<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1606931490158.jpeg" alt="Submerged house in 2019 flood/Photo by Brent Martin" />
 <figcaption>Submerged house in 2019 flood/Photo by Brent Martin</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostFederal
officials would be prevented from making homeowners refund disaster assistance
mistakenly given them under a bill passing the House in Washington.Northern
Missouri Congressman Sam Graves sponsors the measure which came as a response
to an incident in northwest Missouri.“So,
what we basically said is that if FEMA makes a mistake like this they can’t
come and claw the money back, as long as there is no fraud involved. If it was
a mistake on FEMA’s part then they can’t do that,” Graves tells St. Joseph
Post. “This amounted to $12,000. That’s not a lot of money to FEMA, but it’s a
tremendous amount of money to an individual, particularly after the money had
been spent rebuilding their home.”Graves
says the Holt County resident lost the family home in the 2019 flood. The
Federal Emergency Management Agency granted the homeowner $12,000 in FEMA
Individual Assistance funds. Later, the agency determined the homeowner didn’t qualify
for the money and demanded it be repaid.Graves
says others have been caught in the crosshairs of FEMA; asked to refund disaster
assistance given them by FEMA after the agency determined they really weren’t
eligible. The legislation allows the disaster victim to keep the money. It also
requires FEMA report to Congress how many times that happens and what it is
doing to prevent it.Graves
says efforts to get back disaster assistance once awarded can put the homeowner
in a real bind.“This
was FEMA’s fault and so they need to be held accountable for it and the fact of
the matter is the money was used and it was used for exactly the purpose that FEMA
originally laid it out for and, in my opinion, they shouldn’t be penalized as a
result,” Graves says.The
Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act would require FEMA waive the debt of
someone who received federal assistance by mistake, as long as applicant sought
the assistance in good faith and no fraud was involved. The Congressman’s office
claims that under current law, FEMA can demand repayment weeks, months, even
years later.

Bill would block FEMA from seeking refund of assistance given by mistake