In About-Face, FEMA Will Foot Retrofit Bills

In a surprising reversal, federal officials announced Monday that they will pay $3 million to 2,000 homeowners whose requests to be reimbursed for retrofitting their homes after the Northridge earthquake were rejected.

Under a Federal Emergency Management Agency program, the U.S. government offered to reimburse homeowners for bolting their homes to foundations to help prevent future damage. But thousands of applications were rejected because FEMA officials determined that many homes had been previously bolted.

The rejections prompted hundreds of complaints from homeowners who said they were unaware that their homes had already been secured to their foundations. Others thought new bolting was needed to meet revised seismic standards.

In some cases, homeowners said FEMA officials inspected their homes and assured them they would be reimbursed even though their houses were already bolted.

Affected homeowners responded to the announcement with relief but also lingering resentment.

“I’m very happy that it’s happened,” said Gloria Van Gieson, who paid a contractor $1,800 to retrofit her North Hills home only to be rejected by FEMA for reimbursement. “But why didn’t this happen before?”

FEMA spokeswoman Vallee Bunting said the agency’s about-face was not an admission of error. But she said FEMA could have done a better job of informing residents about the program.

“It’s not a situation where we are admitting anything,” she said. “But because of the confusion about what specific work was to be done, we decided to reimburse those applicants.”

FEMA’s federal coordinating officer, Leland Wilson, said it was important that the government support residents who paid for preventive measures.

Some city officials suggested that the decision was politically motivated.

Councilman Mike Feuer, who represents parts of the Valley and worked for months to get FEMA to reimburse the rejected homeowners, said he believes the agency reversed itself after top officials in the Clinton administration were told about the complaints.

“I think this had to go to the upper levels of FEMA, which felt that they needed to be responsible,” he said.

Nonetheless, he is pleased with the decision. “I’m elated,” he said. “I think this is a very positive end to a chapter that has plagued many earthquake victims.”

So far, FEMA has paid out about $92.5 million to retrofit homes and businesses and another $23 million to bolt down about 15,000 homes, according to officials.

To qualify for the FEMA reimbursement program, a homeowner had to have at least $100 in earthquake damage and submit an application by July 17, 1995.

According to some homeowners and city officials, FEMA shares part of the blame for the dispute because the agency had no clearly stated policy about bolting homes.

Some rejected homeowners said FEMA sent mixed signals early on by approving retrofit work for some homes that had preexisting bolts while rejecting others.

As the July 17 deadline approached, however, they said FEMA began to tighten the qualifications, thus rejecting more homeowners.

FEMA officials agreed to investigate the charges but later said there was little evidence to back the claims.

At one point, Councilman Hal Bernson, who heads the City Council’s Earthquake Recovery Committee, suggested that a federal grand jury investigate the situation.

For homeowners who have been arguing with FEMA for months to be reimbursed, the turnaround was a bittersweet victory.

Max Danziger, an administrative attorney, paid $1,700 to bolt his Sherman Oaks home to its foundation on the assumption that FEMA would reimburse him. When he was rejected, he considered filing a lawsuit.

“It was irritating,” he said. “I spent a mountain of time talking to engineers at FEMA, and they wouldn’t respond to my letters.”

Danziger said he even called FEMA before hiring the contractor and was told that FEMA would reimburse him for the work even though the house had previously been bolted.

He blames FEMA for the snafu and said he still doesn’t believe he will be reimbursed. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.

Other residents blame contractors who did the retrofitting work without telling homeowners that their houses had already been bolted.

Paul Wayne paid $2,590 to bolt his Tarzana home to its foundation. He said the contractor promised to reimburse him for the cost of the work if FEMA rejected his application. When the application was rejected, the contractor declined to pay.

Wayne said FEMA’s decision provides something of a happy ending to his ordeal.

“I’m happy that they elected to do this,” he said.