he has lived honestly and legitimately. if you would call him directly to share your knowledge, support and direction, both he and I would greatly appreciate it. Home phone# 516-781-7377 please ask for Jerry. I have the deepest gratitude for your response and support. Thank you much!
Tom- stew22@optonline.net
631-258-4678
Regards,
Beth
Tom- I just spoke with your dad. I have a few ideas that I’d like to run by you both. As of right now he is in violation of the terms of his NYR grant agreement, but if you are successful in challenging TofH SD determination, he wouldn’t be.
Please shoot me an email or phone call, as I’d like to send some information on to you both to review.
Regards
-Beth
Stew22@optonline.net
631-258-4678
Hi I have a similar situation. Appeal denied over a year ago, I refuse to pay back the money because they committed fraud.
I was FEMA non-compliance.
I handed my case worker a letter from FEMA and explained this and they put it in my file. They insured me the purpose of the program was to give grants to people who had no where else to turn.
I too reiciebed a first payment check for 39,000 ( I have 120,000) in damage and was suppose to recieve subsequence checks. Three years later I got a letter I was FEMA non-comiance! Duh! They bear no responsibility for the fact that they didn’t known their own rules and screwed up.
everyday I just wait for a judgement or lawsuit papers. My lawyer told me to do nothing and don’t pay. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Has anyone been sued or had a lien against their house?
Kim- I know at least a dozen applicants who are now being sued by NYRising Reconciliation Unit for $recapture.
Are you saying you didn’t realize you were Substantially Damaged and required to lift? Are you in the Town of Hempstead by chance? When were you notified by your municipality you were mandated to lift?
NBC’s Pei-Sze Chang is doing a series on this topic if you’d like I can put you in touch with her.
You can email me @ stew22@optonline.net.
Thanks,
Beth
Hi Kim,
Could you please give me the name of the lawyer you’re using? I can’t find any who are handling these cases.
I am interested as well.
Our appeal was denied as well. We refuse to pay back or settle ! Just sitting on egg shells waiting to see what happens next.
Would gladly join in on a class action suit, but there isn’t one that I’m aware of.
We would welcome the name of an attorney that has navigated this system successfully.
US TOO!!! We are dealing with a similar situation, with out having the time to go in to this, we were honest about how much money we had already received, we were given money and told to put it in to our house right away and then we got a letter saying we owed 10k back and then 30k back. How does one that has lived through a natural disaster come up with these funds?
I just received a letter from my rising of duplicate payments after reconciliation on my file.They said I need to pay back 34,000.I filled out all the paperwork told them what I received from flood and everything else they cut me the check which I spent on repairing house!Now they wanna come back five years later and expect me to come up with that kind of money.Not to mention all the bull shit I had to deal with people who knew nothing about the job they work at!If your not goons help why torture people who are going thru pain already.Go after your qualified contractors you paid three times the amount it cost to do the work!Wondering if there is anything I can do to fight this?
Nothing like being kicked when your down.. how can NY rising make all these errors and mistakenly hand out money to people who have been devastated by sandy and then expect us to pay for their huge mistakes. Why are we paying for the failure of NY risings staff did NOT verify and follow protocols before giving people false hope? They give checks before verifying all info submitted to them. Now I’m expected to repay money that has been spent to fix my home. I might have to sell my home now to pay for their error! Thanks for the pain and suffering!!! NY Rising is poorly managed!
I was told directly from a New York rising employee that Cuomo was up for reelection and he just told them to hand money out to everybody and that they would worry about the repercussions afterwards. Then they come and try to recoup all this money and you call Cuomo‘s office 10,000 times and you never once get a phone call back. This is all his fault.
Head up to all. Some good news maybe? Kirsten Gillibrand has introduced a bill that could help out those affected by the “duplication of benefits” issue. CHeck it out https://patch.com/new-york/longbeach/gillibrand-proposes-bill-help-sandy-survivors-finances
Yes this is a big win. We worked with Gillibrand’s office for a year to have SBA not identified as DOB. This is the first step in a long process that will hopefully lead to full forgiveness.
This announcement applies to those in Recapture only. If you received an Sba loan, disqualifying you for NYR, please email me your story. We are working towards forgiveness on those. It will be an uphill battle, but still possible.
Stew22@optonline.net
Hi Stew, my SBA loan being considered DOB was what led me to write this blog post initially. I have already repaid the money because I didn’t have the time to spend fighting it. Not sure if I have any recourse at this point.
Yes this is a huge step, but more needs to be done.
My group worked with Gillibrands office for over a year working to have SBA not identified as DOB.
This announcement applies only to those in Recapture. As of right now, there are about 300 applicants that fit into this category. Continued work is necessary to fight for full forgiveness.
If you were denied grant money because you applied for an received an SBA Loan, please email me your story so we can get you on board.
Stew22@optonline.net
Sorry for the accidental double post. I spoke with GOSR on this yesterday and they have no mechanism in place if this would lead to full loan forgiveness, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Gillibrand is working with LA Congressman Graves to explore options. We submitted hundreds of Sba stories to prompt this initial action, and are hopeful more can be done for those who have already closed out with Nyr. Funny how they won’t go back into your file if you are due money, but they have no issues going back in to strip you if the same. I will post another contact shortly who is leading the fight. In the mean time, send me your name short version of story and contact # and I will forward.
Refer to our recommendations for SBA as dob on pages 47-48
https://www.scnylegislature.us/DocumentCenter/View/67979/10302019-Superstorm-Sandy-Review-Task-Force-Report-October-2019
How is this possible that the media is not the least bit interested in these many cases where people were given money to fix disaster ravaged homes, fixed them as promised, and now have the gov’t demanding the money back? You people that have had this happen need to organize into a large group and demand some coverage of this because individually you’ll get eaten alive.
After my house was more than 50% damaged and my home basically had to be reconstructed, I was awarded a grant for $268,000 in December of 2014. I hired a contractor by January and started work. One year later they reclarified my grant for the same amount. Then by 2015, NY Rising never sent the rest of the grant money and then reverted my grant down to $145,000. I am still owed over $80,000. I welcome a lawyer or class action suit.
The person who signed off on my award letter is:
Seth Diamond
Director, Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery
Just curious if signed off on everyone’s award letter. I won’t say how I feel about this reckless individual…….
I would 100% participate in class action lawsuit
I would as well, been dealing with this for years, criminal they are
I would like to participate in a class action suit!!!
I am also very interested in participating in a class action suit against NY Rising.
Hi, Just recieved an email that NYR wants 80k by 3/1/22 for DOB, we still have no c/o house is not finished, I Have a 300k SBA loan for 30 years because the house from Sandy was condemned & a tear down due to the foundation was in the bay & house was leaning & dangerous. Town of Islip & FEMA laws required 100 pilings and raised to new guidelines for flood. ( I am raised 12ft) T.O.I. said I can not have a foundation on the bay. My contractor stole my 200k deposit along with others and was in debt & having family problems so he shot his 2 kids & himself. Google Michael Hunn from Indiana & His office was in the Hamptons. My husband is disabled & on SSDI, I have no idea what to do with these crooks 10 years later. Please help. Thank you, and yes I would love to be in a class action suit.
Lisa- there was a demonstrable hardship program for contractor fraud w/in NY Rising whereby they supplemented your award for the $amount you were defrauded. Did anyone from NYR ever discuss this with you?
I would like to hear more s about this
NYR will only pay what their so called allowed prices are for raising. I believe they only allowed for 4 feet above the BFE. Check your ECR and see what they were paying for each item. Per pile, lift and so on. I had to fight for the cost of each item on my ECR and todays cost are much more than 10 years ago. I was non stop for years but after being forced to pay them back they had to pay me back after the long battle. Low and behold took them months to pay back. Every detail counts . I went through each cost down to each yard of cement , pile , lift & so on. Don’t let them bully you and know your detailed cost to fight back. Good luck
Call me same boat .
Nine one seven six nine one seven six six five .
Dylan thank you
Lisa- we are also entangled in this clawback. Our contractors “American legend” from Lindenhurst, took the checks we paid them to a check cashing service and eventually walked off the job.
We unsuccessfully tried to sue them in civil court.
The house was sold at a loss and we still can’t rest..
Seeking any information from anyone on what to do next or who to contact
same here, if everyone banded together we might be able to fight back
We are all solo ducks
We need to band together
How do we make that happen
I’m going to google how to commence a class action lawsuit
Terrific! Many have send they are interested. I had asked a family member to help last year, but she wasn’t able to dedicate the time
Very interested in knowing if a class action suit has been started. A list of name of people that want to be a part of it would be a start..
Coming up on 10 yrs of pain, stress & debt.
We need to resolve this!!
Politicians need to be held responsible for their constituents.
Let’s band together and get this taken care of
I have two names for the list! Maybe 3.
My husband and I would like to be part of any class action against NY Rising.
We are going to look At what is involved in putting together a class action lawsuit. We have a family member that is an attorney, that I’ll speak with for advice.
I was just denied my appeal. No explanation. They have now increased the amount to what I believe was the full amount given. We lost our house in foreclosure this year and were able to move and start over. Now to get this letter??!! any updates on any laws passed or lawyers fighting this successfully? All my paperwork is now packed in multiple boxes from the move.