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For Immediate Release

10,000 Homeowners Receiving Award Letters from The Road Home

BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 30, 2006 – By the end of today, Road Home awards letters will be on their way to more than 10,000 Louisiana families. Many already have them in their hands. These letters will tell Road Home applicants of the amount and type of funding for which they are eligible.

The award letters are printed on yellow paper, distinguishing them from any letters previously received. Homeowners should use only these yellow award letters when making their decisions about whether to stay in their homes, relocate within Louisiana or sell their homes and move out of state. Homeowners are encouraged to call The Road Home hotline at 1-888-ROAD-2-LA and choose option #6 if they have any questions about their letters.

“We want to make sure homeowners fully understand the information contained in the yellow letter and the amount and type of assistance for which they qualify,” said Michael Taylor, director of the Disaster Recovery Unit, Office of Community Development.

“There are highly trained advisors at the call center who are able to answer homeowners questions about their benefit options, as well as any other questions they may have about the program. We encourage all homeowners to call the hotline to get their questions answered, regardless of how minor they might seem.”

A majority of the letters were mailed on Monday, with the balance of the 10,000 mailed on Tuesday and Wednesday. With the receipt of this letter, homeowners may select an option which will initiate the process to disburse the award. Then, as program officials receive election notices from homeowners, they will work with the homeowners’ lenders to schedule the closings.

Included with the letter is a form for homeowners who can not make their option selection within 30 days. Currently, there is no deadline for homeowners to choose their option. This is an important decision and there are many reasons why homeowners may need to delay their selection. Completion of this form will give The Road Home a better idea of the reasons why homeowners are delaying their decisions and allow state and local authorities to address recurrent issues.

However, the work is far from finished. “There are still thousands of homeowners who have applied to the program and are awaiting their awards,” said Taylor. “We will not rest until all Road Home applicants have their awards in hand.”

The Road Home program is designed to help residents of Louisiana affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita get back into their homes as quickly and fairly as possible. This groundbreaking program represents the largest single housing recovery program in U.S. history. Working together, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Office of Community Development created The Road Home program with the approval of the Louisiana Legislature. The program affords eligiblehomeowners up to $150,000 in compensation for their losses to get back into their homes.

To start your application to The Road Home program, visit www.road2LA.org or call 1-888-ROAD-2-LA (1-888-762-3252). TTY callers use 711 relay or 1-800-846-5277.

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