FEMA is a four letter word for Janice Pelczynski of the Milwaukee area. She’s one of 400 Wisconsin residents who have been ordered to return about a million dollars in disaster assistance that the Federal Emergency Management Agency now says it handed out in error.
Pelczynski received about $3,700 for flooding in her basement in 2008. She says they received a letter about two months ago telling them that, since they also received insurance money for the damage, they were not eligible for grant money. The family appealed, but was denied and ordered to begin repaying the money.
Pelczynski says that goes against what a FEMA rep told them at the time. Even though they could have just applied for a low-interest loan, Pelczynski says they were told they could still qualify for the grant money.
She says they received just over $5,000 from insurance, but had to pay about $20,000 out of pocket for their flood damaged basement.
It’s not just Wisconsinites receiving repayment orders. Nationwide, FEMA is looking to recoup roughly $22 million.
AUDIO: Janice Pelczynski (:18)
Robin Colbert, WIBA
