FEMA Issues

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is responsible for giving aid to Americans who are left with practically nothing after a natural disaster. In 2005, a busy year for FEMA, several thousand grants were given out to those who qualified for the money- and also to those who weren't. FEMA has issued a statement to about 5,500 people that they need to repay the money sent to them by FEMA. Victims of floods, and possibly victims of hurricane Katrina, will be asked to repay what was given to them. Now, nearly all of these people have already spent the money in efforts to restart their lives, like for a new house. These people don't have that kind of money anymore- in some cases up to $27,000 is being requested. Also, these people were given 30 days to pay it off. Obviously this is very unreasonable, so FEMA is attempting to come to an agreement with them and try and find some sort of payment method. FEMA is requesting this money back because of financial, and employee errors. In times like this, it's almost impossible to expect from these people what FEMA is asking. In hard economic times, these people, who are just not getting their lives back together, can't afford to lose it all. My question to the readers, is do you or do you not think the people should be required to repay what they were given? Remember the money given to them in the first place was not a loan, and is typically not required to be re-payed. However, the agency is still obligated to try and reclaim misplaced funds. So please comment with you're answer, as well as an explanation why you feel that way. I personally believe that these people should not have to repay what was given to them years ago because the money has already been used to jump-start these people lives after a devastating natural disaster such as Katrina. There is no way these people can afford to pay $20,000, especially in a recession like this. Making these people repay this money will just complicate their lives even more, and make things much harder. Maybe a payment plan is more reasonable though, as I do understand that the agency is required to reclaim these funds. Let me know what you think!


-Matt Willis