People have claimed they are affected by the fire in order to cash in on benefits meant for survivors.
This editor like many people in Pacific Palisades lost everything, home and business location and all possessions. My husband and I were told to apply to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and SBA (Small Business Association) to try and seek loans to help with rebuilding.
Many in the Palisades have insurance, which only pays so much and will not cover the complete cost of rebuilding, so some financial assistance will be necessary. Others who are on the Fair Plan, find they have even a bigger gap between the loss, insurance and the cost to rebuild.
But my husband and I keep getting rejected from everything we have applied for and then told if we are rejected to apply again or to send different documents.
Totally frustrated at the process, it just seems as if going through the fire was difficult enough without having to continue to call and resubmit and visit the disaster center and different people, basically “begging” for money.
Today realtor Anthony Marguleas sent a March 20 Breitbart News story (“ FEMA Fraud: 20 Times More Applicants than Homes in Los Angeles Fires”) by Joel Pollak that The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has received 270,000 applications from purported homeowners in the recent L.A. fires — though only about 13,000 homes were destroyed.
(FEMA clarified that the 270,00 numbers refers to individuals and households, not just homeowners. That still amounts to 26 people in each household.) The overwhelming number of people who are just trying to get free money are making it more difficult for people who truly need it and the greed is mindboggling.
And fraud is on every level – even locally. During the multi-agency resource center at the American Legion last week, the Emergency Network, different charitable groups were giving gift cards, dog food and air filters. CTN was surprised to see Rustic/Santa Monica Canyon individuals who just wanted the free stuff. Only three homes burned in the Canyon, the rest are still standing. It is truly despicable that people who have not suffered a total loss feel they are entitled to items meant for those who lost everything.
I find your comments about Palisadians who did not suffer a complete loss really off base. Here is the reality for those of us whose homes are standing – we will be living in a toxic hellscape for the next five years. We will suffer all of the negative consequences of the fire, including losing the town and all of the institutions we and our families love, that those whose houses burned are suffering. We will live with zero infrastructure and services and unbearable traffic. We won’t be able to use our backyards or walk in our neighborhood for years. So yes, I did go and pick up two free air filters to clean my filthy house and Walmart gift cards to use to replace some things in my house, the contents of which are a total loss despite the fact that the walls are standing.
I don’t understand why you don’t call these people out by name. I sure would.
The math might make a bit more sense if people would bother to remember that many Palisadians lived in condos, townhomes, apartments and other forms of multifamily housing. These are all residents and members of the community, despite what FEMA says in their exclusion of these properties from USACE’s debris removal mission. If you want the Palisades community to clean up and rebuild quickly, ask your representatives and FEMA Region 9 to include multifamily housing in their mission. All residents should be treated fairly and equally.
The $1,000 in gift cards from the Salvation Army should be helpful. They were also giving away Bibles. I picked up one, since all the books in my home burned, I hope you took one, too.
Sure glad we went to the FEMA desk to register today. We are victims of fraud and will not be able to get any assistance. We must have our home cleaned and we will have to self pay as California Fair Plan does not pay for cleaning!! Please tell everyone to register to see if fraud has been perpetrated on them. FEMA Desk will only be there until this Thursday, March 27.
Also contact 60 minutes — there’s a story and a link on my website. The show is doing an investigative piece on FEMA Fraud.
Everyone who applied that is not remotely affected by the fire should be charged with fraud, publicly named and shamed (not that they would care, obviously they are beneath human). If there are no consequesnces, it will happen every time.
As a Midwesterner, what I know is that none of these Californians deserve any relief until they stop electing communists and have election integrity. California constantly sucks parasitically of the rest of America.
It’s time for the fraudsters to be named and removed from the list for “assistance” now and in future issues.
Yes it was a disaster, but honestly the policy of the Democrats created this possibility and you will have to deal with liberal garbage for years to come because of how you vote. I don’t feel sorry for that, yes I feel sorry for the destruction, but you literally voted in policies that lead to the ability of this to happen. Much like people who live on the coast live in an environment that is susceptible to hurricanes, why do we the people have to pay for this?
How many of those 270,000 applications are duplicates from homeowners and residents who got rejected the first time? Sounds like there’s no way to know for sure, but bureaucratic inefficiency and fraudulent submissions are both massive problems.
You are not well informed. Fact is that thousands of us in the area were affected by the fires. Most of us were displaced and forced to go in to hotel rooms for weeks. Many people had damage to personal property too. All of this is eligible for FEMA assistance. You are not the only one eligible for assistance sweetie. I’ve been on the phone with FEMA over 12 times trying to get a hotel bill covered. Others I know had their rent and hotels covered already, but mine was rejected. Its not due to income its because FEMA is overwhelmed and arbitrary in their process.
Hey Charles…. there are more Conservatives in CA than any other state. Fact is that elections here are rigged by the Democrats and have been since about 2005. I am not a Conservative, but I certainly am not a Leftist. Leftist politicians like Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom have destroyed CA and are responsible for these fires due to their corruption and incompetence. They steal our tax dollars, appropriate them to Far Left causes like open borders and illegals health care, and they get kickbacks from dark money as a reward. They also get a favorable media and rigged elections keeping them in office. Its all one big money laundering scam.
Ed,
Just reporting the numbers–and CBS is doing a report on the fraud. I am so sorry that you’ve had to live in a hotel room for weeks, how awful for you. I’m guessing there was a bed? But I’m assuming at some point you will be able to go back?
And for future reference, don’t call me sweetie, that’s pejorative. It would be like me calling you “my little man.”
Sue
So many comments from people who didn’t lose their homes but still feel entitled to charitable donations and federal aid. “Because their infrastructure was damaged, the air quality is bad, blah blah blah…”
The fact you people feel are just as entitled to aid as the people who lost everything is exactly what’s wrong with our country. The compassionate socialist left isn’t really compassionate at all, when 90% contribute little to nothing yet demand everything.
The truth is there would be more funds available if they weren’t used by the Biden administration to resettle migrants. CA would have additional funds if they weren’t blowing ten plus billion per year on migrants as well. These fires shouldn’t have ever happened and the few that are truly unavoidable, should have been limited to less than 5% of the damages caused. Arson, poor forestry management, the intentional limiting of water supplies, budget cuts to fire departments, poor emergency planning and millions of illegals/homeless people are the reason it happened.
The only CA residents America feels sorry for are the right wing conservatives. Leftists are all self centered narcissists who only care about themselves, so they can’t be bothered to care a whit about your plight. So long as you keep electing Democrats, everything within your state will continue to decline until CA a first rate slum on par with Caracas